Daily Archives: August 23, 2016

Day 11 in the Big Other house…

Many miracles have happened.

I got diamonds for my birthday on Saturday – they were just on the end of the saw that put a perfectly rectangular hole in my wall.

Another miracle was the boiler getting reconnected and working! Well, apart from the pressure gauge and apparently that’s quite an important bit, so I’m happy to spend £12 on a new one. Other mannas from heaven included finding the exact missing part for the sander attachment hiding at the back of a shelf in B&Q and then, in CarpetRight, discovering an off-cut of black lino that precisely fits my toilet – reduced to a fiver.

Marc, despite breaking down on the bypass at 9.30pm and needing a tow to my house, is in remarkable spirits. He didn’t even mind ripping up the hall carpet which was glued to the underlay which, in turn, was glued to the floor (????)

I suspect Andy did most of the graft – he spent much of today pulling out staples from the floorboards so Marc could sand them. He also, incidentally, looked after my boys while Marc and I dashed to the carpet shop. They loved him and he was still smiling when I returned so I think he had fun.

We’re getting to the really good bit where rooms are starting to look finished. The wallpaper is up and I nearly cried when I saw it.

He even managed to disconnect the big ugly handrail that ran right down the middle of the driveway.

I’ll be assisting all day tomorrow and Thursday so that the carpets can get fitted on Friday. I’m excited. I don’t even mind if I just paint skirting boards for eight hours.

Rod, who’s back at work, is shifting as much as he can by evening. Last night it was the contents of the kitchen and tonight it’s half the boxes in the attic. This is a lot of boxes. We’ve effectively been camping out in our present rented pad leaving the majority of our belongings packed from Aberdeen. The boys, of course, got into the one box that contained all their books and squealed with delight when they found Stickman. The poor deprived children who’ve had to make do with only 500 plastic toys instead of 5 million for the past nine months. Just wait boys. Your playroom is taking shape….