I keep meaning to update, starting entries even, but it's been.... difficult.
So, this time, I'm going to just pick up from now, without talking about the last few months. (The last 6 months. The last year. The last 18 months.)
So.
Absolutely baking hot.
The awning we bought (during covid) has been amazing.
Two days ago, DH brought the small portable airt conditioning down from the bedroom and set it up in the kitchen. The tube goes out of the (usually locked) front facing cat flap; fortunately, the cats can't squeeze themselves out.
It's too small to do a great job, but oit definitely makes a difference.
We've put shade netting up on the Girls run, and we've put an umbrella out for them. We've opened up the back of the garden, where they can also shelter under cool hedges. They aren't enjoying the good weather.
Fay, who is now 10 years old, has gone broody for the first time ever. She is a determined little thing, and she's sitting in that nestbox despite the heat. I take her defrosted peas and some lettuce every day to help see her through the day. I've also given her some Nutridrops a few times.
The other girls are wandering around with their arms out, trying to cool down. Daily peas and lettuce are welcome.
Poppy, who is now 13 years old, is losing sharpness in her eyesight.
In other news..
We've been busy with DIY for a while. A simple replacement (taking out the gorgeous range cooker, and replacing it with a wide drawer unit and an induction hob) mushroomed into something much bigger, and now we are part way through a bargain kitchen refurb.
We'd been to a kitchen showroom (to look at hobs) and found that we both liked a particular kitchen style (which is amazing. The fact that we both liked the same thing, I mean). We didn't talk about colours, or layouts, or anything , as the purpose of the visit had been about hobs. I'd ordered the new hob, and then I was lucky to spot a still-in-wrapper kitchen for sale, which sort of matched the units we'd bought to do the quick job.
We bought that, installed some of it, and since then I've bought other matching units, usually unused/still wrapped. There are bits in the summer house which we have yet to install (or we may not need at all). We're keeping everything until we've finished.
Doing it bit by bit has been useful, as we've been able to see what works and what doesn't, and we've been able to tweak as we go
Some of it looks really odd. For example, we have a random length of quartz, with the new hob in, sitting on top of the existing worktop. We needed a bit of worktop to replace where the range cooker used to be, and I wanted to try either quartz or granite to test it out. We picked up a bit, with the right sized cutout, very cheaply. Most fof the time I don't even notice the oddness of it.
We have lots still to do. Some bits, like the sink run, we actually could do. I'vepicked an undermounted sink, we have a sink unit that might be useable, but there are a number of things that need to be decided and the heat is preventing us from having a decision making discussion. The real thing stopping us is that, because the sink is undermounted, we'd probably have to make a decision on worktops (unless I can find something that "will do for now".
For the other areas, I'm waiting for yet more suitable units to
come up for sale, so it'll be a slow process. Eventually, I'll probably have to buy some new units to finish things off, but I don't want to do that unless I really have to.
I'm decluttering while we do this, both the kitchen and the utility room. I have been selling off (or donating) bits that I don't need, or don't use often enough to warrant keeping them. I'm finding it quite difficult to let some of the things go, but I accept I need to do it.
We've also discussed some future-proofing alterations to other parts of the house, but these are sort of on hold while the kitchen is ongoing. We do need to make a decision on one thing though as it involves booking a builder (and the builder is booked up until next year!).
When it cools down a bit. Maybe.
