As the bathroom is now finished, there is very little "dirty" work left upstairs, so now we've laid the flooring. Karl started on Friday and on Saturday we finished it, even the skirting board.

But I'm starting at the end : you haven't seen the finished bathroom yet!

The last corners are now tiled (in this picture just the grouting yet to do)

 

So now the bathroom is really cosy. With the underfloor and wall heating, the room is pleasant, even barefoot.

 
These photos are all taken with the new digital camera -a Minolta Dimage S414 that was delivered this week.
And this cooker was my birthday surprise. When I came home from work the evening before my birthday I was horrified to see a gaping hole where the oven had been, as I was ready to do some baking.

But in no time it was all fitted and I'm really pleased with it. The Ceran® cooktop panel reacts much faster than conventional hotplates. It's almost like cooking with gas.

Unable to find exactly matching tiles, we've put contrasting ones in the thresholds where we moved a wall and where we go through into the living-room-to-be.
As soon as the weather was warm enough, Karl was out again, finishing off the exterior. He plastered the walls on his own, moving the scaffolding bit by bit until it was finished.

In the meantime, the bulbs were up and blooming and the garden hummed with all the bees on the wild hyacinths.

The hot summer 2003 must have been just right for this cactus, which produced beautiful flowers in April.

The dustbins are now out of the garage and in this container on the drive. The wall is now topped with hollow blocks and planted with conifers like the wall that was already planted.
The greenhouse is up again and ready for the new season. Hopefully it won't blow away again like it did in January!

We're better prepared for this summer with another 1000 l rainwater...
Spring 2004 Autumn 2004