There are big satisfying jobs and then there are the bits and bobs that seem to take forever, yet never provide as much satisfaction as the big jobs. With busy weekends these last two weeks we’ve seemed to be plodding through a big list of little jobs. Great to get done, but not particularly inspiring.

The first little job I got on with was putting insulated board along the top of the doorway into the kitchen/diner. The insulated board will prevent cold leaking in from the external wall.

Chris, in the meantime plastered the ceiling in the utility. Once dry I sanded it down and did the watery coat and two subsequent full coats of paint.

The ceiling done, Chris got on with laying the floor. Annoyingly it can’t be finished until we replace the external door and build the doorway into the kitchen. However, Chris grouted and sealed enough so that the washing machine could be installed.

While Jude had done a great job getting most of the big wall plastered, there were lots of little bits left to do around the house. With the heat it became even harder, with the plaster cracking incredibly quickly. I had to soak the wall first and then keep brushing over it to keep it damp. Even then there were plenty of cracks to fill once it was dry.

Beside the chimney in our room we’re going to install a cupboard, in order to cover over the bricks I used expanding foam to stick a piece of plasterboard over the side.

I finally got round to grouting the tiling on the bathroom windowsill.

One big job that did get done was the installation of the washing machine. With the tiling done, we moved the machine into place and Chris rigged up a platform for the drier to go on top. He reused a part of the old worktop that was once the main kitchen work surface.

While Chris was installing the washing machine I spent an annoyingly long-time building a bookcase in the lounge. In theory it hadn’t seemed like it would take very long, but with wonky walls, and several width changes for the shelves, it took forever to complete. The bottom of the shelves will become a cupboard in time.

The final bigger job was getting the shower door and shower installed. Chris is particularly excited about this, as he isn’t a big fan of endless baths.

One thing I like about writing a blog is it helps remind me how far we’ve come and how much we’ve done. With things constantly moving it’s easy to forget how much we’ve achieved. Looking back can certainly help remind us of that.