Long awaited pictures of our lovely new kitchen!

Ok so this isn't our new kitchen, this is our old, old kitchen! It was a big mess in the picture... The kitchen itself - lovely....

And ta da! New kitchen!

We have a nice little seating bit at the other end with the kids little table too, we still need to buy a rug for down there and a light shade and put up our a mirror or something but we are there! It's almost a pleasure to keep it clean and tidy!

Transformation

The kitchen is just about there - everything is hooked up - there are a few smaller jobs to do but we can put all our stuff back in - yay, no more kitchen table and chairs in our bedroom! It looks great - I can't wait for the finishing touches to be done! Tomorrow I am actually going to cook food in the kitchen! Just in time really, Ben is away for a few days next week and I think I might have gone mad had the kitchen not been back in use.

We went to Ikea today and bought a light fitting and some other bits and bobs - you go to Ikea with the intention of buying 1 thing and come back having bought a lot more - got to love it though! We hadn't been in years but I love the fact it was so kid friendly and I loved even more the hot dog and icecream you HAVE to buy at the end! Some poor child had left behind their well loved toy dog on the seating. We had a case of the lost Ellie (Eliza's soft toy) this week, eventually he was found in a ride on toy at our mother and toddler's group after searching Ramsey and our house for it. So I was feeling very responsible towards this poor dog's owner and parents and made sure I handed it in at customer services and that they were aware of how special this toy dog was. Hope it has been reunited with it's owner! So sad!

On a happy note.... did I mention I can now use my dishwaher? Woo hoo! Roll on normality and sanity!

Progress

Around 9.30 this morning the kitchen guy showed up and started work followed at 10.30am by 2 more guys! I was over the moon! The first guy didn't leave till 9.30 tonight. We've got running water (turns out the tap was busted so needed to buy a new one), the dishwasher is plummed in (though didn't work when I tried to put it on - I wonder if he forgot to turn the water on...), the window boards, kick boards, skirting boards and architrive are done, base coat painting has been done and the tiles are grouted! There is still quite a bit to do but we can start moving the furniture back in tomorrow evening. Yay hey! Sooooooooooo happy! It looks great - I'll have to take some pics soon to post so you can see for yourselves!
I also had my hair done today. Ben had mentioned a few times how he liked it when I used to have my hair highlighted so I took the hint and had it done today.
To top it off the weather has been gorgeous! I even went out without a coat at one point. I saw my first real life daffodils flowering - I don't know if that's because I've been up in the cold north and they haven't bloomed up there yet but it made me so happy to see them!

2 weeks

Well, it's been 2 weeks and the kitchen is not finished. It will be in working order by the time I get home tomorrow night but still things to finish. The heating got fixed yesterday - after they drained the system to take the radiator off the wall 2 weeks ago Ben has been without heating or hot water poor guy! Luckily he borrowed some heaters from work and uses the shower at the farm too so it's not been too bad for him I think. It's been frustrating that progress has been slower than expected but at least it will be all done in the end. I think when I get home I'll have to clean all the cabinets thoroughly - they've been stored in a unit at the farm since November plus we bought them 2nd hand and the people didn't clean them before we got them! Cheeky!
I'm looking forward to getting back and sorting everything out! I've been able to do quite a few things I didn't get chance to at home whilst I've been here - finished 3 books and made the stroller liners I'd been planning on for ages (pictures will be posted soon...) still a few more things I want to get done before the baby arrives but it seems the kitchen is not going to be finished for a few days at least so they will be on hold till I can get things in order. I'm not sure how much chaos I can deal with!

One week

We have been up at my parents for a week now but time has been flying by and the days are merging a bit into one... We've been to 3 different parks, big nice ones, not like the tiny ones near where we live - these ones have big play areas, band stands, water fountains, lakes, ducks, museums, mini zoos and lots of space to run around - one of them even has a roller skating rink (Esther is desperate to have a go but obviously I can't take her at the moment...). The kids have been enjoying themselves! We fed the ducks yesterday only to discover when we were on our last piece of bread that we were not supposed to feed bread to the ducks because it encourages rats....you can buy some special duck food from the shop....but we thought we may as well give them the last bit of bread! It's amazing how much more there seems to be to do here on your doorstep in comparison to where we live.
Last night Eliza had a high temperature but seems to have been fine before, during and since. Hopefully she will not get it again tonight because tomorrow it's my cousin's baby blessing and I really want to go. Who doesn't love a family get-together?! I know 3 people having their babies blessed tomorrow - must be a good day for it!
Kitchen update: the plaster was taking its time to dry out so they brought round some heaters to help it out, Ben says it's looking pretty good now. So they are starting tiling on Monday and have a deadline of Thursday to have at least the bottom kitchen units in as the worktop guy is coming to cut the worktops. Our kitchen units are all in the living room now so poor Ben has nowhere to sit and relax! I think Ben got the last bit of the hideous flooring up today - it's been a lot of hard work! Thank you Ben! Hopefully less than a week left of the mess!

Kitchen Wreck

Didn't I tell you there was only the kitchen sink left? This was on Friday morning before all the rubbish had been taken away and the floor taken up. Ben skyped me last night and showed me the plastering that had been done so far on the kitchen, there was 1 wall and the ceiling left to do today. so hopefully Ben will skype me tonight with the updated plastering!
We are having fun up at my parents - can't believe we've been here 3 1/2 days already -time is passing pretty quickly so far. We've been to the park, shopping, out for walks etc. Apparently it's going to snow tomorrow so maybe I'll declutter my mum's house since that's the kind of mood I'm in!

Everything but the kitchen sink

SO the kitchen is no longer! Everything is gone but the kitchen sink (and some of the flooring that I think must have been stuck down with the world's strongest adhesive...). The sink still has some dirty dishes in it which will need attacking tomorrow. The kids are all packed and ready to head to Grandma and Grandpa's house tomorrow so I suppose I'd best go and pack myself. Not that I don't enjoy going to my parents house but I'm going to miss Ben for the 2 weeks we'll be away and I'll miss the routine the kids have, no pre-school etc but it's not like we are going to be on holiday and have those exciting things to do, I'm going to have to have to be on the ball so the girls don't watch TV all day long!
Poor Ben is going to be left at home but thankfully he has the offer of dinner every night (thanks Helen!) so it makes me feel better that he won't be emaciated when we get back!
Dad took some pictures of the wrecking of the kitchen so I'll post them when I can!

At last!

After living with our ancient kitchen for the last 5 years we will be ripping it out a week on Friday! I am thrilled and am looking forward to a new look kitchen, I'll go to my parents for 2 weeks and when I come back hey presto everything will be done. Or at least that's the plan! Yippee!

Other things we've been up to

Here is Esther in her black bin bag 'skirt' that we made at our funky fashion activity at church. She liked the idea but didn't want to go the whole hog and have a dress. When we got home Eliza dressed up and the made a really huge tower with daddy's help. It was soon knocked down! More pics of Eliza looking adorable - butter wouldn't melt!

You can see our 'vintage' kitchen in the background there - when we bought the house 5 years ago I was sure we would be getting a new kitchen asap. 5 years down the line we finally are! In the meanwhile cupboard draws and doors have literally fallen off but it has done well - it must be at least 35 years old! We are getting everything done - walls and ceiling skimmed, tiles on the floor, new skirting and coving, new units, appliances, lights etc and they are going to paint it for us too. Hopefully it will be done before the baby is born because I'm going to my parents for 2 weeks while the mayhem occurs!

I feel like I've been quite busy through January - I can't believe we are already into February! Plus, I am getting pretty organised - maybe it's a sign of maturity, or necessity when having baby number 3 - I already have Eliza's birthday present bought with 3 weeks left to go! I've even thought about Valentines Day and a gift for Ben!! Can't think what to get yet but hopefully will soon!

Ooooohhhh on another note, I finished all the squares for my quilt I've been making since last February - I just need some more white now to put them together and then put the whole thing together! I'm excited!