Well, the kitchen is moving ahead slowly but surely. I've got the Corgi (gas registered) plumber coming today with the builder to look at the boiler, etc and tell us how long that will take, and so on. And then I guess I can get some dates from Andy (the builder) and at that point, I can go shopping for my units and whatnot. I know I'll have to store them in the house for a while, but I'd rather not have them around for weeks longer than necessary. Fun!

I've just been trying out this new photoblogging tool from hello and Blogger - very easy way to upload photos to one's blog. So, we'll be seeing more photos, I guess - watch this space :)

Alex has just eaten something chocolate - his favourite. Actually, I think he enjoys being a grubby mess... 

Hoorah, hoorah, we are one step closer to the kitchen being done. I've spoken to a couple of references for Andy the Builder (cue Bob the Builder style theme music), both very happy with him, no problems, both made a point of saying he always cleared everything up well after himself - obviously a point of contention with builders! Anyway, that reinforces my impressions of him as a really nice guy, competent and reliable. So. The next step will be to have the CORGI plumber (registered to deal with gas) come around and have a look at the boiler, make sure we can do what we want to and let everyone know how long it will take to do the plumbing bit. And we can go from there. I foresee lots of trips to Ikea and time spent online or on the phone with suppliers, but at least we will have a lovely kitchen at the end of it. Fingers crossed. I'll keep everyone posted.

And the weather is glorious, too. What more could anyone want?

Hopefully we'll be moving ahead with the kitchen quite soon. The builder should get back to us today or tomorrow with some names so I can check references and then, if they're ok, we'll set a date. And he can tell me if my plans are realistic or not :) Actually, I know the basic plans are okay, it's stuff like how much space you have to allow for things like the wall not being straight and so forth. But the nice thing about Ikea units is that they all come in a variety of widths, 10 cms different (for instance, drawers in 40, 50 or 60 cm widths) so you can always shave 10 cm off somewhere if you need to.

Otherwise, it's just generally busy here - nothing particularly unusual, just the ordinary stuff one gets with kids. This weekend, at least, looks to be sunny and warm, which will make a nice change.

Very busy weekend this weekend, with one thing and another. Yesterday's events included eating in a real restaurant, with all 3 kids (who were very good, actually) and a rather muddy walk in the woods to look at the bluebells. I might have some pictures of that later, or maybe not, as my camera is acting up & although I'm sure I can sort the problem, I may lose yesterday's photos. Oh well, these things happen!

Went to Ikea on Friday afternoon to look at kitchens there, and came back with a few more ideas to implement in our kitchen, when we get to that stage. At the moment, I'm just waiting for the estimate from the builder (he's supposed to get back to me tomorrow) and then we can see where to go from there. We will probably the builder do everything, though we'd quite like to get a reference from him - maybe see a kitchen his team have done. But so far, he certainly seems the best of the options. I do have a few more additions/changes to make to the kitchen page on our website, but I haven't done them quite yet. Someday soon, when I have time (ha ha).

Saw another kithcen company today and honestly, the prices they want to install stuff is beyond belief. Bring on the friendly, local builders. Geez! For instance, the hob I want to buy, I can get online for about £250-£300. The kitchen places quote you about £1400 for the same hob - granted, that counts installing it, but you can't tell me it would cost over a thousand pounds to get a gas registered plumber out to install a hob! It doesn't count the cabinet it fits into, either. Good grief.

Didn't go to the fayre yesterday as it chucked down rain all morning - instead we took the kids to Tiger's Eye, which is a big (indoor) adventure playground. It has quite a nice toddler area as well, which Alex thoroughly enjoyed. And he was totally exhausted - slept for about 4 hours in the afternoon. (Perhaps I should take him more often!)

Kitchens. Honestly. You'd think if you were willing to part with somewhere in the region of £15,000, people would at least get back to you with estimates and stuff. Grrr. Anyway, we decided that we'll explore a few other options - today I've rung a good local builder and asked him to give us a quote (he had already come to quote for closing off the door) for doing the entire kitchen installation. Now I'm off to sit down with the Ikea catalogue and see what the units would cost.

Busy weekend here - yesterday we went up to town to see some friends who have a flat near Hyde Park. They have a grandson Sarah's age, and the two of them get on like a house on fire, which is good, though Olivia sometimes feels a bit left out. But they all had fun playing on the playground in Hyde Park & going in a rowboat on the Serpentine with the daddies & grandad, while Guil & I stayed on shore. And Alex. Didn't rain, luckily, though it was overcast all day.

Today was much better weather & we spent much of it just hanging out outdoors either in our own garden or at the park. Olivia had a birthday party to attend, but just in the pavillion in our local park, which was nice. We also visited a friend with a new baby, so a nice restful, local day. Hopefully the weather will be just as nice tomorrow, when we hope to go off to a local craft "fayre"...