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"...

We're having such nice weather at the moment - you'd think it was summer or something. Too bad it isn't going to last. But at least it's here at the moment! Olivia & Alex & I had our lunch outside in the park today before her swimming lesson - made a nice change from the tables inside the Malden Centre or the other option - McDonalds. And it's nice being able to walk to & from school rather than having to drive (though I have to drive on Monday mornings anyway, or I can't get to yoga on time).

Well, I've had two people around so far to give preliminary estimates - one did one on the spot (Moben) - they only do the units & appliances, but they do them fully fitted - they estimate around £13K, and that wouldn't include the building work or the boiler. The other, which I think we somewhat prefer, do made to measure kitchens, which means a bit more flexibility about what size & style units you can have. Maybe. They should be getting back to us with a quote early next week. The nice thing there, is that they could do all the building work as well, so we might go with them. We'll see. We may end up going with one of the cheaper companies, that do flatpack units - like MFI (Schrieber), Magnet, Ikea, and so on, but then we'd need to get someone to do the fitting. But perhaps that will be the route we choose to go down in the end. Who knows.

I put up a page of photos (the "before" shots) so you can follow the work in progress, when it gets there.

Well, we've finally decided to go ahead with having the kitchen redone. This may involve bricking up a door & window (almost certainly the window, not sure about the door yet), for which we are getting quotes. And kitchen people will be coming around to give estimates. And so on. I hate this part, almost more than the disaster zone the kitchen will be when they are working on it. But when it's done, it should be great. It's just the getting there...

Happy Easter, everyone. The North household is celebrating Easter with a virus of the throwing up kind (sigh). Geoff and I had it last night & Sarah has it this evening. If we're lucky, perhaps the other two will miss this one, not to mention Geoff's mum, who is spending the weekend with us & has to go back home, by coach, tomorrow. But otherwise, it's been a good holiday! ;)

It's here! I talked on the phone while looking at my email. I visited a host of websites I'd been putting off visiting, all within the space of half an hour. I am a seriously happy camper! Now, if only my kids would stop trying to kill each other, life would be very sweet...

But on the plus side, we get our broadband connection sometime Monday. Hooray!

So, here it is, the start of the Easter holidays, two weeks off school & we have a broken washing machine. Grr. They can't come fix it until Thursday. Actually, I suppose there's no guarantee they can fix it, so I should say "try to fix it". At least the kids don't have to be in uniforms, which means it doesn't matter quite so much how much the laundry backs up. I'll do a few loads at Lana's house, but still. Just what you want - not!

Today was one of those fabulous spring days where it's warm(ish) and sunny and just lovely to be outside. The kind of day that in a month's time will actually seem chilly & windy, but at the moment, just can't be beat. Olivia & Keir spent the afternoon playing outside (& Alex, though he napped part of the time) and though they got filthy, they had a great time. I sat in the sunshine and drank tea. Ah, the leisurely life! If only the weather holds up for tomorrow's Easter Egg Hunt at school...

we're getting broadband, we're getting broadband, we're getting broadband!

Where on earth does the time go? If anyone finds out, let me know so I can go get some back... I seem to have spent most of this week at school. Nursery is doing a wheelathon, so Tuesday was the morning nusery's turn, and today the afternoon - I wouldn't have had to go to the afternoon one, except the friends were doing tea & coffee for the parents, and several of the people who usually go couldn't, so I got co-opted. I don't really mind, it just means one more thing to do. Someday I'll have a day where I have the entire day free, and I won't know what to do with it!

Happy Mother's Day to all you British mothers out there (you Yanks will have to wait until May, I'm afraid). We actually have a little sun here today, this morning at any rate, but I'm sure that will change later and give us back the rubbish weather we've had for the past few days. My kids have been taking a break from their Sunday morning cartoons to wish me a Happy Mother's Day, which in Olivia's case involved an impromptu song sung in the Barbie microphone (this is a tiny microphone (not a working one, I hasten to add) the size a Barbie would use). Then, as she was still in her pyjamas, I suggested she do a getting dressed song, which she took literally, of course, and duly made up. Somehow, I don't think we have an instant hit on our hands (It's getting dressed time/I'm in my pyjamas/my Barbie pyjamas/which are pink/and shiny). Although given the state of pop music today, I guess you never know!

It's St Patricks Day, it occurs to me, looking at the date. No one here really bothers with it, unlike in the US. Presumably in Ireland it's a lot more prominent. :)

Not much going on here, just the usual. Almost at Easter break - it's two weeks off school, which is both good and bad. We don't have to get going early in the morning, but of course, I have to entertain the kiddies. Geoff's mum will be coming for Easter weekend, so that should be fun for the kids. Seems like she was just here, but actually that was Christmas. How time flies!

So, here we are again. No one is (yet) sick this week, thank goodness, though a bug (which is hopefully the same one my kids have already had) is sweeping the school, children and parents alike. Geoff had something last week which involved lots of throwing up; I had something, which I think was the same bug, but I only got the other symptoms, and managed to avoid the throwing up part. Which is good. Still, it pretty much laid me low for Thursday - couldn't really do anything except sit on the sofa & watch television. (Hard life, I know). Luckily, Olivia had a birthday party in the afternoon, so she was easily entertained & Alex is still recovering from a cold, so he had a nice long nap. It was very relaxing, actually, and I wouldn't have minded except for the being too tired to get up to make a cup of tea part...

Geez, I'm getting to be really English these days - waxing lyrical about the weather!