Crikey! It's a carpet!!!

I spent the morning alternating between a bit of prep work and clearing up the office - especially the floor! After an hour or so, I could see the carpet - amazing!

We caught up with the gazillion of Lambing Live episodes shown last week on the BBC. Luckily, we had beef for lunch!

Flat Hunting

We took a drive down into town today to revisit an apartment in 'The Woodyard' off Wellington Street in Kettering

Well, initial impressions were favourable. It's a two-bedroom apartment, pretty close to town with its own parking space. Although the place was a bit grubby and the colour scheme was pretty depressing, we think it's a good choice for Lee.

Looks like it has Virgin Cable already 'plumbed-in' too!

Lee is going to be talking to the letting agent tomorrow with a whole list of questions.

It�s been a bad week here for technology!

First, my NetBook dies and now the four home phones have more-or-less all deteriorated beyond repair.

The replacements turned up today courtesy of John Lewis, and they look pretty good. The best thing about them is that you can program in someone�s number on a single phone and then copy it to all the other phones.

2pm. They�re all up and running, but they�ve got so many features that I do need to read the manual � and that�s very unlike me!

Hey, I just discovered another cool feature. Let�s say �Billy the Bogey-man� is making nuisance calls to you. There is a feature on the phone that bars his number and gives Billy the engaged tone whilst secretly storing his number at your end.

�and another. Set the preferred time and anyone ringing you after that time goes straight to voice-mail � without the phone ringing. Ah-hah, but what about someone ringing you in an emergency? Well, those clever people at Panasonic have thought of that too � you simply enter a list of those entries from your phone book as �exceptions�

�only another 90 pages to read�. :)

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

�and the morning too! Unusually, neither of us had that much to do today. I got the books ready for Nick, my Accountant (it's my end-of-year), whilst Ann attacked the shower-room armed with an elbow full of grease - and the oven, with a chicken full of err.. chicken!

Lee and I caught up with the blu-ray DVD: Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince. Darker and more spooky than previous episodes with some truly amazing special effects, it didn't disappoint � check out the opening scenes showing the destruction of the Millennium Bridge!

A Lady who does�

Kerry popped round for a briefing on what she's letting herself in for! She's very punctual and seems very organised � she loves cats too! :)

We've a couple of chunky assignments for her to begin with, in a few weeks' time.

Our New Kitchen � A Step Backwards�

Having blown-out JL because of their high prices and a local supplier for lack of attention to detail (they missed an appliance off the plans!), our latest supplier has also bitten the dust.

Great products, great prices, and a truly gorgeous showroom was complemented by a complete inability to meet any sort of agreed deadline! The last straw was when I agreed with them that they�d get the plans and pricing structure to us whilst we were on holiday � in time for our return � they didn�t!! After a phone-call to them last week where we agreed that it would all be here by Thursday - yesterday; by 5.30, nothing had appeared.

I phoned them and expressed my displeasure only to be reminded that �In my book Steve, 5.30 is still Thursday and I still plan to get them to you�. Whilst technically correct, it did seem to somewhat convenient that the were �just about to�.  Anyway, things went from crap to crappier resulting in me being accused of being patronising (moi?) and treating him �like a child� and having the phone slammed down on me!

I rang back, and things became very clear �Steve, I don�t need your business and if you going to be this nit-picky before we start the job, you sound like the sort of person, I don�t think I want to do business with��

I agreed that the last bit was one thing we could agree on!

Phew, that�s got that of my chest and I feel better now Doctor :)

Is it too much to ask to find a supplier that can do what we ask..? The challenge continues�

Kenwood �wouldn�t you?

There are food mixers, there are food processors and then there is the �Kenwood Chef Titanium� � a beast of a machine that can do everything except boil an egg -  err, actually I think it does that too! Ann�s new best-friend arrived today and nearly gave Paul, our neighbour a hernia bringing it round to us!! The box that it arrived in, was about half the size of the front-door � massive.

So, if you planning on laying a patio and need concrete mixed, or your combine-harvester has broken down, I think we have a suitable alternative!

Kitchen Project

Ben and Brian came round from Rock Revelations to measure-up the kitchen for their version of what it should look like.

Big Mac and a Big Disappointment

I went for my six-monthly check-up at the local dental practice today. The dentist I saw was new and boy, was he rough - ouch! Last time my mouth was that stretched was back in the 1970s when I used to eat a whole Big-Mac in one mouthful! He looked as serious as hell throughout the encounter, and had no 'small-talk' whatsoever. I think I'll contact the Practice and switch to someone gentler, humorous and more of a conversationist�but mostly someone gentler!!

The 'measuring-man' from the local 'Rock Revelations' kitchen company was due to arrive at 1pm to measure the kitchen. His office rang to ask what time the appointment was � doh! When I confirmed 1 o'clock, they said they couldn't make it, so we arranged for later in the day, 3.30. Later I discovered I'd missed a message on my phone asking for directions � doh!, we'd emailed directions to them last week. I gave them again over the phone. At 3.30, no-one had arrived. When I rang, he was apparently 'two-minutes' away. Fifteen minutes later, still no sign of anyone.

I cancelled!

Find the fridge�

..and a freezer�and a cooker!

We decided to start the search for all the replacement white-goods for the new kitchen � and just to be awkward, they need to be black!

A short drive to Comet at Riverside near Northampton was our first stop. There weren't many fridges or freezers on show, but Stephen the sales assistant was very helpful in guiding us through the maze. He helped using his knowledge and their excellent on-line catalogue was pretty helpful.

Then a walk to Currys, also at Riverside. Although the range on show was a lot better, their on-line catalogue was incredibly slow and you couldn't search by size or colour. Still, the whole experience has narrowed down our options. The challenge seems to be getting a fridge or a freezer or a fridge/freezer that's got the capacity we need.

Finally, we drove over to Northampton to the biggest B and Q I think I've ever seen � it was massive! Although we didn't specifically go there to look at kitchens, they had some great designs on show including one in burgundy � it was beautiful � and the other designs have given some ideas for ours. After picking up some more solar lights for the garden, it was then that we realised that we'd both come out without any money � Doh!

We drove home, had a cuppa and then popped back to Tesco's to pick up some stationery.

It's been a productive day � and we didn't spend much money either ('cos we couldn't!).

Nice Kitchen

We had a look at David and Val's new kitchen. It's coming on a treat!

Kitchen Plans v2

That was quick! John Lewis emailed through the revised plans for the kitchen. Nice�.!

Camcorder and the Kitchen Project

We took a drive to John Lewis in Leicester today to see the results of their plans for our kitchen. We were very impressed - they've interpreted our wishes and added some creative touches too - a really great job.

After going through the plans in detail - we must have been there for over two hours - we made some further changes and the results should be with us within the week. Kerrching!

...now all we need to do is pay for it!!!

We also visited their camera department to see if they would/could price-match the new camcorder we have in mind - err...no! The price difference is �150 and they weren't prepared to match an internet price (understandably). As things turned out, that was good news because when I did some price-matching back home, the price had gone down and the supplier was throwing in a free two-year warranty - more details to follow, in a few days when it arrives.
 
One of us will need to 'go-out-on-the-game' to pay for all of this - I think that'll be me then!

Up and Down�

The electric garage door has recently taken on a life of its own. I don't recall any stories of garage-doors being possessed � however, mine was opening and closing every time I approached it! (Ann's was fine). Even more bizarrely, if I switched on the interior light in the garage, that triggered the doors too. And, if that was confusing enough, Ralph and Karen's key fob triggered it too when they tried to lock their car.

Eventually, I discovered that it was the PIR on our security light that was triggering it when I stepped into the 'zone'.

I rang the car-door manufacturer of the door and mechanism (Cardale) and they couldn't work out why either. A few hours later they rang to offer me two new fobs on loan for me to re-program and try-out. I drove over to their offices � luckily, just 10 minutes away � to pick them up.

Good news! I chose the fob that most closely resembled the existing one and after a quick re-program, I tried it�and it worked!

Normal service has now been resumed.

Ralph and Karen � here for the weekend

Saturday
We drove down to Bicester Shopping Village to meet R and K. The girls did a little some shopping, (but didn't buy much) whilst Ralph and I pursued more manly activities by like heading to the BOSE shop to see the latest kit. Ralph and I then headed back to ours to chill-out and try and solve the problem of my second router not connecting to the Internet and generally bring ourselves up-to-date with the latest TV technology. However, things were to become far more complex from an electronics point-of-view later on in the day.

Ann and Karen arrived back just after 12 and we all sat down to burgers for lunch � lovely!

Straight after lunch, Ralph and I resumed our search for the solution to my router problem. A couple of hours later, we still couldn't get it to work but we had at least, narrowed it down � something to do with the main phone plugged into the bedroom socket upstairs. The router worked if that phone was unplugged, but plugging it in, just knackered the internet connection. Strange!

Even stranger, was the 'old' problem of my garage door randomly opening and closing for no reason when someone approaches it. After discounting someone nearby just taking-the-p*** with an identical remote control (how paranoid am I?), we discovered that the door was being triggered by the PIR sensor for our security light nearby. Walk into its path and the garage door began to open; and then close again � all on its own. It's not done it before, so why now? An hour later, we still couldn't solve the problem and the help-line at ScrewFix had gone home!

What a frustrating time � even with our both our sharp minds on the case, we now ended up being stuck with TWO problems!!

6.00pm. Time to bottle-out, and open a bottle of something! We're hoping to eat outside later, but some champagne and nibbles will do until then!

Time for a movie too! We settled for 'Vertical Limit' on Blu-ray, starring Chris O'Donnell and Bill Paxton. Although the story itself was a bit ploddy, it was more than made-up for by the stunning photography and stunt sequences.

 

7.00pm. It turned out to be a lovely evening so we paused the DVD and had starters of cold meats, olives and cheeses outside. Then a brief pause whilst the girls prepared the risotto.

8.15pm. Seafood Risotto time � delicious!!! Followed by Ann's 'apricot-topped egg custard thingy � more than delicious!!!

9.45pm. Karen and I cleared-up the kitchen (which was nowhere near looking like the bomb-site it threatened to be!) and we then watched the rest of the DVD.

Sunday
As usual, I was first up; unusually, it wasn't until 8am!! What a hot night though � it felt like it remained in the 20s throughout.

So, a late breakfast then � mainly of cereals, toast, muffins and fruit (we were all too stuffed from last night!).

After breakfast, (returning to the problem of our second router not working), Ralph suggested I checked the the ADSL filter on the BT line upstairs and replace it with a new one � it was worth a try even though I'd tried it before. When I pulled the bed out to access the main BT socket upstairs, I noticed that the socket had NO filter on it at all. So, I added one in and surprisingly, the router is now working perfectly! I'd been here before, but previously, the router definitely DIDN'T work - Go figure!

11.20am. Ann and Karen decided to go for a walk whilst Ralph and I faffed around with the DVD player accessing YouTube and playing media from an SD card and USB. I still haven't got it all sussed-out, but I';m getting there!

12.45pm. Time to head for The Star Inn at Geddington where we'd booked lunch. We haven't been there for a while, but we recall the food being excellent. By the time we'd made the short drive (bottling out of driving through the ford), the day had become much warmer. There were already people sitting round the Queen Eleanor Cross with their pints in their hand and it all looked very 'English'.

We were greeted with a very warm welcome and were shown to our table. The menu followed shortly afterwards. I went for the vegetarian cottage pie, whilst everyone else had the Sunday Roast. The service was excellent and servings were so large that none of us could manage dessert � not even me, not even coffee � but we were tempted by the 'chocolate lumpy bumpy'. We'll just have to go back again!

3.00pm. On leaving the Pub we were greeted by the throaty roar of a number of Ferraris travelling through the village � red, yellow, silver and even a black one!

We said our good-byes to R and K and headed home. Time for Ann to have a snooze and me to catch-up with a bit of TV.

What a great weekend � the weather's been fantastic and it's been great to catch-up!

Kitchen thoughts�

Lee from the Kitchen Department at John Lewis (High Cross, Leicester) arrived today to take our briefing for a revamp of the kitchen.

Two plans: the first, to go completely bonkers and have the whole space redesigned. The second, a design that just concentrates on the essentials. It much depends on the final price, but we do want a replacement oven, a second full-size oven, an induction hob and some book-shelves. But perhaps most important of all,  to sort out the cra*** extraction unit above the existing hob that has all the sucking capability of a hairdryer!

Lee was superb - confident, knowledgeable and above all, not 'pushy' for the sale � just happy to offer his advice in a courteous and professional manner. He even suggested re-positioning the main oven to the opposite side of the kitchen to free-up some space on the right-hand side.

Plans and quotation are due in around two-weeks' time. We'll then visit the store to see a 3D CAD 'virtual tour' on a large screen in order to fine-tune it

Strimmer and Shopping

The Ryobi RLT30CET petrol strimmer arrived today courtesy of Screwfix. It was on special offer there and came with a free pruning attachment, so it was exceptional value (the pruning attachment alone was worth around �40). What a beast-of-a-tool - now all I need to do is assemble it!

Update 17.45: David popped round (at my request) to check everything was in the right place and I'd mixed the fuel and oil correctly. Lift-off, it's working fine � but the battery needs a good charge overnight.

Ann had a successful shop in London and I acquired some nice new t-shirts and one for business as a result. Her mobile went flat so she got a taxi back from the station and was back earlier than I expected � just before 3pm.

Kitchen and Utility Room re-painted

Ann finished painting the remaining bits and pieces in the kitchen and utility room � it all looks great!

Kitchen Repaint

Whilst I was out this morning, Ann got stuck into repainting the walls in the kitchen and utility room. We'd chosen Wickes' 'Devon Sun' - a slightly lighter shade of what was there already � nice job!!

Local Heroes�

Tom and John came round this morning to paint the kitchen and utility room ceilings. What a couple of real heroes, stepping in at short notice after yesterday's disaster - that's what friends are for!

Thanks guys! � hope you can make it next Saturday for the party!

Ooh, a white ceiling..and a white floor...and a white cardigan!

Today we decided to give the heavily-hyped 'Paint Wizard Pro' a second chance after my disastrous inaugural event, where I painted part of the ceiling and then part the blue carpet in the dining-room after the device 'fell-apart'. So with all that firmly in our mind, we took extra care this time. We also took the opportunity to thin the emulsion paint to make the application easier. So far, so good.

The good news was that the paint application was definitely easier, but by now, the paint was so thin, it was going to take 20 coats to cover the ceiling � and boy, is it heavy, when full of paint!!! `

The bad news was that just 30 seconds into the job, the end fell off the the roller (just like last time) narrowly missing Ann and depositing half-a-pint of fresh emulsion all over Ann's cardigan and the kitchen floor. Four tea towels and half a roll of Bounty Plenty later, we had a clean floor, a ruined cardigan and a ceiling that still wasn't covered!

What a piece of crap!!! We should have read the reviews of Amazon � one star (you can't award zero stars)!!

OK, time to recognise my limitations and call in the professionals. A quick call to Tom and hopefully we'll get it sorted for next week.

Bosworth's

We dropped in to Bosworth's to choose some pots and plants for the back garden. Cor, what a scorcher!�it must be mid/upper 20s today!

A Very Productive Day...

It's Bank Holiday Monday, so time for a lay-in and a lazy day - yeah right!!! I was up at 6.30 and Ann, not long after, at 7.15. We've got plans to plant all the err.. plants bought from Bosworth's yesterday AND to get a coat of emulsion on the kitchen ceiling. Add to that, cleaning the car and getting a few bits of shopping in, and it's going to be a busy day 

By 8am, Ann was gardening and I was sussing out our whizzy new gadget for painting the ceiling - the 'Paint Wizard Pro'. Seduced by the advert on Sky, I was like a rat-up-a-drain-pipe when ordering it a few weeks back, as I thought this would save us a lot of time. It doesn't splatter paint and there are no messy paint-trays to step-in - sounds perfect!

Err, no! I filled it up with paint, waited the recommended two minutes to allow the paint to soak through and then tried it. Unfortunately it took far too much rolling-effort to get the paint to actually deposit itself on the ceiling. Ten minutes later, I covered all of 1 square foot!! I tried thinning the paint, but that didn't seem to make much difference. I tried using the extension rod, but that was so wobbly, I couldn't direct the head. Then, just as I thought it might be working, the end fell off the head giving the paint its total freedom - all over our blue carpet!!! - Good job it was only emulsion!!! Enough of this - time to return to more traditional methods in the shape of a paint-brush. A few hours later, I'd got a third of the ceiling covered and the coving with a first coat.

Ann was progressing well in the garden. The area surrounding the two large pots tidied and replanted - check; the bed to the right of the pond, dug-over and replanted - check; and similarly the bed to the left and most of the main bed too. 4.45 and Ann was knackered. I think it's the she has ever spent in the garden.

Time to put our feet-up for the rest of the day

Kitchen Ceiling

Our long-term plan is to modernise the kitchen and utility room. Initially, we're getting rid of the 'swirly-plastered' ceiling and dumping the crappy fluorescent tubes in favour of some modern down-lighters in both the main kitchen area and the utility room.

Phase I (Thursday) - Mick, the electrician came round to create the holes and lay the wiring for where the new down-lighting will eventually go. 


Phase II (Thursday) - Nathan and his team came round to re-board and plaster the ceilings and then put up the coving.

Phase III Thursday) - Mick returns to drill the holes for the down-lighters.

 

 

 

Phase IV (Friday) - I paint around the freshly drilled holes in preparation for Mick to return on Saturday to install the lighting.

 

 

Phase V (Saturday) - Mick installs the lighting

Phase VI - This phase is down to us as the ceilings and coving will now need repainting. More on that, when we get around to it! The hardest, and most boring part, was me having to remove the old stick-on border prior to any of this - but now I'm thinking, did I need to anyway? - the plaster-board and the new coving completely covers the area of the stick-on border! - Doh!!

Laptop woes/Kitchen ceiling

Julie brought Georgina's Dell (rather nice pink) laptop round. It's refusing to accept an installation of the latest free version of AVG.

After spending a lot of time clearing out the registry, I tried to reinstall it. After a couple of false-starts, it installed without a problem. I've been running various tests on it for the past few hours and it seems to be fine so far. I plan to leave it running overnight for any AVG updates and we'll see how it is in the morning.

---

Mick popped round to create the holes in the ceiling ready for Nathan to board, plaster and add coving to the ceiling on Thursday. Mick will be back towards the end of the week to install the downlighters.

This all prompted me to begin the removal of the existing border that's been glued up there not long after we moved in 14years ago! It was a fiddly and boring job, but I got further than I planned. I'll hopefully finish it all off tomorrow.

Kitchen Ceiling

Mick and Nathan popped round to sus-out the work needed to replaster the ceiling and replace the lights in the kitchen and utility room. Work starts next week. Thanks to Val and David for the inspiration!!

Cats in, Clock up

We took the cats over to Patsy's for their normal 'six-weekly bath-and-brush-up'. Bon-Bon (being white) was certainly in need of a wash - it looked like she's been head-butting piles of mud (she probably had!)

At last, the conditions were right (a lovely warm day) to put up our new garden clock. Our previous attempt last year failed miserably some six weeks' later when the wind brought it crashing down, 'bouncing bomb' style, scattering pieces all over the garden - The pairing of DIY skills and me is similar to pairing Jeremy Clarkson with green transport supporters! Perhaps I should put a net underneath!!

After picking up the cats we carried with a few bits in the garden.