[A few new things purchased - old kettle broke, so had to buy a new one]
[Vintage Tin purchased at Spitalfields Market during my lunch break. Also discovered there is a Cath Kidston shop within 5 mins of my work.]It has been all go at the Tinyholder residence this week. Work has been extremely busy (good busy though). I've got the walk from the station down to a fine art now and have been doing the walk in record time. I've even been munching on Easter eggs, not dieting and still lost weight. Over the last couple of months I have gone down 2 dress sizes from a 16 to a 12. Not bad going really. I don't believe in dieting - life is short and miserable enough as it is at times without having to calorie count and feel guilty about every morsel that passes my lips! No, my strategy involves trying to add in as much exercise as possible to my routine so that I can munch on what I want (within reason of course). I tried my MBTs for the first time this week. I do tend to walk (more like leg it!) as if my life depends on it and I think I pushed myself a bit too far as I pulled my hamstring. Seems to be ok now, but I was limping a bit on Friday. They do seem to work your calves so we shall see, jury still out as to whether they are actually any good or if it's a placebo effect! hmmm
[2x Tala huge storage jars bought from Spitalfields Market.]We've been in this house for 2 years now and we are finally starting work on the most important, but perhaps not quite exciting things - the heating and electric. The boiler has now been fitted, and a new oil pipe has gone in (that was really fun digging a trench for that at the weekend! ;-)). It does seem irritating when you have to hand over £4k of our extremely hard earned money for things that don't look pretty, but it does give me peace of mind to know that the life blood of the house that keeps us warm and keeps the damp out is working and safe. This was all the more poignant as Tim's cousin died at the tender age of 31 from CO poisoning. All very tragic and brings home just how important it is to ventilate your home and invest in a CO detector.
This week we are having the house rewired. The electrics here are frightening and have been here since the 1950s. A family member is doing it for us and Tim has been his assistant so that has significantly saved on costs. Amazingly the upstairs lights are finished as are most of the sockets upstairs. Just my sewing room to do next and the downstairs, and a few other bits like the garage and earthing. He did find some shocking things - apparently all the plugs had been running off lighting cables so he said if you run high voltage things off the sockets they could have overheated and caused a fire. The next job is to get our old builder friend round (he's very good and we trust him to use his common sense!) to quote for moving the bathroom door and extending the bedroom (my sewing room) out on to the old landing (no longer needed). Once we have this done we can start work on the bathroom (next major job). I've chosen when I want in Victoria plum for half the price of Bathstore (where we bought our old bathroom). I want a large slipper bath and a massive walk in shower. We're probably going to get a slate floor as I've found a place that sells it incredibly cheaply (and locally) for £12.99/metre. I want a statement bathroom, I don't want it to be dull, all white and uninspiring. I'm thinking either a bold Sanderson wallpaper or Laura Ashley. Not sure just yet, but it may even be colours that I NEVER use (ie, cerise, yellow or teal). :-)
[I really love this scheme - I'm thinking this Sanderson wallpaper would look nice behind the Slipper bath and then a chandelier as the light and this rug?]
[New red whistle kettle bought on Amazon. If you don't already have Amazon Prime, then let me tell you it's brilliant! I ordered this at 6pm on Thursday, and it arrived at 10am the next day.]I've been working out what we need for the kitchen and I think we need the wall knocking down and a support going across (I estimate £2k to £3k), flooring put down (African gold slate; approx £400 for 30 square metres) and plastering (approx £400), re-plumbing (should be quite straight forward), and a door bricking up (probably not that much). We need a butler sink unit (approx £500), worktop (approx £150) and a new oven (approx £1300). We have a dresser, built in larder cupboard (allbeit small), wall units (I'll repaint those, they are nice solid wood), a long draw unit (I'm going to bring the one we have upstairs and use in the kitchen), a sideboard etc so we should have more than enough furniture for the kitchen. I estimate it should cost us about 5k all in. I just hope we can get enough together for it all!
Now, last but not least look at the wonderful assortment of goodies I got from winning Mary Poppins' giveaway! I was thoroughly spoiled, thank you so much Mary. The necklace and the lovely vintage case are so pretty, and I love the fabrics. In fact, I love the whole lot so thank you so much. :-)
Off to Vienna next week for work so I'll be back soon with more updates on the progress of the rewiring and other stories. Hope you all had a great weekend in the sunshine!
[I'll leave you with a picture of the beautiful Pekin bantams. Please note: the lawn has been raked and doesn't usually look this hideous!]Sian x
