Matthews Mansion

Living in a small 3 bedroom flat has been a little challenging. We have decided that the quality of prepared ready meals is a little variable. Fortunately our tabletop cooker is working, so we can have bacon sandwiches.  Also we found the kettle today. We can drink tea again.  We had the tree man around to clean up the unwanted trees. it has made the garden look a bit stark, but we plan to replant.  This link shows the   Tree being cut down . We got left with a lot of wood and a pile of woodchip, and a pile of twiggy branches. The carpet man came by on Friday and finished the carpet. Now we have carpet both on the stairs and in the downstairs front room. And the landing went from this to this. And the lower stairs too. The bathtub got fixed. It had a case of the wobbles as it was on little legs.  It has been put on the ground and siliconed down and this was our first test run. The Laundry is now working (hurrah clean clothes) and although my husband who was previously a hater of clothe

There is a partition in the entranceway that blocks off access to the ground floor, that essentially splits the house into two flats.  Since London is currently in lockdown, that properly separates us from the builders below.  We are in the upstairs flat and have converted the entranceway and the box room into kitchen areas. Emily's room has the  big desk that doubles as a dining table and computer desk. The moving has resulted in many boxes in the grand room. With lots upstairs with us as well. The kitchen is progressing well. the drawers are installed and the oven, hob and hood are all setup.    There was a little drama, in that the window is below the height of the bench.   But they put in a nice wooden splash back in front of it and tiled it behind.  The fences are finished now though.  The front fences required a lot of digging out of stumps. The downstairs bathroom has been tiled. and the countertops and cabinets have been setup in the laundry.  That dryer is not plugged in y

 We are moving in this week.  The top floors are mostly done. There are some issues with the 1st floor bathroom, but the loft and the bedrooms are complete except for some computer network wiring. We have booked some movers for Wednesday, and we are taking the week off to pack and unpack.  We don't expect the kitchen or the laundry will be usable by move in date, but it won't be far off. We expect a week of eating pizza. The excitement this week has been the kitchen which has progressed well.  For some reason the guy doing skirting boards has setup his saw in the  same space.  It was very dusty for a few days there. Images from newest to oldest lap cat

It has been a week of floors, with the carpet guy coming through and doing the upper rooms and stairs.  And the tilers coming through and doing the downstairs rooms. And the electrician came through and giving us lights throughout. The garden fence has been finished, but they are having trouble getting gates at the moment, so we have some temporary fence panels for that.  however the green plastic stuff that the grass should grown through is down and the rest of the dirt has been spread out for where the grass will be. All this work has generated a giant pile of green stuff.  and todays cute cat picture

 We got to experience the underfloor heating today.  The weather has turned a bit ick as usually happens in autumn.  There has been blowy rain, and a bit more rain and the temperature is now in the low teens. With all the garden work that is happening with fences, there is a lot of mud. This mud got tracked through the house, making the slab quite muddy.   But a few days ago it all got cleaned up, and I think the garden and fence workman have been locked out of the house because of the muddy feet.  Anyway, because the slab was too cold, it was not setting fast enough, and is now being gently warmed by the underfloor heating.  So when we went through the house today ( taking off our shoes because.. mud)  I got to feel the warm concrete under my toes.   The painting in the grand room looks mostly done and it is looking a lot brighter. There is some blue-green sealing goo in study and laundry. Most of the action this week has been with the garden, with fences going up and the concrete for