What's Been Going On Around Here?

Well, the sun's been shining so that's pretty good.  We've had clear blue skies and sunshine for the last couple of days.   It's cold but it's that kind of invigorating cold that makes your blood zing and gives you real hope that Spring is truly on it's way.

The mornings and evenings are getting lighter too which is great for me as I really struggle with the long nights.

Big D turned 32 on Tuesday.

I'll just let that sink in for a bit ...

THIRTY fricken TWO!!!

I have a 32 year old son ...

Good God, it hardly seems possible.

It means that he is now exactly twice Miss Mac's age (well, until the end of April when she turns 17 anyway).

It's curious because in Big D's eyes I'm still a 'young Mum' - much younger than many of his peers Mums but to Miss Mac I'm definitely an 'older Mum'. 

Same Mum, two different perspectives.

Postie, the kitten who got caught up in the barbed wire fence, is doing really well.  She had a check up at the vets on Monday and the wound has shrunk considerably.  Hopefully the vet will sign her off next week.  Meanwhile she is full of herself.  Her favourite pastime is knocking everything off the coffee table and waiting for me to pick it up so she can do it all again.

She has also discovered that the bath, which is enamel, retains heat for quite a while after it's been emptied and so makes a great place to play:

And

It's especially good

When you have a plug to play with!

I made Big D some cupcakes for his Birthday.  Half were coffee with a salted caramel centre and half were chocolate with the same filling.  Unfortunately Miss Mac and I needed to 'taste test' the salted caramel (just to ensure we didn't poison any one you understand) and we managed to eat half of it - It was GOOOOD!!!  But that meant that I didn't have quite enough to fill all of the cupcakes.  Seeing as I'd made a dozen and a half I didn't think it would matter too much and I kept half a dozen back for us with the plan that I would make more caramel today.  I left the box of cupcakes on the kitchen counter overnight and, for some reason, I left 3 clean plates on the top of the box rather than putting them in the cupboard.  This morning I came down to 3 smashed plates and a box of cupcakes on the floor.

It probably says a lot about me that I was more relieved that the lid hadn't come off the cake box rather than being cross about the smashed plates.

Talking of the bathroom (which I was in a kind of round about way) - It's STILL not bloody finished!

I have NO idea why such a small room is taking SO long!!!

At least, I KIND of do.

Nothing is ever straight forward in this type of house. There are always hidden horrors waiting to jump out at you whenever you start to work on them.

Most things I'll have a go at myself but some things require a grown up which is where SD steps in.

I found this great tool in the shed, must have been left over from the days of Ex Lax (my ex for those who don't know - he got that name due to my friend once misspelling his name in a text and call him Lack and the fact that he gives me the sh*ts).

Anyway, it's a special tool for tightening up taps - who knew such things existed?  I only knew that's what it was because it helpfully said so on the side.

So, one of the taps on my bath was a bit loose and it seemed like the perfect time to sort it out.

This involved taking off the bath panel.  The only thing was that it wasn't a standard bath panel, it was a homemade one that had never been finished properly and there were gaps at either end and it just looked a little rough generally.

SD set to work and framed it with some wood to finish it off and give in more strength.  I painted it and then, after tightening the taps, we put it back in place.

I think he did a pretty good job!

 

 

 

 

He also made a panel to cover the exposed pipes running behind the sink so now I have no patches of bare wall and pipes and it looks great.

I thought Id finished the painting after hours of backbreaking work giving the ceiling a couple of coats of paint but when I looked around I decided that the narrow coving that runs around the edge of the ceiling and walls would look better painted grey rather than white.

I really did try to fight that feeling, cutting in is NOT my forte and every bit of grey that I got on the white was going to have to be cleaned off and repainted ...

But I couldn't leave it when everything else was looking so good, it would always bug me.

Half the coving is done

I will have to go round and do some touching up when it's finished and I cant help thinking that the tiles around the bath could really do with some sort of edging, they don't look quite finished ...  Maybe a baton of wood painted grey to match the coving ...

So, by the end of this week I should be able to add the finishing touches, put up the signs etc and have a proper reveal.

The only things that wont be done are the floor (because I simply cant afford to do that right now) and a cupboard that I picked up and that houses all out bits and bobs.  It's oak and I plan on painting it but that won't get done until it's dry and warm enough to take it outside.

Meanwhile I have stripped off more paper in the dining room and discovered that there are several areas where the plaster has blown (come away from the wall) so I'm going to have to take all the loose stuff off and possibly get someone in to do that (although I might give it a go myself ...).

Oh, and there was a trip to the beach last week.  I did start to write a post about it but it didn't get finished so here's a pic anyway:

It was bloody cold!

 I'm actually not keen on this photo but SD says I'm far too precious about things and too vain and I should just concentrate on the fact that photos, whether I like them or not, are a record of the things we have done so I should be happy with them.

Can't argue with that!