From Our Kitchen To Yours

Just in case I don't get time to do this tomorrow...From our kitchen to yours...

Happy New Year!

Blessings J. x

A Time Between

Well we have made it thus far...having eaten what seems like our own bodyweight in assorted goodies. Today has come the crash, for me anyway. Having both worked like mad things in the final week before Christmas in order to get the cottage ready to host the celebrations we are shattered. We are by no means finished, but have made it far along enough to be acceptable.

The dining hall has been well used.

 

Having worked the first part of Christmas Day I left hubby in charge of preparing the vegetables. Honestly we could have hosted the whole village! Determined not to waste anything Boxing Day morning found me portioning up leftovers to freeze. We were ten of us for the big day itself...and yesterday I hosted some extended family including hubbys' parents.

Getting a tree was truly a last minute affair. I believe I was the final customer of the season at our local Christmas tree farm! I came away with a small pot grown tree for the dining hall, which promptly dropped most of its needles and I haven't dared to put any baubles on it's tiny branches. The tree in the living room appears to be doing well, and is brightening our evening as I type.

The cake has been serving us well and certainly no longer looks like this!

Well it is rather yummy if I do say so myself.

The kitchen has really come into its' own. A real hub for the festive cooking that has been happening.

Now for the rest of the evening I am looking forward to catching up on the blogs I love to read...I may also have a small glass of sherry close by...

Blessings J.x

Hubbys Idea of a Joke

Son's partner has been a little concerned that by Christmas the only inside toilet would be the one in our bedroom...Hubby decided to set up this for fun and send the picture...

Such a well meaning bloke!

Meanwhile I managed a good old bake-up for the week ahead...the roll dough was left past it's beep time in the bread machine...

 

Not quite as spetacular as in The Good Life, but still...

The first batch of mince pies...hopped straight in the freezer and will be cooked as and when we need them...

 

Everything else is hiding in tins...apple cinnamon and sultana cake, date flapjack, and toffee squares. I've warned hubby that it's an either or, not an and and and selection process, as due to a busy week all the cooking has been done in one go! What he was allowed to feast on were a few lemon curd tarts, made up with the leftover pastry.

So today it's roast beef for lunch with the two local children and their extras, then a quieter afternoon for a change on a Sunday. I usually roast in the evening by which time the Grandsons are apt to be past it and grouchy.

If the weather perks up I really must try to hobble down the lane for a bit...my back is suffering with twisting whilst decorating and I haven't been making time to get out and walk.

Blessings J. x

Little by Little

That's right...little by little our home is coming back together...and hopefully our lives will follow suit...I'm sure hubby was enjoying one of the last bits of destruction he had to perform a couple of evenings ago just A BIT TOO MUCH! He admits that for him the knocking down is the most satisfying part...me I think the painting is my favourite. Rather a lot has to happen between the destruction and painting though.

Not much has happened in the kitchen except...

 ...the other plate rack is up! Oh and the rest of the handles arrived and were put on the cupboards.

And I have begun to put some colour on the living room walls...

 

 

 

We're in for one cosy Winter hopefully!

Blessings J. x

Beginning To Bloom

I feel our home is beginning to bloom again...though much is left to do including more plaster boarding. The kitchen is now a working kitchen, with our future dining table in it until the dining room gets finished. Hubby has worked tirelessly...though sometimes rather bad temperedly!

The first plate rack is up and in use. It doesn't hold as many mugs as I should have liked, but you know what...it will do!

We don't yet have all the drawer handles, so that is a little awkward, but hubby has drilled all the holes in readiness. We heaved downstairs a small dresser as well today. More storage. We chose to have no top cupboards, but will have some open shelving plus eventually our massive pantry cupboard, which started life as a wardrobe many years ago.

Our halloween decorations are still in the attic somewhere, so this was as spooky as it got for us this year.

I've been struggling with a hanger on of a chesty cold for all of October, and yesterday began taking some antibiotics. Nasty green ones that make me feel really nauseous. The building dust is probably partly to blame, but now I just really want it GONE!

Blessings J. x

Paint

 Paint...more paint...please rinse the brushes and repeat...however look at what we've achieved so far...

 

Getting there in the bedroom with green...hubby is making built in wardrobes where the fawn is...

 

Here is a little of the bathroom. A black dado rail will separate the colours...

 

Some sunny yellow in the kitchen...a little more yellow than I was expecting actually...

So this week our kitchen was due to be delivered...well that didn't happen, however this gives us a little more time to finish the painting. It should be here next week.

The downstairs windows returned...even the bowed, glass scratched one. Couldn't make it up really. The top part will be replaced.

It is all coming together...with lots of hard work still to do.

Blessings J. x

Autumn Storms

I'd like write that Autumn storms have been battering us for days...however on climbing into bed beside hubby last night with a hot water bottle, we both came to the conclusion that it could easily have been a December evening. It has been dark for much of the last few days and showers seemingly having no ending. Today we were promised something a bit better, however earlier we had more of the same wet weather, though the wind appears to have calmed down considerably.

We have two builders on the job today, the same as yesterday. They have been plastering our new kitchen. Hopefully the kitchen is arriving to us next week. A sense of urgency has descended upon our household. 

I have been suffering with a cold for the last few weeks...I'm sure so much mask wearing is recycling the germs back to me...anyway on Friday I had a low body temperature and felt all achey. The doctor doing our Covid booster jabs said as long as I didn't have a temperature it would be OK to proceed. Well over the weekend I did develop a high temperature, and continued to ache. Still today I have dosed myself with Ibuprofen. This thing just keeps giving. Yes I did a PCR on Friday which came back negative on Saturday.

Our new bedroom is now fully ready to paint. However hubby would like to get the end walls of the cottages painted as a priority as soon as it becomes dry. I'm thinking the dark green paint I have chosen for our room is going to come a a surprise to him!

Well the days once more vanished in a haze of dust. It is now Friday. I am still holding onto my germs. Kitty is as usual on my lap. Wilbur likes to lie on the back of the sofa and reach out a paw to touch my shoulder.

Youngest is coming to help paint the ceilings later. Such a good daughter! Even though young Henry has been asking for a cousin.!! Hopefully soon I shall be able to share some photos. Don't feel that inspired to post pictures of dust everywhere!

Blessings J. x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conversation With A Daddy Longlegs

Never thought it would happen, but it just has. I have had a conversation...albeit one sided with a daddy longlegs. It came about as I was painting our ensuite toilet ceiling just now. The tiny body had taken up residence in one of the corners. Normally I would have swept it down without a second thought, however there were several fly like creatures annoyingly pitching on the ceiling where I wanted to paint. I didn't have the heart to cast him aside. It is very cold up there as we are open to the elements. The poor thing is just trying to catch his next meal. I jiggled the brush around near to him and he wisely decided to descend the wall. It is so cold here right now that Wilbur sat on the Aga this morning. Yep that cold! I have rung...again...about our windows. Apparently the person at the window manufacture dealing with them is not answering his calls or emails at the moment. Pester power here we come! I have also rung again to ask where our slates are...they were due in August. Sadly no one knows an exact date for them either. It could be a very cold Autumn/Winter for us I fear. Water has been entering down the unprotected roof ridge and when we lit the woodburner the other evening the stone started to sweat it out. Glam living here right now!!

Just spoken to a very 'happy' hubby...he is at long last sorting out some boarding for the window openings...the weather is beyond silage sheet now. I have lit the woodburner, and the sun has just decided to rather shyly show it's face. 

 

Both Kitty and Wilbur have found warm blankets to settle on. How I adore these two monkeys. Granted they have scratched some of our wood in places, however the love they show us far outweighs the damage their claws have inflicted...for now anyway!

I am doubting my sanity having agreed to yet another shift at work this afternoon. I keep telling myself we need the money right now, and it's true we do. However after today I really won't be going in until Monday...except for my Covid booster on Friday.

Rather too open plan to be a kitchen right now. Nothing a lick of paint won't cure though...oh and some windows...and plasterboard and plaster. Apparently two of our builders are on their way...thank goodness...we didn't have anyone last week and hardly anyone the week before. A bit like pulling teeth really as the build is held up by the missing vital components. All shall be well in the end though.

Blessings J. x

A Return

Some days I have really doubted that I should return to writing on this space. Life seems so removed from what it once was. Chaos reigns, and if you're at all precious about your clothing our cottage really is not the place to be. We have suffered one or two setbacks during the build. Firstly as soon as they removed the roof the weather changed and we were bombarded with storms. Rain entered the house in many ways, leaving it's mark in each place. We also have had a nightmare scenario with our windows. Seven windows were installed in the two cottages...each and every one was damaged...I kid you not. But worse was to come. When the boss arrived to take a look he realised that our upstairs ones were not building regulations compliant...I had queried this with them previously and was told they couldn't see anything to worry about. Well there has been plenty to worry about since! We have silage sheet draped at each opening...the weather is getting chillier, and my mood also!

So far our ensuite toilet has been plastered along with the bathroom. I have just about finished painting said bathroom, and today have wash coated the toilet. I had been holding off hoping that this week would see our bedroom getting plastered, but no such luck.

The roof still needs some attention. There has been a delay in the arrival of the slates. Humph!

That being said, hubby and son in law have worked each evening at various tasks, electrics, plumbing, and generally taking down ceilings and drilling holes everywhere.

I'm over this though...unless it is a build that I don't have to live in we will never be repeating this experience thank you. I mean....what woman would stand for trying to cook a roast beef tea whilst her husband drilled a hole through the ceiling right above the Aga?! 

I know that one day we quite likely will look back on this time and smile...thinking how and why did we do it all. Today is not that time though! I am struggling with the darkness brought about from having the black silage sheets up where windows should be. 

I never thought it would be possible to lose track of the number of parcels we have waiting to come...really though it is rather easy to. The toilet, basin, lights, more lights, radiators, towel rail, shower tray and many others have landed here one way and another lately.

Life is far from all doom and gloom though. Young Henry turned three and has started preschool, and Oscar has enjoyed having his mummy all to himself for a while.

We have been given a few slates to finish one patch of roof tomorrow, so daughters side will be complete and hopefully ours won't be so long a wait now. Windows, well lets not even think about such luxuries shall we. The kitchen is due the second week in October. The cupboards arrive already made. The kitchen needs to be ready to receive them!

I had a really bad time at work. Getting attacked from behind, which left me really not coping well. The said resident has now left...hopefully long term and I have stopped doing late evenings I'm finding a regular bedtime routine helpful in getting a better nights sleep. I have actually mixed up what I do at work. So I go in the kitchen, do laundry, as well as caring. A change is as good as a rest and I have managed to fit in many more hours as a result. This is possibly one of the reasons I have been a very bad blog reader of late! I am slowly catching back up though. We are indeed living in very strange times. Today I have entered in my diary my covid booster and flu jab dates.

Well I must away to the top of the garden and see if I can glean some remaining runner beans. We are having fish in a parsley sauce for tea, and they will be a greatful addition to our plates I'm sure.

Blessings, J. x

 

 

Oh My...

Well no one said it was going to be easy...and living in a building site has/is anything but. The weather changed just as our builders needed to make the roof watertight, so for the third week we have had pots pans and bowls catching water in various entry points. The 7 meter stepped valley is being done in ply and fibreglass...rain is it's enemy before it sets...que panic, frustration and annoyance. We have had to redo the felt a couple of times as high winds and driving rain tore the makeshift setup from its nails. Oh did I mention the silage sheet?! Yes, over some of the roof we had the mere protection of a silage sheet which flapped wildly in the winds. Concrete blocks were flipped over the ridge by its force and well basically sleep was hard to come by in our house. I am really rather traumatized by the roof at the moment truth be told.

Anyway...this afternoon they are putting the anti crack matting on the new kitchen floor...apparently it's something you need on a new floor...who knew...I certainly didn't and nearly choked when I found out the extra cost.  And more excitement...the windows are being fitted tomorrow...well all but one of ours which is still a doorway rather than a window. At least upstairs will be less draughty...we really aren't Country Living magazine photographable by any stretch of the imagination. For anyone who has ever visited the Flambards Victorian Village...our house looks like the blitz house. Seriously, they removed the ceilings, roof and most of the walls of our bathroom...but the window has been left dangling...so we are rather exposed in the shower to the elements! During building hours you can't use the facilities at all...for fear of flashing some poor guy up a ladder...luckily hubby put a convenience in the old pig house which has been invaluable. Should I complain...well no as poor daughter lost her kitchen and bathroom at the beginning of May!

Where has the time gone...seriously I have no idea. Being back to work my pre covid hours is rather tiring but totally necessary. In fact I shall be off there later. I hope you good folks have been having a tolerable time of it lately...I am allowing myself some blog catching up before I head off to work. Trying to concentrate on paperwork whilst the builders are here is almost a waste of time.

 

Yes that is our bathroom window...

 

Draughty...

 

One messy future kitchen...

 

Now that's more like it...

 

Yep...

 

Whatever you're up to...Blessings J. x

Space Required

Please don't misunderstand me...I really do think the world of may family...but we all need some space...not just to move around in either...daughter and her family currently have no kitchen or bathroom so regular trips to Grandmas' are in order...and usually welcomed...but this morning I have found it all just a little too much...I had some payments I needed to make and some phone calls that needed to happen before I go off to work later...cue daughter arriving with the children to make a cake...my nearly new Kenwood bowl crashing to the floor...the sofa cushions being removed...and generally everything needing to be moved up out of reach...I gritted my teeth at the screaming as youngest caught his hand in a drawer...scooped him up and passed him to Mummy...and exited to the garden for a spot of therapy planting! I have returned some time later to a much quieter and emptier house...apart from the noise of the builders...tears I feel are not far away...this building lark is stressful indeed!!

Hopefully back soon in a better frame of mind...and having caught up with some blog reading...

Blessings, J. x

The Battle

Now don't fret you good folks....today being the Summer Solstice I'm referring obviously to the battle betwix the Holly and Oak Kings...

Unfortunately I have not been able to do quite what I had envisioned on this special day due to having the boys for an extra day this week. Same again tomorrow Grandma!

Three days later...

And thus life continues apace here at Little Winter...precious little time for writing a blog post let alone an interesting one...today however there are no builders on site making noises or requesting supplies or drinks, or plasters or pain relief...concrete blocks can do some damage if they come in contact with a balding head!

So breathe...well until I have to head for work this afternoon anyway. I had hoped to pick up an easier shift in the day centre yesterday, however it ended up not opening so my bosses requested that I swop shift to later today...a not so restful experience but with the building costs rising I had little choice but to opt in.

I know I am not alone in having a blogging malaise about me...I really love to write, but for that you  have to be in the mood, it takes an awful lof of energy to put your soul onto paper or screen and it's energy that has been sadly lacking here of late.

Our cottage can now only be described as filthy and uncared for...well not uncared for but I am worrying that they are doing all this building work and I won't have the energy or drive at the end to make it a cosy home. All I see at the moment is mess and an endless stream of bills. Having the children an extra day this week really tired me out and it will be the same next week as youngest daughter tested positive for Covid...how we're not sure, she had had two weeks at home and returned to work for only 3 days. In her holiday she was picking elderflowers and making cordial. Whether it has come via her partner who knows, but they are both repeatedly testing negative on their LFT tests...very frustrating.

Today has dawned overcast and for once I am almost thankful...when it is so lovely outside I don't want to be in at all. I have a few things I can do from the comfort of the sofa with feet raised before work. Those feet will be put to good use later I can guarantee!

The hedgerows and waysides are blooming and beautiful, though keeping a small child from wanting to pick the lovely hemlock has been quite a worry. It grows in swathes along the waters edge and does look very attractive. Henry has learnt to steer clear of stinging nettles the hard way. Nature is full of such cruel beauty at times.

And now I am just going to let the pictures do the talking...

Blessings, J. x

Flaming June

Well well well...here I sit in my garden on a beautiful day...in June! Quite how June has arrived so soon after Christmas I'm not sure...but the lady is here...the skies are blue and life is feeling pretty good. The birds are singing around me and if I am lucky this evening as I water the plants that require such, an evening performance to rival any orchestra will be free to listen to.

We have a lone bilder toiling away for us today...the other two have gone to finish a job that was held up due to the previous bad weather. Progress is progress though and for this I am more than grateful.

There is a stiff breeze still blowing, however today I am happy for it to be so. The hedges are beginning to take on their frothy appearence. Washing dangles from our line and well...even the ever growing bindweed isn't getting to me today...I shall conquer it in the end...until then it is such a good exercise...me vs the bindweed. 

Hopefully when the hubby gets home from work we will have a grill in the garden. He is a bit of a caveman so a good old grill suits him well. I prefer to do the cooking though. Charcoal has it's uses but not as a food thank you!

I am pleased to report that despite the awful clanking eminating from our washing machine earlier a pocket knife has emerged cleaned but otherwise unharmed and I slill have my drum door glass intact. No I don't check hubbys' pockets...used to...didn't like it so now don't!

Youngest has the next couple of weeks off...we went for a walk on the commons earlier...and passed by the Hockings ice cream van...yes we did indulge...it would have been rude not to...it has been perfect ice cream weather here. Despite what it could do to my hips long may it continue.

One corner of the plot...only taken a few days ago, but already changing...a rose is budding up more and I have added a dahlia to the left side. Everything is just growing at the moment. 

Well I'd better not waste too much time typing so until next time...

Blessings. J. x

Spring?

Spring...I should like to know if we have offended you in any way...you appeared in your glory earlier in the year, chasing Winter away almost before it's time...but then when your turn on the wheel became truly available you had left us near naked to icy winds and ferocious rain storms...where are you...you are missed dreadfully. Your beautiful colours and gentle warmth soothes our souls. Each day this week we have been promised your return, only for a change of heart at the last moment. We are hopeful that today will be the day you do truly return, but so far the light still looks very watery. Please return to us Spring...before Summer knocks you sideways for another year.

Tulips now by the front door...still splendid after all the wind and rain...

Hiding under the front window...

Before the tulips took over from the daffodils...and before our front space became a builders yard!

Back soon...

Blessings J. x

A Quiet Walk

 

So this morning was set to hold the best of the weather for today. After a trip into town to fetch some much needed building supplies I slipped into my wellies and headed down to the woods...

 

Dedicated in memory of all the babies who fall asleep before they are born.

Blessings, J. x