Just a quick note to let you know things are progressing in the kitchen. Despite being laid up with my back for 2 days, then another 2 days with some stomach bug, I’ve managed to do all the painting – walls, door and window frames, skirting boards.

Yesterday afternoon Handyman brought over the kitchen bench. Today he’s fitting it.

Easier said than done as there’s that nasty 45 degree angle to contend with. Lucky it was Wayne who insisted it be done that way so I don’t have to feel guilty when I see how had it is to get just right.

The other day he put the rangehood up and we discovered that when they sell these things they don’t give you nearly enough stainless steel cover for the vent… you have to buy more! Seriously, we have a low ceiling in the kitchen and it was about 2 inches short of being safe and steady!

Wayne has made a ‘plinth’ for it to sit on on the ceiling. Looks very art deco. I’m painting that today so the job can be finished.

Besides the benchtop to put in, the sink to be fitted, the plumbing to be joined up, the dishwasher put in place, the edge trims for corners and the cornice, there’s not much else to do…

ha ha ha.

z

I woke up with a very stiff neck this morning. I’ve got a heat pack on it but to be honest I don’t hold out much hope for that.

I’ll just have to cowboy up and work through the pain.

Why, you may ask.

I finally got to do some actual work in the kitchen. I had planned to do the painting during the week, in short bursts every afternoon after work. But you know how it is. Daylight savings turns off, its dark at 6pm and my body says “wind down”.

Not to mention that we’ve been home late almost every day this week and small bugs like to dive bomb wet paint at night.

So yesterday, my regular day off, was it. I got up early and got into it straight away.

I undercoated the ceiling and plaster wall in one type of undercoat. I undercoated the pine lined walls in another type. And I undercoated the door and window frames in oil based undercoat.

I undercoated the skirting boards which are cut and ready to go in. I want those suckers painted before they go in so I don’t have to crawl around on the floor to paint them.

I didn’t even stop for lunch.

Well… I did stop around 11am…

The dogs had been barking persistently for a long time before it registered that it was not normal. So I went out and sure enough, there was a wallaby near the dam.

An obviously sick wallaby.

Last year we had them dropping like flies in the area. Cats spread toxoplasmosis, which native animals have no immunity to. It attacks their nervous system, they go blind and wobbly and basically die of starvation.

I did not want that to happen to this little fellow. I put on my boots, grabbed a blanket and a dog cage and went out to catch it.

It was obviously blind cause it couldn’t see me but it had keen hearing. It ran off towards the stable and trapped itself in a corner where I managed to catch it easily.

I took it to the vet. If there’s a chance it can be cured they’ll pass it on to wild life carers. If not they will put it down. A way better death than weeks of getting sicker and starving to death.

I hate it when I see them suffer. That was my good deed for the day.

Anyway, I grabbed a frappe from McDonald’s cause I’m addicted to them and if there’s something I just can’t resist, its temptation. The vet is right opposite McD’s….

You could say I had a liquid lunch.

I didn’t stop till after 5pm when all undercoats were done.

I also put in a bit of time packing all my fabrics into plastic containers to empty the old kitchen dresser which I’ll be moving to the kitchen.

This morning I have a dog to groom, then its back to work. doing topcoats. I hope to have one topcoat on everything today, another tomorrow.

Handyman will be here tomorrow to get back to work and he promises he’ll work through till the kitchen is finished. He told the other guy he’s been working for that he has to finish my job. Even if he has to sleep here to get it done by the end of the week.

I better get the guest room ready!

z

I’m beginning to breath normally again.

This last week I undercoated and did a topcoat of some timber trims, including the moulding for the new kitchen window. Handyman came on Friday and put it in and it looks great!

Yesterday he was here again and he put in the duct for the rangehood including the roof thingy..

and sanded back the patches on the ceiling (plaster dust everywhere…) and helped me rescue a bird from one of the walls of the casita.

Honestly.

The dogs were going bezerk at something in the wall. Romeo was trying to eat the door! I had no choice. I asked Handyman to help me cut a hole in the wall so we could find what was in there and get it out. Save the dogs doing more remodeling down there like they did last time…

I put on gloves, cringing at the thought I’d be finding a rat nest complete with an angry mother rat and her 93 babies… only to find a bird which had gotten in the wall cavity and couldn’t get out.

And a mummified carcass of a bird long gone which had obviously suffered the same fate.

Bird got out safely. The wall lives another day.

Handyman will be back again today to finish the rangehood on the inside – put the ceiling plate in and the rangehood’s stainless cover. He says we can then cook.

I said I refuse to cook till I can wash up properly…

When I’m not walking around in circles wondering where to start and being overwhelmed by all the options of jobs to do, I do occasionally get a few things done.

I sanded back all the wood filler so that once the plastering is finished I can paint both the ceiling and the walls.

I’ve painted the kitchen door (the one from the entry/pantry area) a colour I got a sample of cause I loved it on the swatch. Its called Caramel Craving… whats not to like about that?

Turns out its not quite as yummy on a full door. I’m afraid Wayne will call it ‘duck sh#@!t yellow’ – one of his favourite colours (not). His opinion is that they must have had a huge sale on that murky mustardy yellow colour a few years ago cause so many houses around here are painted in it.

Well… on paper its the same colour as the stove, only in a much darker tint. We’ll see how it looks once the door is in. Its only paint after all!

Meanwhile I did a few small jobs that needed finishing. Cleaned out the workshop area. Mended a broken drawer in the coffee table. Did a bit of potting. Sorted out some things to be burned or thrown out.

There’s work to do today. The sun is showing through the clouds occasionally… maybe I can finish that fascia today and never have to worry about it again.

Ever.

z

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

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

Yes! The cabinets are in. It feels like a huge step forward.

It is a huge step forward really. The cabinets are in place, the handles are on and its looking great.

For the drawers I picked antique style cup pulls like the ones on my old dressers. I bought them on ebay, from England. They were cheaper from there, even with postage.

Incredible.

On the cupboard doors I’m using these pumpkin style knobs I bought on ebay a long time ago. They’re actually cream, not white, and they match the new stove perfectly.