Sunday, but not a day of rest

Despite being Sunday, today was always going to be anything but a day of rest - the ticking of the clock is getting louder with each day now, and after most of yesterday was wiped out by logistics and trying to fit the entire contents of Ikea Pisa into a Fiat 500L, we had lots of catching up to do.

I woke at 3.30am and spent an hour running through the day's plans. I managed to get back to sleep until 7am, but decided to get up at 7.20am - I left Helen in bed for a change, as she'd gone to bed with a headache last night, and I could tell she was still fighting with it.

After a cool, but pleasant breakfast on the patio I made a start in the apartment: first the doors and shelves for the wall units, followed by the fixing of the base units (which involved some plumbing and electrical work but thankfully nothing very complicated).

Helen surfaced at around 8.15am, and while I was busy downstairs in the apartment she started on the top floor of the house, cleaning, changing sheets and doing laundry in readiness for our next guests - tomorrow, my Mom, Kerys and Ben arrive, and stay with us for two weeks.

Before we knew it, it was gone 1pm, so we downed tools and had lunch on the patio. Today was a hot, still, and humid day, and even when it clouded over it was still really warm, the air felt thick with heat.

Lunch for two.

After lunch, we headed out to Obi - there were a few plumbing and electrical items I needed  before I could carry on with my work downstairs, and we also needed BBQ charcoal, two new loo brushes, some sun loungers and a sheet of plasterboard. On the way, it was yet another visit to the bins, with yet another fully laden car.

Most holiday car rentals probably don't see quite this much hard work!

After filling a trolley full of bits and loading the car, I dangled the keys at Helen. She rolled her eyes only very slightly and, without a word, took the keys from me and jumped into the left hand drive Fiat for her first ever 'go' in a foreign vehicle. It was a bit of a double whammy, as not only was it a new car that was way bigger than our little Citroen, but it was also left-hand drive. She did admirably though, and we trundled our way safely back home with our booty.

White knuckles.

As we got home the church bells rang out 4pm so it was straight back to work - a busy four hours followed, and dare I say it an enjoyable four hours for me - I got the oven in (after a consultation with Granville regarding kw/amps), fitted the water heater and re-plumbed that (but not yet tested, that could yet ruin my day tomorrow...) and cut the worktop to length ready for fitting the sink and hob.

Really starting to take shape now - the finish is so close!

Meanwhile, Helen did yet more cleaning and then dived headlong into the guest information pack which we had started some weeks ago but not had time to work on since then.

When the church chimed 8pm, it was time to call it a day. I didn't dare cut holes in the new worktop feeling as distracted by tiredness and hunger as I was, so we got the BBQ going outside the apartment and tidied up before having a beer and writing the blog. Helen peeled and chopped some veg given to us by Sue this week ready for cooking on the now hot grill of the BBQ.

Yum!

It's looking unlikely we'll get around to moving Helen's desk into our bedroom after dinner as planned but that can wait now, the wine has arrived and the food is cooking. (In case you're interested we're moving Helen's desk for the duration of my family's stay so that Helen will be able to start work nice and early without disturbing anyone [anyone but me,that is,  but that's fair enough].)

We received the happy news this afternoon that our little Citroen had been delivered safe and sound to my Mom's in Birmingham. My brother will take it from there to be sold. A huge thank you to Jeff for his amazing driving efforts, thanks to Mom for the drive space and thanks to Lee for taking it from here.

A familiar sight!

Right, time to attack the food from the BBQ now. Night all.