Un petit coin de moins (look it up!)

Covered throne

The post-apocalyptic look is coming along nicely thank you very much

Not fit for ANY queen... 

Well, today I did experience a little bit of the actual chaos that our house has become as I locked myself in the office whilst the bathroom was being pretty much pulverised. Work started this morning, but by 10am, the bath was already gone, the toilet was not toiletting much anymore, and the travertine tiles were being hammered off the walls at a pretty significant rate, whilst other things were happening elsewhere. 

The front skip is full of debris, old TVs and fridges and god knows what as they have clearly started to empty the garage of its content (the garage will soon be a pile of asbestos rubbles). 

Parking restrictions

The dump

When I returned to the house this evening, it was much quieter, but the evidence of the destruction is even clearer. Like everything else in life, onwards and upwards it is...

This is clearly not a Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen design 

The bath taps have survived. Could come in handy... 

The French have a phrase to talk about the toilet 'le petit coin', or 'the small corner'. Nothing 'petit' about THIS 'coin'

Concrete progress

Despite the rain, the new extension is taking roots. The moat has been filled with concrete. It is still quite difficult to get a proper scale of the extension, but it is nice that, after destruction in the last two weeks, construction is now also in order.

The writing's on the wall...

The room looking very empty and bare

This will soon be nothing more than a memory... 

The big word is about to start! Or, at least, the place is now ready for it. The kitchen dining room has been emptied of all of its content (apart for the builders' tea and coffee), and so has the bathroom. From this week, there won't be any running water in the house, so god know how the guys are going to get on during the next few weeks. Sean's in Philadelphia for the next week, and I have officially invaded Jane's space. The next few weeks are going to mark the first of a handful of turning points, with the bathroom being ripped up and the new one installed. At the same time, I am expecting some progress on the extension too. 

One slightly heartbreaking moment this evening was Spike watched me drive away, looking all sad... 

If this is all the plans the builders have to work from, we're in trouble... 

Not much left in the bathroom... 

Oh the fun!...

AAAAAARRRRRHGGGGHHH! The penny has dropped! Dust is everywhere! Not quite yet in an evenly thick layer throughout the house just yet, but it is just a question of time, isn't it? Sean's been busy washing the floor a few evenings in a row now, and since having lost the wet area of the kitchen, we have to rely solely on the bathroom for all our watery needs, whether it is for our ablutions or for doing the dishes.

Following the guys drilling through a water main on Monday, the heating system went into complete overdrive at 1am on Tuesday night as water was dripping from what was left of the old radiator in the kitchen and the whole system was losing pressure.

Half of the old extension gone

Is this what they call 'open plan'?

The old small back extension is now completely gone, giving us, for the first time, an idea of the actual footprint of the new one. And we're now having to pack what's remaining of the kitchen ahead of us moving out for a few weeks as the bathroom gets its own makeover. Oh the fun...

It's gone!

The garden now has direct access to next door, which should at least please Spike

A skip, a moat, a bridge and some interesting features...

Would you really walk past this without noticing it if it was in front of your house?  I did.

It might be hard to believe, but this evening, when getting home, I’ve managed to walk past a skip filled with dirt parked right in front of our house without noticing it. It’s not exactly the most inconspicuous road furniture by a long shot, yet, I walked past it and only saw it when I looked down from our bedroom window. 

Quite frankly, if a Tory MP can have a moat, so can we!

If you have a moat, you do need a bridge. 

Noticing it might have provided me with a clue that things had happened to our extension today. Whilst it is still standing, the window and door of the old small extension have now gone, and that part of the kitchen (where the sink, dishwasher and washing once were) has been entirely stripped out, and the gap between that part and the rest of the kitchen is now boarded up, with the added bonus that, when sorting out the board, the builders managed to drill through a water main, which means that, until they sort it out, we can only use water very sparingly. Another 'feature' of our new set up is that the light switches for what is left of the kitchen are now effectively outside. 

I am not sure this would qualify as 'watertight' 

Something's missing

Perhaps not the nicest kitchen decoration we've come up with... 

The work being inspected

Mr Poppet ain't happy

This was to be expected, and tonight's reaction to the sight of his trashed kingdom confirmed that if there's someone definitely not happy with the goings on, it is Spike the cat. 

I am only guessing that the noise and comings and goings have already been district ice enough for him, but the way he went straight to the back windows to stare at the gaping trenches and mount of dirty clay was a clear indication of his total incomprehension and distress. He is now sought refuge in the front room and is clearly not amused. It's only day 2 Mr Poppet!

A digger! We've got A DIGGER!!!!

There use to be an apple tree, there ain't one no more. 

Things have well and truly started. We are one old suburban apple tree down, one mount of mud up, and we've inherited a little digger (can I have a go on it??? I so want a go on it!!!). On the plus side, we're having the whole kitchen for a few more days.

A digger! We've got A DIGGER!!!!

There never used to be a mound of mud... now there is one.

And there's a hole in the ground. 

A new beginning (of the end)

So, nine years after having so much fun living on a building site for weeks, permanently losing our battle with dust, we've decided it was going to be a great idea to do it all over again, all for the sake of  a bigger party space (or a bigger kitchen/dining room), and a brand new bathroom.

I've decided that, like last time, I would document the progress of this project so we can keep a trace of how it all went. As the work is about to start, and we're about to lose half of the kitchen (from tomorrow in fact), we spent more of today packing kitchen gadgets and crockery. That was fun...

The back of the house as it has looked since we've moved in

The last time this part of the kitchen will look like this