Sun, Sea & Singing Toilets

As predicted in my last few blog, the last few days have been hectic. More so for poor Phil than me, he has virtually spent 2 and a half days on his hands and knees, finishing off the kitchen and tiling the entrance hall in the flat. My role has been that of chief assistant and facilitator and I’ve tried to make things that little bit easier for him but don’t feel that I’ve done much to help. Phil was surprised at how much I’d done in the flat whilst he’d been away and remarked on this fact several times so I knew that he was pleased with me.

I was going to spend a couple of hours washing and ironing and catching up on the paperwork in the kebab flat on Friday morning but it was only when I checked my filofax did I realise that the rest of the kitchen was being delivered so I quickly flung on some clothes and rushed to the flat. No sooner had I got there when I received a call from the driver of the B&Q delivery van to say that they would be there between 9.45am and 10.05am. I was impressed because normally I am the last on the list but this feeling soon disappeared when I had another call from the B&Q driver to ask which me which floor we were on. Turned out that they were trying to deliver to the kebab flat! Never mind, I quickly gave them the Oldbrook address and they arrived soon after. The 3 of us unloaded all my bits and I checked everything off on the delivery list. All was okay apart from the fact that my lovely granite gloss worktops had not been cut. I had gone into B&Q specifically with the measurements for all the cuts and even left them a copy. As it happens I knew one of the delivery guys, as he rents the flat under our studio flat in Two Mile Ash. Anyway I gave him another copy of my measurements and he said he would take back the worktops and get them cut and deliver them in the afternoon, which he duly did. Nothing is ever easy or straightforward but we do get there in the end but it just takes patience which is something that I don’t appear to have much of these days.

We spent all day on Friday in the flat bar a quick break to go to the carvery and a trip to B&Q for bits and another visit to the Tile Depot. Phil had to get some hardboard up on the bathroom wall because it had leaked over the years and we couldn’t tile straight on to it. It was so bad that really we should have replaced the whole wall but hopefully the hardboard will do the job nearly as well.

Phil let me have my own way and I got the tiles for my feature wall in the bathroom although he moaned like crazy about the price. David came round to see what he had to do in the bathroom and thought the tiles looked shit. I have to say without the grouting I was doubting my own choice as well but once they had been grouted they looked wonderful and I could see my vision coming together.

On Saturday it was another full day in the flat. Phil had wanted to get going on doing all the cutting of the tiles but he was awaiting on David bringing round his tile cutter. Whilst he waiting he put together all of the kitchen wall cabinets. We are way off from doing the kitchen but it was still a job that needed doing and it kept Phil busy whilst we were waiting for David. David did eventually turn up with his tile cutter and Phil was able to get on cutting. There was lots of huffing & puffing & swearing, even more than normal and I kept out of way as much as possible. I did feel for Phil though, he is too big to be spending a long time on his hands and knees and I knew he was suffering. He had on his knee pads for most of the day but when we got home his knees were burning hot and very red. At midday we stopped, put on some human clothes and went to the Thai Modern restaurant for the buffet. We felt bad because we were the first and only customers so they had to make everything just for us. It’s very good but you can have too much of a good thing so we may leave it for a few weeks and try somewhere else. Just as we were leaving a big family came in to eat so we felt better for the staff. My guess is that it’s more popular in the evenings.

Friday and Saturday nights were shower, wine, TV and sleep precisely in that order. We were awake early and Phil was round at the flat by 7.30 in the morning without a cup of tea or any breakfast. Although we had finished off all the tiling, he had to do all the grouting. It was a shame because we just ran out of time on the Saturday, it would have been nice for Phil to have a lie in with the Sunday papers and have a day off for a rare change. Whilst he was grouting, I cooked a chicken chilli men, a wagamama salad dressing and made up some sandwich fillers. I also packed up all the stuff to take to Somerset and was at B&Q spot on the dot of 10 o’clock when it opened. Phil had phoned to say he wanted some beige grout to finish off the skirting in the bathroom. I got round just in time to do the job of cleaning all the excess grout from all the tiles. I didn’t mind doing this; if you don’t clean the tiles properly at this stage it’s almost impossible to get the muck off later on.

We cleared away, locked up and headed back to the kebab flat and after loading the car we were on our way on the long journey to Chard before midday. Phil very kindly agreed to take my Ford KA because I don’t get on too well with his Land Rover. The roads are narrow and windy in Somerset and it really freaked me out when I last came down to Chard on his interview test day. It was a beautiful day and we did get delayed on the M25 because of a minor accident. This was no big deal because we later heard on the news that the M25 was shut in both directions so it was lucky for us that we didn’t leave later in the afternoon. Phil was starving because he hadn’t eaten anything so we decided to stop at the Little Chef in Popham. We were really excited because we had seen the TV programme of Heston Blumenthal revamping this Little Chef so were keen to see the outcome for ourselves. Phil choose the oxtail and mash while I went for scampi and chips. Both meals were very nice and we recognised a couple of members of staff from the programme. I went to see the singing toilets which is something that amused the staff on the programme. I even took a video; they were okay but somehow more funny when we saw them on TV.

We got to Phil’s guesthouse just before 3pm, put the food in the fridge and headed for the seaside. Phil drove us to Seaton and we had a walk along the sea front. Seaton was alright not the prettiest of places but it was such a beautiful day and felt good to be in the fresh air. We sat outside and had a drink in a pub in the town and then headed to Lyme Regis. A few weeks ago Phil went to explore this place after work. It was very pretty and I liked it, although it was a steep walk back to the car park. We went to see the beach and then headed back into town for a drink in a pub with a roaring fire.

Then it was back ‘home’ or back to Phil’s room for pj’s and telly. His room is well equipped but very small. It is fine for just him but I wonder how we shall get on being the 2 of us for 4 days. I’m not sure if I said I was taking the week off and coming down to stay with Phil? I guess you could say that I’m on holiday! Actually I could do with a rest and it will give Phil some company. I have brought down my ECDL disk to study and a pile of magazines and books but the sun is shining so I think I may go and do some exploring. It feels a bit weird being in someone else’s house especially as the owners weren’t around last night so Phil wasn’t able to introduce me. I am typing this blog up from Phil’s room with the laptop on his bed and it’s not very comfortable. I brought the laptop table with me and went to put it together this morning but no can do because I haven’t got a screw driver. This morning I made Phil his sandwiches and dropped him at work just before 7. After dropping him off, I made my way to Tesco’s and then back to the house without using the Sat Nav. I think I can find my way to the town and will be able to get to his work to pick him up tonight. I suppose now I should publish this, get in the car and go exploring because it’s the only way I’ll get my bearings. More from me later in the week.