The carpenter finally left on Tuesday, having fitted all four windows and repaired the rotten wood on the porch. He’s left all the woodwork primed, ready for Rob to paint. Wednesday was thankfully tradesman-free, but then the next lot were round on Thursday to upgrade the radiator controls. I had decided to take advantage of […]
No, not that annoying message from Microsoft trying to force you to upgrade to Windows 10. Rather, an update on the ongoing saga of getting my bedroom windows replaced. In previous years, when I have had my kitchen, utility room and bathroom windows replaced by the same company, it’s always gone very smoothly with minimum […]
I’m gradually trying to drag my Victorian cottage at least into the 20th century, if not the 21st. The latest episode in the ongoing saga of renovation is getting new windows in the bedrooms. The current ones have very leaky secondary double glazing, and are draughty and have lots of condensation. As a result, the […]
I was rushing to work one morning last week, and pulled the porch door shut behind me on the way, as I’ve done literally thousands of times over the last two decades. Except this time, the door slammed shut and the handle came right off in my hand! The base plate was still firmly screwed […]
The clocks have gone forward, and that means that the quotations start coming in from tradesmen, all of whom are determined to help me renovate the cottage. One thing seems to be leading to another, and what I had thought would be a fairly simple and self-contained job looks like it’s turning into something much […]
The lack of a fully functioning hob was really beginning to annoy me. I kept going to use my usual ring, and nothing happened! Although I could still cook using the remaining rings, it was clearly far less than ideal so I decided I really needed to do something about it. This time I decided […]
The holiday was very enjoyable. However, coming back home meant facing up to some house maintenance issues I’d been putting off. The week before Christmas, the light in the hall failed. I thought at first it was just a blown bulb, so went to replace it. That was in itself quite tricky – the hall […]
The mice have clearly returned – even though the weather is surprisingly mild for the time of year, it’s still clearly chilly enough to send them scurrying indoors. They’ve been scrabbling around in the evenings above my chair in the living room, and spending their nights tap-dancing above my bed. I checked just a few […]
The electrician/handyman came round this afternoon from the local appliance showroom to install my new oven. This is what he found at the back of the cavity when he took the old broken oven out – it’s hard to imagine a more typically nineteen-seventies pattern! The kitchen must have looked absolutely hideous when the walls […]
I’ve been having real trouble with my kitchen appliances lately. In fact, it strongly feels like they’re conspiring together to cause maximum irritation! My washing machine has decided to leak intermittently all over the kitchen floor. I’ve spent hours watching it, trying to catch it in action, but it always waits until my back is […]
