TILES OF THE UNEXPECTED

While we were on holiday, the carpenter and tiler were hard at work in the roomFKA the scullery.  Before we came home (and too late to do anything about it), I discovered that the tiler was going to fix the tiles in a brickwork pattern.  Aaaagh!  I thought.  (At least it wasn't aaaaaaagh! so it can't have been too serious).  But had I been asked before we went away, I'd probably have said we wanted them fixed the usual way ie in columns and rows.  But what do I find, when I eventually see them?  They look great!  And what's more, I think this is actually the 'normal' way to fix this sort of tile.

So here's the next stage in the great kitchen revival.

The worktop looks rather good too.  Just my painting left to do then . . .

HOME MADE COOKING

I have finally finished my part of the kitchen remodelling.  It's been a labour of love, so I thought I had to share it with you.  You can go overboard with your praise and admiration if you like.  But no orders please. 

Here's how it was

 

and now.

 

 Then

 

and now.

Now we just have to get the worktop and tiles fitted . . .

FOR THE BIRDS

I try to keep bird feeders going in the garden and throw out bread and keep the bird bath clean, etc.  But all I seem to get is the neighbourhood cats.  A couple of weeks ago, I took part in the Royal Society for the  Protection of Birds garden survey, which involves watching the garden for an hour and letting the RSPB know which birds land there.  I only saw 4 birds all day!

Occasionally though, while the cats are all sleeping after lunch, I manage to attract a few garden birds which makes it all worthwhile.  Yesterday I had a surprise - a flock (?colony) of seagulls arrived and fed on the lawn.

As we're about 25 miles from the nearest coast, I guess it was stormy at sea.  Or do gulls feel the cold too?  I shouldn't have liked to dip my toes in the sea yesterday.  Or maybe they especially like stale white cobs?

DATE CHEQUE

I have just written a cheque.  Not many people do that these days, do they. 

We are making progress with refurbishing this house, slowly but slowly.  We finally had the last bedroom carpeted today (just the stairs and landing to do now . . .).  When it came to paying I had the choice of going to the shop with my card, telephoning my card details through, giving my card to the fitter who would then telephone, cash (unsurprisingly I don't have wads of cash in the drawer), or writing a cheque.  For once the cheque seemed the easiest method.

But when I came to write the date, I had to remember not only to write '2013', but also 'February'.  Time seems to pass very quickly these days (except in my method of paying bills); I don't know where January went (or 2012 for that matter).  But it is also a commentary on how rarely I need to write the date these days either.  Usually I get a bill on screen and just press 'OK' and type in my PIN.  The date doesn't come into it.  I think I only use a pen now to score at bridge and several places even have automated bridge scoring and wi-fi scorers anyway.

I used to joke that we would stop writing by hand altogether one day and just push buttons for predictive text and PIN numbers.  That would mean I wouldn't have to worry at all about days of the week or months or years; all I would have to remember is my PIN number (and luckily I have that written on my wrist).  Maybe the day I stop thinking is nearer than I thought.

¡ES UN AÑO NUEVO!

Yes, I've started to use my teach yourself Spanish daily calendar.  ¡Hola 2013!

What else am I going to do this year?  Well, first I'm going to decorate the spare bedroom.  Usually we work our way through the house, repairing, decorating, refurbishing.  And then, when everything is new and spick and span, we sell at a vast profit.  That's the plan anyway.  Hasn't exactly happened ever yet.  But this time we have been more relaxed with our refurbishing, partly because we are planning to stay here a little longer than we usually stay in a house and partly because the house is already worth less on the market than it was when we bought it.  Ah, well.  But we have gradually decorated our way through the house anyway and have now reached the spare bedroom.

Just after Christmas we went to Homebase and found a whole pile of paints, paper, plaster, etc on special offer.  So not sad, then, spending the holiday at the sales!

The spare bedroom then looking like a designer room in a model home, we will fly off somewhere to find some winter sun.  What is sun?  You may well  ask!  We did see a bit of sun today actually - maybe the first time for longer than I can remember - but it was decidedly chilly, far too cold to walk up and down the High Street in my vest anyway.  I think we'll also have to make sure we go somewhere where I can practise my Spanish.  Buenas noches amigos.