Today we start with a little silly poem.
A LAST GOODBYE
I waved goodbye to all those roasts,
all those loaves and pies,
and chickens and that greasy stove.
I cried goodbye to reds that bled
pink on whites, socks eaten
and never given back.
I sighed goodbye, and took one last
look as my old oven, washer,
fridge and freezer
were sold to a local geezer.
Okay, so that last line needs tweaking, but then we all need a tweak or two at one time or another. And tweak we did today.
Kitchen units under wraps, and more pipe work today
Steve-the-Electrician brought his spare arm, a young chap that I’ll call “Leonard-the-Arm”. Now this is a very apropos name because “Leonard-the-Arm” doesn’t need a ladder or chair to reach the ceiling light fittings. He just stretches like an elastic band and twirls out the old energy-thirsty bulbs for greener LED bulbs. While The-Arm twirled, Steve-the-Electrician put in a third down-lighter right above the kitchen sink, so no more gloomy parallel sub-universe on the worktop that might suck you into its spooky vortex.
And here’s a wider angled view of what’s happening!
What the dickens! It’s started snowing again. No heat (Donald-the-Plumber is here). Pipes and central heating and something about stop cocks or shot chocks or sock hops, or maybe he said chocolate … anyway, he was talking about something as far above my head as “The-Arm’s” reach … so I smiled. And then I asked if he’d like a coffee. Donald is busy downsizing the kitchen drain from eight branchie-off-bits to two. Now there will be room for an under-the-sink kitchen waste, recycling whatsit, and a Quooker boiling water tap.
A very careful look behind protective packaging on a kitchen carcass unit. There’s even foam padding against the door for protection!
A few more bits for the kitchen are due today. The washer-dryer should arrive on Friday, which I doubt since it’s Good Friday and it’s a holiday here, but nevertheless there’s no room in the house for more bits, so it all goes into the garage now. 
The garage is a storage depot for now – lot of cabinets and windows and stuffies.
I just realised that there’s a whole load of double glazed windows in the garage. These are for the conservatory, lots of old window seals blown, and these will be fitted in a few weeks time. The garage is full of equipment, windows, kitchen carcasses, drawers … the car is outside now. No room the garage anymore.
The side of the garage is filled with ladders, equipment, levels, glass panes, cement, plaster, and goodness knows what else.
The paint colour for the living room is called Natural Hessian. The coving and skirting boards are destined for the chalk-white treatment.
The hallway and stairway and the dining room will be Soft Stone colour, which is just slightly warmer in tone. To honest, I can’t see a hill of beans difference between the two.
It was decided today that a Sun Dome Tubular Skylight will be fitted in the upstairs landing. A Sun Dome is a mirrored tube with a sealed glass top set into the roof and extending through the loft to the ceiling. It will direct and amplify natural light into the dark hallway. Light! I can never get enough natural light, so I’m very happy about this.
A few of the guys return tomorrow to prep walls for the painter who starts to work on Saturday in the kitchen. Monday is a holiday, so no work (at least I don’t think so), and then the kitchen fitters start to work on Tuesday. Templates for the worktop’s scheduled for the end of next week, and templates for the glass splash-back along the walls happens after the worktop is seated.
Until next time, it’s goodbye from me, and goodbye from them.
The Chalk Hills Kitchen 
“something about stop cocks or shot chocks or sock hops, or maybe he said chocolate …” You’re keeping your sense of humor. That’s *most* important! Lovely colors. Our den is just a shade or two deeper than the living room (sort of adjacent). The difference is subtle, but nice, I think.
Hi Gerry, are your colours in the living room and den also neutral beiges?
My old art studio was reno’d with a skylight tube.. they’re so cool, we had sunlight right over our table in the basement! You must be getting excited with all your new changes! xx
Very excited! 🙂
You really are making progress…even if it doesn’t seem like that to you. I’m still without heat…waiting for a coil. It is a good thing it is in a section of the house we only use for guests.
I hope your full heating is soon restored, Karen. I just discovered a leaking pipe under the sink, and so things go. (sigh)
Why do problems always happen on a holiday or weekend? Good luck!
Sent SMS to builder who says “Ok”. I’m glad he thinks it is okay. (growl)
Good grief, it’s all happening, Misky! Can I just say how impressed I am with how un-dusty everything looks – I know that’s probably not the case, but I’ve never known a renovation NOT to bring a mountain of white dust and residue with it! And you’ll LOVE the skylight. We put one in our kitchen twenty years ago – it had no natural light at all in it until then. The night after the day we’d had it done, I had just a little too much to drink, and the following morning I walked into the kitchen and thought God had come… 0_o
Oh my gosh, you just gave Peder and I such a good laugh. We should all be so lucky as to have God in our kitchens!
I feel like He’s always with me, especially when I’m in my kitchen! But walking into the newly sky-lit kitchen with a hangover all those years ago was truly a startling moment.. 🙂
There are times when things go really wrong, and I wonder if His opposite number isn’t poking around in my kitchen. 🙂