So, you might have noticed that it’s been quite quiet on the blog front. But what could have happened in the meantime to warrant such a title for this post? Let me reassure you, I am not suffering from recipe amnesia. The title relates not to ability, but rather lack of facility.
Finally, after 5 years in the house we are replacing the kitchen. Now, as kitchens go, what we had could have been much worse and did serve enough of purpose to ignore it for a while. However, over the past 2 years, things have started to fray at the edges. As you can see from the before photo below, someone didn’t believe in cupboards. All our crockery, glasses and mugs etc have been living on a huge shelf. This isn’t so bad for anything used frequently, but for everything else the battle against grease deposits has been constant. The shelf in one of the cupboards collapsed a while ago, heat was available from only 60% of the hob, the ceiling was cracked and wobbly and, all in all, the bits we inherited with the house that hadn’t already been replaced had become a bit rickety. So, disruptive as it is, a replacement was called for.
The job hasn’t, however, been quite as straightforward as hoped. On day 1 the fitters ripped out the old units and with them fell substantial areas of the wall plaster, right back to the brick. In one area, although the brick wasn’t exposed, there were at least three distinct layers of plaster built out to a couple of inches in thickness, the reasoning behind and the solidity of which were in question. We had planned to have the ceiling replaced and the walls skimmed anyway, but this was a bit more than we bargained for. Nevertheless, we couldn’t continue without getting it fixed, so I threw caution to the wind and said “Do what you need to do”. Having been hiding back upstairs with my cup of tea, I was called back to the kitchen by the plea “Could you just come and have a look at this” – not the most welcome of phrases. This was followed by a conversation involving electrical jargon, such as ring mains, spurs and junctions, but which culminated in the word “bad”, so I threw caution to the wind and said “Do what you need to do”.
Thus, my 1-week kitchen fit (which I always thought was ambitious but about which I was pleased) has extended in duration and cost. On the plus side, I will know that we’re not going to burn to death or get a shock every time I switch on the hob or hand blender, and that the cabinets won’t fall off the walls. Plus, there’s something so pleasing about seeing a wreck become a newly plastered room!
Here are some pictures of the progress so far.
Day 1, the bricks are showing and the ceiling has been pulled down.
Day 2, the basis of a new ceiling is in place, but the electrics have been condemned.
Day 3, the holes are repaired, the walls are UniBond-a-go-go and the first layers of plaster have gone on the ceiling and one wall.
Day 4, plastering completed.
Day 5, new cabling is in, sockets and switches are fitted and the ceiling lights are in place.
In the meantime, I'll keep managing in the makeshift mini-kitchen and remembering that things could be one hell of a lot worse! Roll on Friday...
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