This and that..

Thanks to those who commented on the photos of our newly painted house. We are so glad it is finished - no more waiting for the painter to arrive, or hanging around while he was here! Mind you, Stan is such a nice bloke, it was no problem, but it did tie us down to the house for those three weeks. Ken is especially glad we are on our own at the moment because he has come down with a chest infection, and is feeling very second hand. Fortunately his doctor had given him a script for antibiotics some time ago, to use in case he got an infection, so on the second day of him coughing and spitting, I got the tablets and he started on them immediately. He's feeling a bit better, but he'll miss the last week of his lung rehab classes this week. The hospital said he can catch up with the missed classes next year, but we'll wait and see what happens next year before he commits himself to that again.

 Even though we promised ourselves there would be no more renovation work done on the house for a while, we've got a bit enthusiastic about it now that we've started. It looks so good on the outside, then you come in and find this seventies decor unchanged for 40 years! We still like most of it, but the kitchen and bathrooms in particular really need fixing up. So we had a local cabinet maker visit us today and have a squiz at the kitchen. Last time we had a kitchen person here (about 5 or more years ago) they were very gungho about it and suggested completely gutting the kitchen and doing all sorts of stuff that I had never visualised. And he quoted $20,000. That was the first and last time we saw him.

 This guy was much more laid back and happy to listen to what Ken and I wanted, which is really just to replace the cupboards with something more modern and practical. I actually like the layout of my kitchen and don't want to change it drastically. We will have to replace the stove-top soon as it is just about cactus (that means it is stuffed, to my non-Aussie readers), so that will be part of the deal, and along the way the vinyl tiles on the floor will be replaced too. It would be impossible to get all new cupboards put in which are a different size to the original, and leave the old floor, so it will be done at the same time.

Our Possum family has taken up residence again in their old spot, now that the painting has finished. It was hot today, and instead of being curled up together in one furry ball, Mum and Bubs were side by side with tails dangling to cool off!