Sweet Sorrento

 We deliberated for a long time about where to go for our summer holiday, as we have not been overseas for a year since we started the project of doing up our house.  It seems a long time for us as we love to travel.  My brief was that I would like to eat lots of gelato, go for walks, have guaranteed sunshine and a bit of 'ciao' a la Eddie Izzard.  I think I got all of that and more than I expected.  All of our days were filled with bright sunshine based in Sorrento, a great place to go on action packed day trips.  My guess is that we walked about 10km every day.

We stayed in Sant Agnello, a little town very close to Sorrento, at Hotel Angelina.  We couldn't fault the hotel, although simple it was exactly what we needed - a lovely quiet location overlooking a lemon and orange grove, delicious fresh breakfasts and friendly hosts who went out of their way to make us feel welcome.  In Sant Agnello, there are cliffside paths leading down to the sea and the beaches.

 Mount Vesuvius is often in the background.

 Looks like a long way down!

The Sorrentine coast has a lot of cliffs, and is rocky rather than sandy.

We walked to the Marina Piccola on our first day, to see the boats.

I fell in love with the beautiful painted tiles which were used everywhere.

 Here's one of the main tourist shop stretches - the main attractions are limoncello (lemon flavoured alcohol, delicious when served as cold as possible!), lemon products, and ceramic tiles.  We predictably ended up with one very similar to this:

'Watch out for the rabbit!'

For the mansion of our favourite bad habit rabbit.

We made the climb up to the hill to watch the sun go down.

Very satisfying.

What's happening at the big build?

You might have noticed our blog has gone very quiet of late. Especially on the subject of the building project.

This is largely a result of  my having to get involved directly in the process which is quite a challenge while working full time as well!

Partly this was planned - I was hoping to save money by fitting the kitchen myself. Unfortunately the builder has been a lot slower in this phase than expected, and has proved a rather poor project manager. He has also injured his back about a month ago so hasn't been on site at all in that period.

So although we were originally told it would take about 3 months, we are now entering month 8!!!

Still, I have pressed on and got lots of things achieved. Our kitchen has come on nicely, and now looks like this:

The flooring obviously needs attention and the side out of shot is still a builder's dumping ground, but this is an enormous improvement on living on ready meals and washing up in the bath!

I have also been busy in the bathrooms, here is our en-suite all finished up and functional:

There has been a lot of sweat and even blood in the makings of these 2 rooms, and a lot of learning too (including a lot more plumbing than I expected to need!). But it is very satisfying to have done pretty much all the work in these 2 rooms. We are now about to start on the family bathroom as well, but that is much less daunting after having done one bathroom already!

Progress has also occurred outside, with a huge heap of rubbish gone from the front and back of the house, and a brand new driveway! This is what caused the poor builder's back problem...

We ended up getting a group of travellers in to finish it instead... Probably not a brilliant idea but it seems ok so far!

Springtime

It's Spring at last in Britain, on fast-forward.  It seemed like it was just a few weeks ago there were daffodils, and now it's bluebell season in the woods.  We ventured down to Cowleaze Wood not far away from the village where I work, for brisk walk in the blue carpeted woods and got caught in some dramatic weather.

The good news is that we're heading back to New Zealand in late August, early September. I'll be in for another dose of Spring, my favourite season.  Very exciting to think of seeing my family again!  The house is coming on well, and I'm enjoying the delights of our new kitchen.  We're not quite finished yet, but the sink, oven, hob, and dishwasher are all useable now.  Dave is working on our ensuite bathroom, which is a dream.  Hopefully pictures soon as we finish up.  I have to say I have an amazing husband who has learnt some impressive DIY skills.

Unwind

Some Ben Howard and Brooke Fraser to help you unwind on a Monday night.

Vote for your Cathedral

The Anglican Diocese of Christchurch are seeking feedback about their plans for a new Christchurch Cathedral, and are giving us the opportunity to vote for our favourite design option.  The first is to rebuild the original cathedral, the second to build a traditional gothic design in timber, and the third is a contemporary re-interpretation of the original cathedral.

I voted for the third - I think it's important not to copy the past, but look to it for inspiration, also I think it offers a fantastic opportunity to learn from the success of Napier and build some stunning architecture.  Just look at the beautiful and contemporary Christchurch Art Gallery, with its undulating double-skin of glass.

 I haven't been home since before the earthquake, and in a way I think my next homecoming will be hard as Christchurch will be different from the place I grew up.  But it will also be exciting to see signs of regeneration and the plans for the new city.

You can vote here.

Knitting For my Knotty Husband

Well, probably for my own good I found myself back at work today after a 2 week staycation.  Dave and I enjoyed a few brief days of sunshine preparing our garden for Spring - hopefully coming soon?  We are still getting snow in these parts...

I managed a lot of cleaning, organising, relaxing and knitting, including finishing my Stranger Cardigan and this Knotty but Nice Hat for Dave as a thank you for putting up with my knitting and to keep his ears warm after his haircut.  He has been working hard, longer than normal working hours during all 3 weeks of his holiday to get our house into shape.

If you are considering making this hat too, have a look at my notes for a link for a better decrease pattern than the original.  My ravelry username is Cherrygirl.  For some reason back in 2008 charinthecity was already taken.    I am very much addicted to cable knitting.  I rather fancy making a Hellebore jumper but fear I'm only interested because of the sleeves.

Progressing slowly

Its been a while since the last post! Things have been moving a little on the slow side unfortunately, as we are waiting on plumbers and electricians to find time for us... Not great project management on the builders part unfortunately.

We have made progress though. The big job has been knocking through downstairs, and putting a humongous steel beam in place to stop our house falling down.

Here is the kitchen, minus wall:



Just think, half the old house and the entire extension supported by a few props!

Here comes the beam. Just shy of 400kg of steel!

Then we pushed it inside, rolling it along the floor, ready to lift:

And here is the genie lifter allowing 1 person to lift 400kg!

Ta da!!! The finished result:

In other exciting developments, we have had out kitchen delivered. Lots of flat packed boxes now in the garage and kitchen area:

And the highlight of this week - drains!

Here is the back garden with the drainage trenches prepared:

 (if it looks like the house is on fire, that's just dust billowing out from chasing the floor!!)

Here is my brand new slot drain in place:

When the patio is laid, this will prevent flooding inside the house...

Here is the panorama, unfortunately with the trenches already backfilled so I'm afraid you miss out on full drainage glory!

 Plumber and electrician both due tomorrow so hopefully some progress will occur!