There are several things you gloss over in your mind when planning a new kitchen. The main one being you are going to be without a functioning kitchen for however long it takes the builders to strip out and replace your old kitchen. In our case, because there was a significant structural piece to the…
I think it was the furniture’s fault, or more accurately Catering’s attachment issues with inanimate objects (see previous blog posts). We have discussed knocking down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room before, but it was always on the understanding that I would then be able to have the kitchen island I’ve long…
It’s been a while I know, but here I am, back again reporting on life in the Spicer household. Let me start by saying I am the proud possessor of a new kitchen, but not just a new kitchen you understand. The kitchen project snowballed in a slightly alarming but very satisfactory manner. I think…
I realised, having checked my pedometer (817 steps – not good), that I failed to leave the house at all yesterday, other than to put out the food waste bin. I know it is lockdown 3.0, so I am not meant to be gadding about all over, however I usually manage a daily stomp in…
Continue readingA little ray of hope in an otherwise bleak mid-winter
“I’ve been thinking” I said to Catering (a phrase pretty much guaranteed to make his heart sink) that we are going to need to rationalise some stuff ahead of the house renovations. “What sort of stuff?” he replied cagily. You should know that Catering has a deep reluctance to throw things out (it’s inherited, his…
Continue readingRationalisation – a concept one of us in not entirely comfortable with
It’s Catering’s birthday on Saturday, which means I have another birthday celebration to try and organise in the time of COVID. There is a clear division in the family, I presume along genetic lines, so that unlike the Smallest Boy & me, Catering (and also Alex) does not like a fuss and is really uncomfortable…
Oh Lord! The colour of the kitchen units saga continues. The paint sample from the kitchen manufacturer arrived this morning and it’s about as close to the colour blue as my eyes which, like the sample sent, are grey. Apparently, and for no discernible reason, I was insufferably chipper first thing and so Catering had…
We have owned The Outhouse since 1993, so approaching 30 years and are, and have been, very happy here. We rented it out for a while when we lived and worked in Hong Kong and Tokyo, but we returned in 2001 and have been here ever since. We occasionally flirted with moving over the years,…
Here we go again and I will admit that my enthusiasm and optimism for 2021 has been a bit dented by the need for a third period of lockdown. We can both still work thank goodness and are still healthy (though possibly a little stout post-Christmas) and so I know I shouldn’t complain, however with…
The post-Christmas bombshell was that one of our Christmas Bubble tested positive for COVID and has been quite unwell. She seems to be on the mend now, but we had to self-isolate until today. It didn’t mean too much of a change frankly, as we weren’t going out or doing anything much and Catering’s business…