Hob

We are getting there. Admittedly, this is Day 11 of the great kitchen reconstruction, so it has not been the speediest of processes, but there are some things which are best not rushed: they just take as long as they take. Although if it gets done before I run out of clean clothes, all the better.

Today the kitchen is pretty much all in place: the units are in, the worktop too (despite having to be manipulated indoors through the kitchen window), floor tiles on the floor, ceiling lights on the ceiling, under-cupboard lights under the cupboards; the sink and all the appliances installed and functional with the exception of the washing machine which is still sitting in the living-room (unless that happens to be its intended final resting place). So I had a go at cooking a modest meal this evening: very modest, inasmuch as I simply heated some soup in a saucepan. But at least I heated it on the new hob, using gas for the first time in many years. (Previously, I was stuck with electric hotplates which I always found to be infuriating to use, although useful as an excuse for occasional cooking disasters.) And then I washed the dishes in the new sink (one and a half bowls), rather than in the bath, which I've never found particularly well suited for washing dishes.

I feel a little wary about putting everything back into the kitchen: the upstands (whatever they are) still need to go in, as well as the odd plinth; but really I don't want it to look a mess too soon. At least not until I've managed to paint the walls.