the naked painter - kitchen update

You've heard about the naked chef... let me introduce the naked painter.

Me.

Well... ok, not totally naked, but then again, Jamie Oliver wasn't totally naked either. If he was, I sure missed it.

See, on Sunday I finally gave in and painted a third coat on the one finished wall in the kitchen. It had been niggling at me for days... to do another coat, not to do another coat... I had to do it so I could sleep again.

When I decided to paint I was wearing a nice pair of track pants (ones without paint on them) and one of Wayne's Tshirts. Given the track pants are one of a fast dwindling supply of non-paint-enhanced clothing in my wardrobe, and the Tshirt didn't belong to me, I did what any lazy DIY-er in the grip of an urgent need to paint would do.

I stripped down to my undies and got on with it.

Wayne walked through while I was up on a ladder with a brush in my hand and said he liked my outfit.

Today I found splotches of China White on a pair of undies when I hung them on the line.

Eh. No one will see those anyway.

So, you may ask, other than prancing around on ladders semi naked while waving around brushes loaded with paint, how goes the kitchen renovation?

Well. The electrician and Aurora have both been and done their thing. The power meters have been moved to the new box, all wiring has been reconnected and all is well.

We can now get started again.

Handyman will be back this week to put in the new window... and the fun continues.

z

reaching new heights

I've been offline for a little bit but trust me, its not cause I've been flat out busy. 

I've been mildly busy and mainly lazy.

Having said that, I did do a few things when the inspiration hit me, usually at really inappropriate times.

I finally finished painting the first coat on the fascia at the front of the house. This is a job I do not enjoy. Its so high! I need to do another coat and maybe I'll tackle that today... Maybe I'll only tackle half of it today... Who knows?

I mainly did it yesterday cause I was sick of watching the potato vine grow into a heap on the ground and start to crawl under the deck.

Once I finished painting the first coat on the fascia I attached some wire (leftover dog fencing) to it on either side of a post and the downpipe. The idea is to hide the downpipe one day...

The potato vine is growing like a weed. Its already wrapped itself around one of Wayne's sculptures but I love the way its swirled around it.

It does need trimming though. I cut off all the bits that were growing out along the ground, pulled any long bits I could up onto the wire but I have a sneaky feeling I need to thin it out a whole lot more so that the upward growing vines get stronger...

I'm not a gardener. I never claimed to be good at it. One day I might show you my attempt to sculpt shapes into my box hedges...

Another little job I managed to do was put names on the new winter rugs for the big horses. I do this every year since all the rugs are the same colour and we need to be able to tell them apart without looking for size tags inside.

Other than that... I'm in limbo. Waiting for the electrician and the electricity company to come move the power so work can continue in the kitchen.

z

why did I think this would be a good idea? - kitchen update

I think I'm heading for a nervous breakdown.

In fact, I think that when the renovation is over, I will have one.

I've earned it. I've worked hard for it. No one is going to stop me from having one if I want to.

Sheesh.

I know the saying about renovation being up there along with death of a family member for stress factor or relationship breakdown, but I really didn't think it would be this hard.

I've renovated before. In my first house in Melbourne I lived with walls pulled down, tiles laid over holes in the floor, holes in the ceiling and no bathroom/toilet door for over a year. That renovation included extending the bathroom, moving the toilet from the laundry to the bathroom, knocking out 2 walls to create an open plan living room, moving two doors, repainting throughout, building a pergola, putting in air conditioning and polishing floorboards.

Simon and I broke up, but that wasn't a result of the renovation. We were heading that way before the renovations started.

They didn't help, mind you...

In Fentonbury I put dado rails in half the house, put in a new bathroom, refreshed the kitchen, added a grooming room by enclosing a porch, polished floorboards, repainted inside and out, ripped out carpet and put in vinyl, replaced a wood heater, and put up new fencing.

I lived through all of that without breaking down, stressing out or feeling like I was overwhelmed.

I have no idea why this is getting to me this time.

Maybe its the feeling of not being in control. Not  knowing where I am with things cause I'm reliant on others... and how nothing can be done without something else being done first.

I was told the electrician was on holidays for a week or two weeks. We finally heard from Aurora and now we have a date... they're coming on Monday morning sometime. At least I hope its Monday morning. As long as they come on Monday I'll be happy, no matter what time it is.

I spoke to them, yes the electrician certainly needs to be there during or after so the power can be connected.

I'd left a message with the electrician. He never got back to me. I called him and no, he's not on holiday till next week... He'll come on Thursday to move the cables and set it up so that he doesn't have to be here with Aurora comes, just in case he can't be here.

sigh...

Why are things so difficult...?

And why didn't he do that.. oh, like the 15th time he was here????

I just don't get it.

I give up.

When Wayne asked how long till the kitchen is ready to use I said, "Well... first we need Aurora to move the metre box. And the electrician to move the cables. The window needs to go in next. Then the walls need to be lined. Then the benchtop will go in. Then the sink will be put in and it and the dishwasher can be plumbed. Then we can  use the kitchen cause I can paint around a working kitchen. So lets say it takes 10 days for Aurora to do their thing. And another 2-3 days for Handyman to put in the window and do the walls... and if the bench is ready, he can put that in, another day there... and the plumbing, maybe another day (cause there's no such thing as quick and easy)... I think the kitchen will be ready to use sometime around Christmas."

Did I mention Wayne is allergic to change? Add renovation to that now.

You may remember I've already started removing carpet in the office. Floorbaords in there and the hallway match the kitchen so they're next on the list... when I recover from the kitchen.

That job doesn't worry me though, cause that job I can do myself - I can work at my own pace and won't be at anyone else's mercy.

With the added bonus of feeling like I'm finally organising, cleaning, tidying and actually doing something! You know. Getting somewhere. No longer living in limbo...

Well... on Monday morning I was woken by Wayne telling me I had a job to do.

One of the dogs had had diarhea in the office.

I'm sick of cleaning that carpet. I took out a stanley knife, cut the poohed part out and threw it away.

Done.

Its going anyway, right?

I'm so over this.

z

if its not one thing... kitchen update

Things have been progressing... more or less... slowly... in our kitchen reno. 

'Cause you know everything that needs to be done can't be done until something else is done first. And that can't be done till something else is finished, and on it goes indefinitely.

During this last week Handyman came over and put up the last 2 boards to finish the first pine lined wall so I could paint it. 

The electrician came over and wired in the stove and put in a power points for the dishwasher and the range hood.

Together they worked out how the range hood would fit, where it would be attached to the wall, etc. 

Then I painted the wall. I finally settled on a colour. I decided to go with Dulux China White which is a dark creamy colour. Too dark and creamy I thought after putting a large swatch of it on the wall. But I needed a creamy white so in the end I bought a 4 litre tin of China White at 3/4 strength. It looks great, just a bit less yellowish but still a rich warm white.

So right now we have a finished floor, one finished wall, architraves sanded and prepped to paint, the stove wired and plumbed in for gas, powerpoints awaiting the dishwasher and rangehood.

The backsplash (a sheet of glass) can't go in behind the stove till the rangehood is in place.

The rangehood can't go up till we get the ducting for it sorted out. Of course the place that sells the rangehoods doesn't sell ducting. I found a place that does sell it but I can't buy it myself. I have to send Handyman to buy it cause what he told me I need to get and what the guys who sell the stuff told me I need to get differs. Wildly.

I don't want the stove working till the glass splashback is up. I don't want food splatters on my new paintwork. We can't put in the rangehood till ducting is sorted, as I said above. But even if I was happy to cook without the rangehood and splashback, I don't want to cook till I have a way to effectively (and easily) wash up. I refuse to try washing a frying pan in the bathroom sink.

We can't connect the dishwasher till the sink is in cause they need to be connected to the same water outlet. Or so I was told.

We can't put the sink in till the benchtop is put in.

Handyman is working on that. Its coming along but I don't have a delivery date on it yet... ugh.

The kicker? The electrician gave me the RFW (request for work) number for our job - the moving of the meter box - so I can call Aurora and hassle them to hurry them up. It was dated March 5, 2014.

Surely that can't be right!!! I was sure he told me he put the paperwork in weeks ago!

I know I've been texting him about once every two weeks and asking him on any progress every time I see him and he's always replied with 'no news yet'.... as if he'd put the paperwork in!

All I managed was 'That can't be right! This paperwork was put in way before that." to which he muttered something about being busy.

What I wanted to do was scream at him.

But wait. 

It gets worse!

We got a text from Aurora saying they'd be doing our job in 7-10 days. Great news.

Till you learn that the electrician is away on a holiday and that once Aurora does their stuff we'll be without power till the electrician does his stuff.

I have no idea if he's away for one week or two. He didn't mention it. We heard it from Handyman. I sent a text letting him know we'd heard from Aurora and asking if he'd be back by then. 

No reply yet.

We need him here at the same time as Aurora or as soon as possible after. He'll have to climb into our ceiling and pull all the wire cables from the old box to the new one.

If he's away we'll be without power.

I'm not impressed with him right now, even if he does like Dwight Yoakam.

z