Day 551

Day 551...

Well today turned out to be a busy and productive Monday and we achieved stuff that we hadn't planned on.

Today saw our bathroom fitter arrive for the last time (well...kind of...we are waiting on a mirror so he will be back to fit that in a week or so). He installed the radiator, cleaned up the tiles and added sealant around the edges and so with the exception of the aforementioned mirror we have a fully functioning bathroom again.

Just got to wait 24 hours for the sealant to cure before we can clean around and put our finishing touches to the room. Like our other rooms that we have revamped this past year or so we will take our time putting stuff back to ensure that we have only what we need and that it is stored in the correct places. This will be an ongoing project over the next few days I think.

I also jumped online this morning to order some red gravel as having cleared the courtyard garden a few weeks ago we needed more gravel to spread around. I hadn't wanted to order any while the bathroom re-fit was happening as we wouldn't have had the car parking space to store 850kg of gravel!! So roll on Friday and the weekend for finishing off another little project.

Then because the day was lovely and dry and sunny and because we had an empty 'garden refuse bin' we decided to chop back a couple or three bushes. One full bin later and we have a much tidier section of the garden, although I did have to remove my twinkly lights from the bushes as I was concerned the wires may have gotten cut by accident. Thankfully they are all intact and now I just need to get my outdoor electrics sorted so that I can have them functioning again.

We then had the garage to tidy up as it had been a storage area for all the bathroom bits and pieces over the last week or so. After putting things away and a little re-organising it was time to hoover through followed by mopping the entire floor. So thankful for the new rubber flooring that we laid a couple of months ago as it was so easy to get everywhere clean and tidy once again.

By lunchtime with the bathroom done, the garden rubbish bin full and the garage cleaned we had the afternoon free. So we took a trip into Derby as I had a beauty appointment booked for later on and enjoyed a wander and a coffee. Although I was slightly disappointed that Primark had almost no Disney themed clothing...pyjamas and socks were as exciting as it got.

Getting home we decided to go down 'our gym' aka our garage; our freshly cleaned garage, to lift a few weights and throw the battle ropes about.

This evening I was able to book a hotel for an upcoming trip as in November we are off to see White Lies (my favourite band) in Bournemouth for a stripped back and intimate concert. As Molly's boyfriend lives near Bournemouth we are getting quite familiar with the town and have a hotel that we like staying in. But unfortunately that hotel does not have any electric charging points in their car park and by the time we get to visit we will have our new electric car! Thankfully though I have found a comparable hotel that does have charging points and have managed to get a pretty decent deal including parking and breakfast. 

So all in all a pretty productive day...see you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 546

Day 546...

The middle of the working week and for me it was another day of a morning in work and an afternoon at home.

The morning was a pretty standard morning with the usual emails, filing and banking. I also generated a few posters ahead of this Saturday's activities as pre-school will be having a stall at a local carnival. We will be trying to raise some money as well as promote the pre-school.

After stopping by a local supermarket I arrived at home just after lunch to a very busy and slightly noisy house. The bathroom fitters were hard at work laying the underfloor heating and the floor tiles so there was lots of cutting of tiles taking place! Our bathroom is now pretty much tiled everywhere and it looks like it's ready for the key pieces to be installed.

My afternoon saw me complete a little pre-school work as there were a couple of email conversations that I had started this morning that continued into this afternoon. I also had a float to prepare ahead of the carnival as well as producing a spreadsheet for collecting information of anyone who at the carnival maybe looking for a pre-school for their little ones.

With that done I made a start on updating the information held for each of the photos that I had scanned in yesterday. I think I have managed to update around 60 photos but have another 70 or so to go. Once the fitters had left for the day there was some cleaning up to be done, even though I know it'll all get dusty again tomorrow.

Then while Simon took Molly over to her kickboxing lesson...well he let Molly drive over of course...I jumped online with my podcast co-host Michelle to record this coming weekends Disney Dream Girls show.

And that was Wednesday, see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 545

Day 545...

And we have a Tuesday and my first working day of the week and it was a day, once again, of two halves.

The morning was in at work and consisted of the usual admin, banking and emails. And my afternoon was spent at home to the sounds of more tiles being cut as work progressed on our bathroom re-fit.

I did my good turn for the day when I arrived home and moved all of the now empty refuse bins back to where they lived for all my neighbours...in the pouring rain! Well, I figured I was already wet so at least I could save my neighbours from having to get wet unnecessarily.

Molly has been busy in the garage with more of her resin creations that she will be selling via her Etsy store. She is making unique coasters by pouring different coloured resins and creating some lovely effects. 

I decided to spend the afternoon scanning in yet more photos. I had a few from the other day that still needed their information updating but after that I tackled the next album from our 1993 Florida vacation. I managed to scan in the whole album and now have about 150 photos to edit in the Photomyne app before I can upload them to my laptop!

And in between scanning photos it was a case of keeping our bathroom fitter supplied with tea, making coffee for the rest of the house and checking a few emails for work.

Then with the fitter done for the day and our garage, aka our gym, being out of action for exercise purposes due to bathroom stuff everywhere it was time to clean through. I know there will be more dust created tomorrow but I am trying to keep on top of all the cleaning rather than having one big mess when it's all finished!

So Tuesday is done and I'll see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 541

Day 541...

We have reached the end of the working week and I have had another full day in work. So not only have I worked each day this week but I've also worked two full days...thank goodness its the weekend!!

This morning at work rather than my usual admin tasks I was actually 'working the floor'; so whilst I manage a pre-school I don't always get that much time interacting with the children but now each Friday morning my role will change and I will be 'on the floor' working directly with them.

Then the afternoon was my chance to get caught up on my usual administration jobs; banking, emails, newsletters and more.

By the time I arrived home the bathroom fitters were just winding down for the day and we now have all the cupboard units installed, pipework for the radiator in place, the shower tray installed, holes filled in and the start of the tiling. Work will resume on Monday and we have a few days to go yet before everything is competed.

During the day we have had an electrician visit to go over a few pieces of work that we need doing and although nothing is too urgent the priority is some outdoor sockets so that I can get my outdoor lights back working. Plus I have all my Christmas lights to think about as I normally put these up towards the end of November!

We have also had a butchers delivery today which had to be unpacked and then split into meal portion sizes. I then had more cleaning to do once the fitters had left for the day so that we are not tracking dust all the way around the house and then it was time to record a podcast.

It was lovely to chat with Michelle, my podcast co-host, as we caught up on our respective weeks and then set about recording another Disney Dream Girls episode. And that rounded out my Friday!

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 540

Day 540...

Well we have had a Thursday and another day in work and today it was a full day in work. Ordinarily I would only work the morning on a Thursday but today I worked the afternoon as cover for another member of staff.

My workday was pretty standard; lots of paperwork, new starters to prep for, banking to check, emails to send and data to input for our funding claim.

By the time I arrived home our bathroom fitters were almost done for the day and by all accounts it has been another noisy day and so being at work sounds like it might have been the best place to be!

But we have the electrics all in, waste pipe laid, shower tray in situ, new cupboards installed, extractor fan installed and the old electrics removed for the shower and pull cord light. We have also had to have some of the wall replaced as the wood frame behind the plasterboard was rotten in places so new wood has been installed along with new plasterboard. As we are switching from an electric to a mixer shower the new plumbing is in place ahead of the tiling happening. Although unfortunately we have discovered that the wall we thought was a cavity wall is actually a solid wall which means that the fancy recessed cupboard that was due to be installed cannot. But we think we will be able to get a LED mirror in its place all being well and the electrics have been put there ready for it.

Normally we would have been going down our 'gym' tonight but as the garage is full of bathroom bits and pieces we do not have the space so Simon and I headed out for a walk instead. We managed 1.89 miles in 40 minutes and despite a few rain drops we arrived home dry although at one point I did think it could have been a different story!

And that was Thursday, see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 538

Day 538...

Work day number two and we have a Tuesday.

It was a day split between a morning of being in work and an afternoon at home. The morning was more printing, organising paperwork for our new starters and a little banking as well. 

I was home just as Simon was on his lunch break and so we got chance to catch up over a coffee. Our bathroom re-fit has started today and so I was greeted with a half empty bathroom and by the end of the day everything had been ripped out apart from some floor tiles and the toilet!

I spent the afternoon doing a little pre-school work as there were a couple of emails to respond to and then the subsequent work that resulted from them. I managed a little time outside soaking up the sunshine as it has been another rather warm and very sunny day again today and I was determined to make the most of this short spell of good weather.

And then the day was rounded out with a trip down our 'gym' although with the warm temperatures it didn't feel much of a workout tonight as I was severely lacking in energy and will power!

See you all tomorrow.

xx