Curiosities

Retrospect is such a great teacher…. the lesson I am learning at the moment is to  move on from errors of judgement that have meant the house is not,  perhaps in its detail - possibly in some parts more  major areas - what it could have been … should have been. I have learnt much about people through this process.   There have been some great interactions and some ludicrous and frustrating ones.

Last week I slithered to a place where any further decline would have resulted in “going past cracking point”. This was how Murray described it when he stepped in to deal with builders and sub contractors.

“Final meeting” today.

In Brief : the fire was completed yesterday, the manifold is ALMOST finished…., the diswasher doesn’t fit under the bench despite the designer having the specs early,  the splash back reflects not only the potential for  wonderful efficiency but installation issues that need to be rectified by an onsite meeting of four… men.

Men - while woman no doubt have the propensity to pick over the emotional trappings - men have astounded me with their ability to pass the buck and revolve a problem beyond any level of  non productive ‘problem solving’ I would ever have believed possible.

And that’s what sorts the trustworthy from the idiot. No matter how well intentioned, if they can’t give you clear detail in short space of time , based on informed and appropriate confidence in their field … send them packing. If you get even a whiff of bluff or bravado - take a big step back.   The good ones are rare.

Now we are near the end  subbies are telling us they “know a good builder” … where were they at the start?

Well.. onwards to the garden and the promise of spring and summer.  I pruned the hydrangeas on Sunday and reminded myself why we live here.  The shortest  day is past so moving in before winter is long gone.  The cat moved in briefly to the bathroom.   The underfloor heating is amazing ( the bill…well wait and see!) . The views out of the  house restore our faith in what we are about.

Oh … I think I hear the cutter coming to cut the tile under the dishwasher hole …. no doubt more standing, looking, wondering going over old ground followed by more dust …… Me, I am off to an auction of show home furniture for a housing company that went under.

( the drawers are not in due to another untold story of poor management on the part of the vanity maker)

The island top grain is gorgeous… not quite the colour we specified but splendid none the less…. Craft … that is THE ruling principle which ought to be honoured.