Progress report

The bedroom & kitchen windows have been replaced. The work goes on today. Hopefully the kitchen will also have its new door. We’ve decided on a stable door design so we can leave the top door open while not being too inundated by the various animals that like to visit our garden e.g the rabbit & frogs.

Today is the day for Linda, our home help. Quite what she will do, I’m not sure. She might end up taking me for a push along the prom just to get away from the noise & disruption of home. On the other hand if they’ve finished the kitchen she might end up doing an in-depth clean there. The greasy patches on the cupboards by the hobs seem to have lots of dust stuck in grease. It’s just a question of whether they can get the kitchen complete by the time she arrives mid-morning.

Dinner today is going to be a meal from the freezer. Of late, whenever the Fox has made a slow cook meal, he’s made double the quantity & frozen half. This seems an ideal time to use up some of those meals. I certainly don’t feel up to doing anything that requires too much faff. So this morning I’ve got out the cassoulet. It’s a version including some duck as well as sausages & beans. It should be a nice bit of a change as well as make a bit of space for the Fox to make up with new endeavours when all this chaos is over.

Anxious

I’m up very bright & early, a sign of my anxiety over the coming work to be done. I’ve hastily got my washing done & put outside to dry on this sunny day. The sausages are out of the freezer for dinner tonight – something quick & easy to do, as well as being fairly fool-proof, no matter how tired & stressed we may be by this evening. The potatoes are peeled. Now all I’ve got to do is wait. They said they won’t be arriving until mid-morning which gives me the chance to quickly go on-line. I’m hoping it’s not going to be too chaotic a few days but I fear the worst. We’ve been thinking of places we could escape to if necessary.

Sometimes they come in fours

You know how they say things always come in threes – or at least they do here in Britain. Thursday was one day that disproves that. They can come in fours.

It began in the morning. The phone went. It was the garden centre we had visited the day before. We had bought a new garden dining set. We’d asked to have it delivered. They said fine but it would be next week. However, here they were phoning to see if they could deliver it that very morning. I hastily agreed. By 10.30am it had arrived & I got it in place under the patio pergola.

Having been disrupted from the idea of going on line by then, I decided to do a bit in the garden instead. I would plant some of the annuals we’d bought the day before. The phone rang again. This time it was the double glazing people. They are coming to replace all our windows & outside doors on Monday. Great! They should be here for 3 days.

We had been feeling a bit unsettled for a while, knowing they were due in June but not an exact date. We’d even been feeling restless & contemplated a few days away & were thinking we might go while the work is done – I’m not great coping with the demands & noise of workmen. However, “Dan” wants to talk to us first before they actually start work so we won’t be going away immediately, maybe afterwards to recover from the invasion into our home & our peace.

Next the post arrived. An invitation to the Fox’s niece’s wedding. I hastily check our diary. It’s the day we come back from our Austrian holiday. Fortunately the flight should get into Manchester around 12.10pm & the reception isn’t until the evening. The wedding is in Manchester. We’re thinking if we book a hotel for that night we should be able to have a bit of a relax after an early morning set off & a no doubt stressful flight, before getting changed for the wedding.

The day progressed. In the afternoon, we managed to get to the disability equipment shop & exchange the council voucher for a new perch stool. It was with relish that yesterday I had my shower, no longer trying to avoid getting the seat wet as otherwise I had water squirting out in the following mornings when I cleaned my teeth, as I have done for the last 6 months or so. And this morning I had a wash at the sink & cleaned my teeth without soaking the back of my legs. Marvellous!