I am pulling my hair out!!!

[andi]

Hi there everyone,
Sorry I haven't been posting up a lot lately, as some of you probably know I am having my kitchen re-fitted. I wasn't going to post this up but I find myself bored and very frustrated. For the first 2 days it was going to plan with water off, electric off and gas off, yesterday the men started the plastering and the electric tripped out for 3 hours so the electricians had to come back. Today they are trying to do the tiling and flooring but the electric tripped again for 2 hours. It just came back on and I was half way through typing this out when "blow me" it went again!!! We are now waiting for the electrician again but we do know what the problem is (a faulty socket) I know it will be well worth it in the end, it's going to look fab. I am a patient person normally but it is getting to me a bit now. It is almost like we are camping in our own home LOL. We have had to keep asking the neighbours to boil a kettle so that we can have a brew! I am keeping the workmen supplied with drinks and biscuits when I can and even told them they could go for a dip in our inflatable pool the other day when it was hot LOL (they didn't though) I can't clean the dust and dirt up quickly enough (whinge, whinge) Today it is absolutely bucketing it down with rain so I can't even go and escape to my garden.......I feel better now that I have released some of my tension, here are a few pictures

It's a galley kitchen


this is the other side


And this is the chaos we are living in, please don't pay too much attention to the dirty floors and boxes, it is all part of the plan honest! The workmen had just left yesterday.
P.S What you are not seeing is the cooker also in the living room and the washing machine and tumble dryer in the front room. The poor cats and dogs never know where to find their food bowls just lately.

[GitteK]

poor andi - that certainly looks like downtown Baghdad to me !

BTW I like your new cupboards - they look very smart. What tiles will there be on the wall over the table - white, coloured ?

Patience, dearest - think how shining and fantastic it will look, when finished !!

[Becky (Berkeleytravelers)]

Andi, I've been through this twice in the last 15 years (refrigerator in the garage, microwave in the dining room, washing the dishes in the bathtub, can't find anything, etc.) and I sympathize (and empathize)! Courage, mon brave -- it will be worth it! Really, it will -- you know that -- so go make a big pot of tea, put a healthy dash of something alcoholic in it, put on headphones, pick up a trashy novel (maybe even a beach book!), and just

[glow=red,2,300]IGNORE IT!!!!![/glow]

Just think, with your kitchen in that state no one is going to ask why you aren't perfecting your macaron skills (and if anyone does ask, you can gently explain that "if only" you had a kitchen, you would be turning out perfect beauties every morning). ;D

[andi]

Thanks Gitte, the tiles on the walls will be white, the tiles on the floor are going to be a matt black marble, the wall colours we think will be a pastle blue/green....its hard to describe! Oh and I accidentally brought a new microwave and toaster and other bits and bobs. They fell into the shopping trolley! Tee Hee!!!

[andi]

Becky if the electric stays on long enough I may just do that! The electrician is on his way so I will be disappearing from the forum again shortly.

[Happygoin]

Ooh...marble floors you say? They'll be gorgeous! If only you live through the onslaught to enjoy it...

(Do what you're supposed to do when being forced to endure anything unpleasant ...close your eyes and think of England!)

[GitteK]

You will post pics when it's all over, right ?
One thing I would NEVER do, though, is to have tiles on my kitchen floor. Drop one bottle of redwine or a big jar of pickled rootbeets - and you will have smashed glass and stains everywhere.
I prefer wood, vinyl or cork - you can drop things, but they don't smash.

[goldenmama]

So that's what you've been up to andi!

I hate having workmen in my house; I can totally sympathize.

You can see that I have been very busy as well, honing my computer skills. You were there for me, andi, way back when--and look how far I have come!

Hang in there baby!

[andi]

You all crack me up LOL....it put a smile back on my face, notice my electric is back on too... WHOO HOO!!! Gitte the tiles are a fake marble look, made from vinyl. The ones we just had taken out were ceramic, drop a bottle on them and the tile smashed not the bottle. Happy don't shout at me but "If I live through it" is so true, boredem is making me smoke more Goldenmama that little workman is so funny, you are getting good at this computer lark! And of course I will post up the completed project for you all, I wouldn't want you to think that this is how we always live. ;D

[Shoesy]

Andi - Your kitchen is going to be beautiful, so it is worth going through that "balagan". (That's my favorite Hebrew word, and it means "mess". My two sisters know almost no Hebrew, but they've known that word for years because I use it all the time. Somehow I think "balagan" is a better word than "mess". ;D )

Thanks for posting those pictures. It makes us feel like we're there with you, and we support you throughout this difficult time.

[sistereurope]

andi...if it's any consolation, I live in a house that was built in 1900 and is in a CONSTANT state of renovation!! My husband bought it after it had been turned into two apartments. He ripped out the upstairs kitchen and we've slowly started to get things in shape...our living room is done (yea!!) but both my bedroom and kitchen have huge holes in the plaster that we still haven't gotten around to fixing (actually I leave them there as a joke because one of my friends wrote 2012 next to them, meaning that's when they'll be fixed!) We need to completely re-do the kitchen and nasty bathroom and my daughter is sleeping in the old nasty upstairs kitchen!! And now the latest dream is to turn the attic into our master bedroom (supposedly complete with a bidet for moi!)

So just think - you could be me and be married to a wonderful, lovely man who works more than full time, has 3 kids and a huge garden (and chickens!)...but who will not hire anyone to do the renovation because he can do it all himself. Which is true...he really does have the talent necessary to do everything...and to prove it he has STARTED jobs all OVER my house!!!

So to sum it up I'll be lucky if those holes are fixed by 2012...just do what I do, have a glass of wine, settle in with a book and relax ;D

[Becky (Berkeleytravelers)]

Um, Andi - I'm guessing you haven't watched enough American movies to know the alternate meaning of "blow me"? (LOL!!)

[andi]

Thanks girls.......it was supposed to be finished today but because of glitches it may be Saturday now. This is the colour we are having the walls painted.......

It may be just a fraction darker, the colour is called Neptune. We normally have beiges and browns, all neutrals so we are having a change. SisterE you have my sympathies too, it can't be easy for you, the attic sounds wonderful! Our house was built in 1889 from brick, it was definately built to last as we struggle to get a screw in the walls even now.

[Shoesy]

I like that color, andi. In fact, I'd like to wear it. ;D

[andi]

Oops sorry Becky, I have actually but I always forget that , Over here it means the same thing as "well would you believe it" lol.......not quite the same thing I guess

[Becky (Berkeleytravelers)]

Hey, when you're having your kitchen redone you would be forgiven if you meant it in that sense as well!

[sistereurope]

I know...I'm telling you andi, I've just gone beyond the breaking point and said " F--- it!" Now I just ignore the dust/clutter/boxes/hammers and nails....you gotta do what you can to survive when you live in an old house with a jack of all trades!!

I love that color by the way...just think, at least your kitchen will actually be FINISHED one day!! ;D

[GitteK]

I thought Brits said "blimey" ?

Andi - here's a dictionary for you:

english2american.com/dictionary/wholelot.html

[andi]

Gitte .....thanks for the dictonary ;D It's an accurate conversion, maybe Truffaut should make it a sticky so that everyone gets what I am saying LOL .....On the subject, when I was in Florida I took my bumbag, finding it to be called a fannybag??? I was almost too scared to type that, anyway a f***y is a rude word over here. I never say that the English and Americans speak the same language, some words are the same many are very different, I suppose it could be likened to French and Canadian French
SisterE we are getting to the stage of not caring too, the biggest problem is deciding what gross food we can have for tea (dinner) we are sick to death of chips (fries). I can't wait to cook a roast dinner (actually without the roast as hubby is a veggie) or make a vegetable lasagne, and HEY I might even have a go at them macarons.

[andi]

OOOOOH! I am officially "brassed off" Apart from the kitchen not being finished (it has taken two days to tile 2 walls, only 3 rows high, still 1 wall to do) I am told it will be Monday or Tuesday now (they are not coming over the weekend) there is still tiling, flooring, air vent for tumble dryer, hole for washing maching plumbing and floor to do. AND I came to have a shower last night, our combi boiler for the central heating and hot water was not working!!!!! After 2 hours of the technician fiddling with it he tells me that the electricians must have blown up the fuses and circuit board when they ran the fault test, replacement parts Monday or Tuesday!!!!!!! Its a good job the weather is warm here at the moment but I need hot water Hubby dragged the cooker into the kitchen last night and made a roast dinner which was delish! ;D (no hot water to wash the pots though lol) we have rebelled......and filled all the cupboards up with food and crockery (tough titty, if we get in the way on Monday) Keep smiling Andi and Gaz, Keep smiling!!!