Our New House–A Sunday Visit

This is Post 1 of 2 for today. Yesterday my hubby wanted to go over to the new house to do some more in the garden. His brother has a trade card at B&Q and managed to get loads of beautiful bedding plants for us very cheap, and most of these are now in tubs and troughs in the shade here at home, but there were a few tubs in Mum’s patio at the new house that my hubby couldn’t move, so he took the remainder of the plants over and potted them up yesterday. He also repaired and Cuprinoled the garden seat, which is now in front of the little summer house, ready for Mum to sit on if she wants to go in the upper garden. I must say the garden is looking great now, after all his hard work. I think he’s really looking forward to having a smaller, more manageable garden, so that he can enjoy the more pleasurable side of gardening, rather than the endless maintenance and simply keeping under control that he has to do here. After he’s retired, of course, he will have even more time for it.

Being a Sunday, none of the team was there, but I didn’t want to waste an opportunity to go over with him and take some photos of the progress since my last visit, despite the fact that I’d got benders in my hair (curly whirly curlers) and looked an absolute fright – I put a big scarf over them and looked only slightly less of an absolute fright and only needed a fag to hang out the corner of my mouth to complete the picture… I spent the time unpacking boxes in my ARTHaven.

When we arrived, I was keen to see what progress had been made since my last visit on Thursday 4th July. The first thing I noticed was that the painter had started on the hall and stairs. He has made good the pitted plasterwork after the panelled paper had been removed in the hall, and also prepared the wall above the dado.

Going up the stairs, you can see the prepared wall above the dado, and the paintwork below.

We decided to leave the panelled paper on the stairs and landing because it proved to be such a pain to remove in the hall, and it’s not too bad really, especially painted the right colour. On Chris’ recommendation, I decided to go for mushroom below the dado, and cream (magnolia) above. We are keeping the gloss work as that is in pretty good condition. The painter has done the mushroom on the stairs and landing, and I really like this colour, which is very subtle and will go well with the magnolia. Unfortunately it doesn’t show up terribly well in this photo. You can also see that the cable for the light switch has now been channelled into the wall instead of hanging loose.

This is a better picture of the colour (from the next post on my ARTHaven):

Here is my hubby, taking boxes upstairs! His lovely leather hat is to keep the sun off!

The painter has also made a start in the kitchen. The wall just inside the door is going to remain as it is, with no units on it, and it’s the only wall with a dado remaining. We are not keeping the dark red paint, much as I like it. The wall above the dado will be painted a light olive green, and the dado and the wall below a slightly darker shade of the same. This will tone very nicely with our light wood units and the laminate floor. The painter has filled the blemishes and prepared it for painting.

The other major difference was that the old kitchen flooring has been taken up, exposing the original floorboards. I didn’t risk taking my wheelchair in here because of the danger of projecting nails and other sharp objects causing a puncture! (Note my hubby’s legs. He’s making a cup of tea.)

We stayed till gone 7 p.m. It was a terribly hot day and I couldn’t stand it for long out of doors, but stepping inside the back door, even on the south side of the house, it was several degrees cooler indoors than out – this house is going to be a lot more comfortable in summer, I think, as it feels lovely and cool throughout! In the winter I think it will be nice and warm, too. It reminds me of my little cottage (my first home) which was also an old house, and seemed better insulated from the outside climate than most modern houses. That suits me just fine!

I am hoping to feel well enough on Tuesday after my colonoscopy for a quick visit to take some more photos, but we shall see. The roofer is supposed to be starting today. Such rapid progress is being made on all fronts now that I don’t want to miss a single opportunity to visit with my camera! The new house is not far from the hospital, so it would be a good opportunity.

I’ve done a brief post about progress on my ARTHaven as Post 2 for today.

Health Update:

Last night I started preparing myself for the colonoscopy on Tuesday. For the past couple of days I’ve been on a low-fibre diet (which actually seemed to have had a beneficial effect on my IBS, which is something to think about!) and at 6 p.m. I had to take a dose of Senna. This didn’t seem to have any effect at all, until about 11 p.m. when my gut started to feel like a chemical factory! It got me up several times in the night. This morning I ate my last solid food before 8.30, and took my first dose of Picolax to clear out my system. So far I haven’t noticed any noticeable effect but it may take a few hours to work, like the Senna. The second dose has to be taken at 4 p.m. If there is a delay, this means I shall feel the effects of that second dose around bed time which is a nuisance – I don’t want another interrupted night.

The appointment is at 8.30 tomorrow morning, and until then, all I can eat is jelly and jelly babies. I can drink clear fluids all day, including my chicken soup, apple juice, Bovril, tea/coffee with minimal milk, and of course, lots of water. The jelly babies are to keep my energy levels up. Strange diet!!