It’s been a long time since I last posted – that’s largely because it’s been a long time since we’ve been able to do a decent bit of DIY. Between our holiday to Norway, friends weddings and a few other commitments, we’ve barely had time to pick up a hammer. Although it’s nice to do other things, it’s also frustrating when nothing progresses and we’re stuck looking at the same uncompleted jobs day after day. But finally we had a weekend free to get back to work.

We’re at the stage in the renovation where it seems all the remaining jobs are ones we’ve been putting off because they are so annoying to do, and relatively unsatisfying. The downstairs toilet ceiling is an awkward mass of pipes, making it fiddly to get the plasterboard up and in place. I got to work on a day when Chris was busy and was pretty pleased I managed to hold the board up with one hand while screwing it in place with the other. There was lots of swearing involved.

Chris’s big achievement, on a day where a power outage meant he couldn’t work for a few hours, was finally putting shelves in place in our tiny bedroom cupboard. I then primed and painted them, so we can finally use this space.

Continuing on the theme of cupboards I returned to the frame I’d built in the downstairs toilet and added a back and side panel before installing shelves. After spending ages on the internet getting quotes for custom doors for £250, we decided to make our own, so I spent some time cutting out boards to build the first door, with another two to go for the boiler cupboard.

In the utility both new doors needed the edges filling and sanding. Chris also spent some time adding a door handle and door jam to the interior door.

In the lounge I’d been putting off repainting the beams, but Chris told me we couldn’t get new flooring until we’d done it, so I bought the paint and chipped away a few at a time in my evenings. A thankless task but it does mean I can stop staring at all the white paint drips.

In the garden the neighbours have been getting a little nosy. Chris decimated our box hedge in the hope it grows back a little happier next year.

He also borrowed a compactor off a neighbour to compact down the shed base so we can lay the concrete slabs. Just need it to stop raining long enough for us to get on with it.

Also in the garden, the sinkhole has reopened. We thought it was still active as a few of the trees are leaning over into it, but now a new hole has opened up. We’ll have to buy some gravel this time to fill it up, which seems a waste. Just hope it eventually becomes full.

Chris’s big success has been getting the second external vent in for the ventilation. This means the whole system is now in place, it just needs wiring up. I don’t have any photos of the process, as Chris doesn’t take any, and I was busy cupboard building, but it involved lots of crawling around in the attic and climbing onto the roof.

Still, now the ventilation is largely finished I can finally clean out the study, which has largely been used as a ventilation pipe storage room for the last few months. Getting one more room looking like a room is certainly be a little more satisfying than some of the other jobs I have on my list. Still any job ticked off is still a job ticked off, however small and annoying it is.