Category: The archive (Bradford house)

An apology

2 Comments

The eBay lady (see: Woman, you are testing me), tried calling me the day before yesterday.  I’m ashamed to say, I let it go to voicemail without picking up, thinking I’m not going to tell you how to put the kitchen together.  I have neither the knowledge, nor the inclination.  She didn’t leave a voicemail, but then sent a text, which consisted of only one sentence, and no punctuation:

I only have one drawer front

Massive oops!  Incidentally, she doesn’t have one drawer front, she has none at all, so not sure what she was looking at.  I had told Barry that we needed to empty the four drawers, but then we didn’t, and they were abandoned in the living room when the rest of the kitchen was collected.  I mentally slapped my own forehead.  All I could do was apologise profusely, and then text Barry quickly to see when we could take them round, which was Thursday evening.

We set off as soon as I got home from work, eventually found her house, and took the drawers to her door.  She welcomed us in, and then asked us to close the door; she had a few questions for us.  Barry and I exchanged worried glances.  We didn’t really want to shut ourselves in, but had little choice.  We were ushered into her kitchen, where we were set upon by a barrage of questions, including:

  • What’s this bit of wood for? (Erm…)
  • Do you think your kitchen will fit in my kitchen? (Shouldn’t you have measured this before purchasing the kitchen (two weeks ago)?)
  • What’s this bit of wood for? (Ah…)
  • What amp plug does the oven need to be?  Is it 30? (Um, no, 13)
  • I suppose I’ll have to have the worktop cut then. (Not technically a question, but she phrased it in such a way that she seemed to require a response.  Yes was the response).
  • And finally, what’s this bit of wood for? (Arghhh!)

We were gradually edging towards the door, as it appears that she is actually going to attempt to put the kitchen together herself, and we didn’t really want to be party to that party.  We made it out eventually, and returned home for some fun times (sweeping and pipework).

I still feel slightly guilty for hitting “ignore” on my phone when she rang, and I truly am sorry that we forgot to give her the drawers, but I feel that we have been suitably punished.  No more!

Ta-da!

5 Comments

I spent quite a bit of time last night on my knees, doing something truly filthy. Yes, that’s right, I was cleaning the kitchen floor of wood dust.  RtJ has finished!

There are still some bits for us to finish off (cornice/pelmet), but he’s done everything we wanted him to, and he was very reasonably priced with it.

When I got home last night, we first of all had to drive to the “special” eBay woman (more on this tomorrow), which took a couple of hours out of our evening. Then, when we returned again just after 8pm, Barry spent the next two hours fitting the tap and doing the pipework under the sink.  I swept the floor and inhaled probably lethal amounts of wood dust.

Photos of the progress below…

Double whammy

Leave a comment

Two good things happened yesterday, kitchen-wise: the joiner made a start and a man with a van came to pick up the old kitchen!  Hurray!

I’ve included four photos from yesterday morning, before I went to work, and then five from when I got home and the man had taken all the bits away.  The worktop has all been cut (including a hole for the sink), it just needs fixing.  Richard the Joiner (RtJ, as he shall henceforth be known), broke several jigsaw blades on the solid wood and had to get some more!  There’s enough of the worktop left for us to have a little bit of surface coming out of the wall by the door – we’ll just need to get a brushed stainless steel post.

RtJ has also cut some plinth for underneath the oven so you can’t see the bodge job of making it higher, but it means we’re going to run out of plinth, so may need to have some further bodging of using end panel for some of the plinth area.  Barry and I nipped to Wickes last night to get some glue and silicone so he can continue today.  Barry also spent a lot of last night preparing the pipework for under the sink so he can do that quickly once RtJ’s finished today.

The man who collected the old kitchen couldn’t believe how many parts there were to it.  He was glad he’s not the one putting it back together!  I’ll be very surprised if I don’t get at least one call from the eBay woman with questions about it.

The joiner cometh

Leave a comment

I have absolutely no news today, but I’m hoping to have updated photos tomorrow.  For today, the joiner cometh!

I’m so happy at the thought of having a functioning sink (never mind somewhere to chop those pesky veggies) that I’m hoping it will put me in a good mood all day.  It is still, however, a working day, so we shall see.

Jobs for the joiner

  • Cut worktop (four bits)
  • Cut out hole for sink (hopefully leaving us with a chopping board from the negative space)
  • Cut the upstand to match the worktop
  • Make a cupboard from the boiler from the random bits the B&Q designer cleverly ordered (note: adverb used with irony)
  • Cut the plinth for all of the kitchen.

While he’s cracking on, Barry can sort out the waterworks underneath the sink so we can use it straight away.  I daren’t ask him to take photos of the process, so I’ll just have to see the transformation when I get home!

Woman, you are testing me

3 Comments

I’m beginning to think that the woman who bought our kitchen from eBay is some kind of online Jeremy Beadle.  The latest update is that her computer has crashed, her husband is ill, and her landlord is in hospital with pneumonia, so she can’t pick up the kitchen yet.  I haven’t made any of that up.  I couldn’t.

I’ve been asked previously if we can deliver (no), and she’s made me tell her three times that it’s evenings or weekends only, which makes me look like I’m being really awkward.  She also text me today to ask if I can print the photos from eBay.  I said no initially, but Barry’s said I am now just being awkward, so I’ve done it.

I asked her if it was still Wednesday that she’s picking it up, and she said hopefully.  I’m this close (my forefinger and thumb are being held about a millimetre apart) to reporting it to eBay and relisting it.

Get a handle on it

2 Comments

Not much to report from yesterday – Barry sanded some stuff around the radiator. The most obvious change is that there are now handles on all of the unit doors.

The joiner came round – he’s going to come on Wednesday and Thursday to do the worktop, upstand and sort the boiler cupboard. Can’t wait to have a sink in! The kitchen will be almost complete this week, very exciting. Then we can focus on the floor!

Saturday: progress made

2 Comments

I was banished from the kitchen yesterday so Barry could do some work with his earphones in and I wouldn’t get in the way.  I felt like a bit of a spare part, but I sneaked in every now and again to take some photos and then run away.

The oven is steadily making its way to the middle of the space.  Barry’s also put it up on blocks so that it’ll be the same height as the work surface will be when that goes on.

We’re hoping to affix the plinth in some way along the bottom of the oven – we don’t want to be able to see this!

In other news, Barry’s swapped the broken radiator for the new one,

which hopefully won’t leak, and gone over the black paint that was already on that wall, as well as painting behind the radiator.

Hopefully, today we’ll get some more handles on the bottom units, although I’ve woken up early and it’s a lovely day, so we might actually need to go and get some Vitamin D.

The joiner also comes today, so we should finally have a date and proper price for sorting the worktop out.  Sink, ahoy!

Ready for the weekend

2 Comments

I’m so ready for this weekend. We’re not doing anything special, it’s just two days of being at home.

The plan for this weekend’s DIY is for Barry to sort out the gas and electricity points for the oven, and build up the legs of the oven so it meets the same point as the worktop. The joiner is coming on Sunday to tell us how much he thinks cutting the worktop will be, and Barry might ask about a couple of other things, like making the boiler cupboard.

On the eBay front, our kitchen hasn’t been collected yet. Despite the listing clearly stating collection only, she asked if we could deliver. No. There’s a 3m worktop in there! She got a bit huffy and said she’d have to book a man with a van. Go do that then. I contacted the woman again to see when this may be (a, we need the space, and b, we need the money); it will be either this weekend or next Wednesday. Helpful.

Home is where…?

3 Comments

According to the adage, home is where the heart is. But can your heart be in more than one place at once?

I was born in Aldershot, but only have hazy memories of the place. After moving around the area for a few years (my parents had various pubs), we moved to Howden for good when I was five. Howden’s a village in East Yorkshire where my mum grew up and my maternal grandparents still live. Although we moved to the neighbouring town of Goole on my tenth birthday, my heart stayed in Howden, and it’s always where I tell people I’m originally from.

Barry’s from Northern Ireland, and if we’re going back there, he says he’s going home (but then he also says we’re going home on the way back!).

Does it have something to do with the house in which you grew up? I was studying abroad when my parents sold the house in Goole, and felt untethered since then really: it’s no longer my home. I suppose when you have children, you truly make a home of your own and hope that they always regard it as such.

Now we live in a village in the suburbs of Bradford, but if we’re abroad we say “near Leeds”. Naughty, I know, but we’re between the two cities so I think we get away with it. I took this photo of Bradford city hall last week, and it actually looks great.

But is it where my heart is? I can’t imagine growing old here. If work wasn’t an issue (i.e., if we won the lottery), I’d move straight back to East Yorkshire – Howden if possible! Barry can come too, if he wants.

Decorator’s block

Leave a comment

Although this sounds like some kind of tool (let’s face it, it could be), by decorator’s block I mean the point at which you’ve had enough.

Barry’s been at it for over a month now, between the living room and the kitchen, and it looks like he’s close to having enough. It’s hard when you’re busy with a full-time job, to then come home and spend evenings and weekends doing DIY or decorating.

We’re so near the home straight now for the kitchen, we just need the joiner booking to give us a target for the few things that need doing before then.