Yesterday, all stops were pulled out by the kitchen company as they were trying to locate an alternative cooker for our kitchen.  The problem was that we wanted a white cooker and there was a four to six week delay for one in that colour, despite their supplier promising that one was available.  They caused the same hassle over the fridge freezer too when they told the kitchen company that they could deliver direct before advising that the item was now obsolete so wouldn’t be delivered after all.  This caused a mad rush round during the week before Christmas, trying to locate an alternative and get it delivered before the kitchen was due to be installed.

Anyway lets get back to the present…  After some searching around, the kitchen company managed to work a little bit of magic and pull a rabbit out of the hat!!  They located the model I wanted in the colour I wanted and even had it physically inspected to make sure there was no mistake.

It was delivered and fitted today as were a few other things that needed finishing off.  I am very pleased with the finished kitchen and the cooker produced an excellent evening meal

Thank you to everyone at QA Kitchens

It was a day of two halves, the good and the bad. The tiler arrived in good time, finished off the last bit of wall tiling and then did the grouting. The person who will eventually paint the walls turned up in good time to assess the situation.

Then half an hour after the fitters were due to arrive and install the cooker and finish the last few bits and pieces (such as putting the wall sockets back in place) an email arrived (not a phone call?) to say there had been a problem with the cooker which was supposed to have been delivered to the kitchen suppliers by Hotpoint.  No cooker!

Hopefully the kitchen suppliers will come up with a suitable alternative tomorrow…

I was so looking forward to some home cooked food tonight!!

Friday was a hive of activity, with up to four people working in the kitchen at any one time. The floor tiles were grouted, the walls tiled, the kitchen units finished off and the appliances installed. Along the way a wine rack which wasn’t part of the original plan appeared… I wonder if they are trying to tell me something

There is still a bit of tiling and grouting left to do and the cooker needs to be installed, which should hopefully arrive tomorrow.

The tiler came and tiled the floor.  Tiling is a much more peaceful activity and doesn’t include drilling.

I had to go to work to attend a training course which is mandatory for my job.  This meant ‘A Another’ was left as overseer of the kitchen activities.

There were some difficulties throughout the day…

• Scavengers turned up and tried to retrieve bits and pieces from our lawn and the skip which was filled with the cast-offs from the old kitchen units.

• A second set of scavengers turned up, tried the above and also got nosing in the garage!!

• A water pipe got drilled through because it deviated off the straight and narrow (reminds me of the time my Dad drilled through a live power cable, but that is another story )

• Some of the wall units needed to be removed, lowered and refitted…

When I got home from work everything was taking shape and looking good

First job of the day was to sort out the hotch-potch plumbing job that was currently in place. I was very impressed with the result and pleased that a new stop cock has been installed, the previous one was clapped out and impossible for me to turn off in an emergency…

Following this, the new base units were sited in their correct places ready for fitting. The wall units and tiles turned up during the day and things started taking shape.

I did get frequent phone calls through the day monitoring progress, which was a little stressful I wasn’t monitoring progress in such minute detail because I knew I would be updated by the fitters  if there was a problem or a change to the plan. I just supplied plentiful cups of tea

The kitchen was completely stripped (including tiles) by lunch time, at this point the fitters left to collect some extra parts and break for lunch. Whilst they were away the first of the units arrived. Nice

There was a little bit of confusion over the cooker which they were supposed to be supplying and didn’t arrive with the units. Thankfully it is on order and due to arrive on Monday. There is a big problem with getting large electrical devices quickly at the moment, I guess it is due to the economic downturn and manufactures cutting back on their production runs so there is no wastage.

After lunch the additional wiring work was completed and the units brought safely into the kitchen to be worked on the next day.