The heating and plumbing engineers have finally finished. Over the last two weeks the house has not felt like my own space, sights like this one, were almost daily fare. However, they finished the final snip of the wires, soldering of pipes and flame regulation just before 11am on Friday.
Older son and his young family arrived at midday, for the weekend.
Nothing is quite where it should be, even the new tiling has not yet been done, but I do have a fully functioning cooker again, which makes life easier. It sounds such an easy job - remove a Rayburn, replace with a range cooker and a combi-boiler - simple!
It really wasn't.
I am truly happy that we didn't wait another year, the process has been exhausting - and I wasn't doing the work. Enough of the whining.
First thing I baked was bread, of course. Perfect!
Out in the vegetable garden, the pumpkins are ripening... a few are tiny!
But the rest are large. The butternut squash are all medium-sized and doing quite nicely, so there should be plenty of soup-making going on this winter.
We will be heading to the donkey sanctuary and then the beach, which should be fun especially if the weather is as beautiful as it was yesterday.
The plan for this evening?
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
The evening looks very tempting to me!
ReplyDeleteWe needed that cup of tea and some peace and quiet!
DeleteIt all looks good - the range and the Sunday plans and the kitchen without workmen
ReplyDeleteIt was a lovely weekend, tiring and noisy, but lovely to see the grandchildren all together and mostly getting along well. Today I have the two grandchildren from next door - their parents are already back at school!
DeleteNothing worse than your kitchen being disrupted, the range is looking good. I used to have an Esse which heated the water too, loved using it. Enjoy your weekend xcx
ReplyDeleteThe kitchen should be back to normal by next weekend, I hope. It was a noisy and chaotic weekend, lots of fun. Thank you!
DeleteSo glad to hear that it is all sorted and that you can now enjoy your home again and welcome company. Have a lovely weekend.
ReplyDeleteA few more days should see order restored, but we are getting there. The weekend was busy, but lots of fun. Thank you!
DeleteIt's done and now your life can return to its normal flow. Looking forward to seeing what goodies come from the new equipment.
ReplyDeleteFour grandchildren together makes for a lot of ... fun! The schools go back this week, so my daughter and SiL are at school today, I have their children. Dog walks and a picnic are the order of the day.
DeleteIt's back in sufficient order to bake bread! Hurrah!
ReplyDeleteBread, the thing I most enjoy baking, an indulgence. Then I made chocolate cake, Aztec Bars, roasted a ham, etc; it has had something of a workout, Joanne. It works!
DeleteYour new stove is beautiful!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnother time, will you explain the different areas...? The oven is obvious, but the others, I am not familiar with. We just have 5 top gas burners, and an oven. :-)
The last picture is perfect. "After the whirlwind." :-)
I see a fireplace and a door. Not looking like it is in the glass enclosed room, off the kitchen. This looks like a more original part of the building. And thus, just wonderful.
Enjoy the rest of your family weekend! And especially, your home, returned to a calm state. :-)
The stove had to be the same dimensions as the Rayburn, so in effect it is one and a half widths of a regular stove (American stoves are probably giants, in comparison). The top has five burners, including a very powerful double ring of flame for wok cooking, there is also a cast iron griddle plate (which I am looking forward to using for baking experiments!!).
DeleteUnderneath there is a grill, a large oven and the long and narrow fan oven which has four shelves and is great for batch baking bread, etc. The burners are gas powered, the ovens and grill are electric. The long cupboard to the right of the stove is where the old hot water tank used to live (an enormous thing) that has now been removed and there is just a small combi boiler for hot water and heating, gas powered. We live out in the country so there is no mains gas supply, which means that we now have a LPG tank in the side garden.
It was a wonderful weekend, tiring, but fun!
Wisps of Words beat me to it! Yes, please point out and explain the different functions of your lovely new cooktop. Is it an Aga? I'm American and am intrigued with your stoves. I had never heard of a Raburn!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Billie. I didn't realise, until a couple of days ago, but the stove is made by the same people who make Aga and Rayburn stoves, they manuacture them under another name, hence my ignorance!
DeleteIt is the same colour as the old Rayburn, so it fits the room well. I reckon most people would hardly notice the difference, not that it matters. I toyed with the idea of a bright red one, but found that it only came in a dark cranberry colour, and that wasn't what I was aiming for - saved me a lot of debate with myself - cream it was!
Elaine,
ReplyDeleteTo Henry David Thoreau, the notion that wood heats us twice is attributed. He wrote, "As my driver prophesied when I was plowing, they [stumps from his bean-field] warmed me twice -- once while I was splitting them, and again when they were on the fire."
I have accused Mr. Thoreau of underestimating the number of times wood heats me. When I cut it, then when I split it, then when I load it for hauling, then when I stack it, then again when I haul it into the woodshed. I think that's the minimum, and doesn't include restacking after a raccoon knocks part of my stack down, reloading when I get stuck in the timber with the tractor and have to dump my load, &c.
I have a friend who assures me "gas," as he calls it (liquid propane, or LP, here in the U.S.) heats him twice. Once when he pays for it, once when he burns it. So there is a savings (so to speak), there.
Enjoy your new appliance. It IS a beauty.
Brett
Hello Brett,
DeleteYes, indeed, people so often forget about all the hauling and stacking - the bits I most enjoy, although they are quite warming! We may not have the Rayburn now, but we will still be doing plenty of hauling, chopping and stacking as we have hungry log burners to feed. Laziness is not an option, but that is a good thing.
It sounds as though you have been very busy getting your supplies organised and ready for what is to come. I hope those cute, but mischievous, raccoons don't cause you any more problems for a good while.
I am still busy trying to get my house back into some semblance of order, but once it feels like home again I will most definitely be itching to try some recipes out on the stove. The weather here is quite a lot cooler, not so cool that any heating is required, throws are perfectly adequate right now, but there is a definite nip in the air. Autumn, my favourite season, is on her way.
I hope you have a good week.
Well you got that right relaxing with acup of tea
ReplyDeleteThe chance to sit and do nothing, listen to the silence, sip tea, was wonderful. Small grandchildren gladden the heart but they are tiring!
Delete