With apologies to Ms Andrews

Handles and splashbacks and taps with spray hoses
Candles with scent to delight all our noses
Showers and kettles and colour that zings
These are a few of my favourite things

Windows of wood and a front door so stylish
Tiles, carpets, floorboards in textures delicious
Underfloor heating, the staircase's strings
These are a few of my favourite things

When the rain pours
And the snow falls
When they cause delays
I'll simply remember my favourite things
And re-organise
The days

Wardrobes that fit under eaves between trusses
Dormers and roof lights and blinds without fusses
Pricey but gorgeous, the slate worktop sings
These are a few of my favourite things

Friends who help out with a paintbrush or hammer
Tradespeople working sans problem or murmur
Guests coming over, we're celebrating
That surely is my most favourite thing!

Kitchens

Well, this isn't easy to admit, to myself least of all, but I've been scammed. See previous post about frantic online searching and bargains, but the gist is: I signed up - by handing over £100 cash - for a kitchen that wasn't enormously cheaper than Ikea's but cheaper nonetheless (what I'm getting at is, to me it wasn't out of the realm of possibility) and it looks like it wasn't the best possible use of those readies.

Nothing's been proved yet, but at the back of my mind since Tuesday when the lovely salesman/designer left (after two hours, which doesn't seem like a great ROI for his time, but anyway) has been the niggling thought that it's too good to be true. The spiel was right and I agreed to see him only after doing my research on the company, which turned up nothing negative. His design is spot on - and if nothing else I can apply it anywhere - and my philosophy was that if the units cost just a fraction of the cost of those elsewhere (and by 'elsewhere' I mean high street, not bespoke) then we could happily fork out for the fantabulous Welsh slate worktops we covet.

Anyway, Himself's just turned up a string of reviews about the company, which post evidence of them being less than savoury. Nothing suggests per se that we won't get the kitchen, but there are enough negative words written than make me wonder if it will ever turn up, and if it does if it will be worthy of being fitted in my lovely new home. I don't think I can spend the next couple of months worrying about it, particularly when I have a few other (probably more pressing) worries, such as the actual foundations and house.

So it's time to notch that one up to experience, and back to Ikea I go. Ho ho.

Mania

Yes, yes, I'm still here. So sorry I've been silent for so long; I know you've missed me, but I've been so up to my eyeballs (on a good day) with actually DOING the work that's it been difficult to find five minutes to write about it. However, here I am with a couple of lines.

So! Weeks and weeks of being buried under paperwork and inside my Mac have resulted in a highly flammable project manager (moi), three children deprived of attention and a husband whose new favourite meal is pizza (concession: I buy them from Asda and add lots of fab toppings AND serve with a homemade salad, so don't shoot me). I have, in this time, revised part of the plans; approved the underfloor heating design; spent at least 17 gazillion hours online poring over kitchens, bathrooms, tiles and other flooring, fenestration and doors; found trades; had the water connected and arranged for the electricity and gas to be; and more.

I have discovered that not only is there an endless supply of absolutely everything, but also that I am unable to resist a bargain. For the former, the solution will be (when I have exhausted my patience, which surprisingly is yet to come) to draw a line under the work and choose - kitchen, bathroom bits (quelle surprise, I can't find a complete set at any one store), floors, doors, the works. This is going to be the toughest part of the job, I think, as at the back of my mind is a little person trying furiously to convince me that there's a better deal to be had just around the corner/on the next site down the google list. I'm determined to ignore him.

For the second problem, the one about being unable to resist a bargain, see my next post. Hey, gotta keep you keen, innit?