23/10/11-28/10/11
What does a 6ft 4inch man need most in life? You’re thinking a sofa well even more than that? Can’t guess well it’s a bath. One small problem with that need is that we don’t have one and the landlord may object to us ripping out the existing bathroom and installing a bath.
So what is the solution? The numerous natural hot spas are too cold for James, digging a mud pit is not his idea of bathing and having a shower is not a long term option. So after some asking around I located a second had shop that sold baths. Not pretty baths but baths that have been ripped out during a renovation. This unique approach to recycling developed years ago as getting stuff to this small dot of an Island was hard so recycling was big even before the concept was developed elsewhere.
So after tracking down a shop I bought a second hand bath, plumbing and plug. Now where to put the bath. Outside- well we have enough space but it can get a bit chilly in the wind. Option 2 the shed. We have two and with some judicious cleaning and the draping of sheets from the celling to cover the fact it is a shed and we have a bathroom. The issue of waste water well dig under the shed and install a pip of course.
So during this week I have had a project and by Thursday night I was nearly ready for the inaugural bathing of the James. With minutes to go before the filling I was putting the finishing touches to the bath stabilisers (a pile of rocks) when disaster struck. I dropped a rock and split the bath down the middle. I am not known for the over use of foal and abusive language but by goodness I shouted, swore, my head span round and smoke came out of my ears. To make matters worse that bath was stable enough I just wanted to reinforce it!
Not to be put off the inaugural bathing I got out the handy role of gaffer tape and patched up the bath. James bathed and it was a success. That said James has now been back to the second hand shop and we have a new pre loved bath to be installed.
So apart from the saga of the bath we have been working. Money is tight with James on 3 days and me on the minimum wage. I worked out that after tax I only get $80 a day which is 40quid. This was rather depressing. This combined with the lack of job offers or come to think about it interviews and I am going slowly mad. I need some intellectual stimulation in excess of backing cakes. I was doubly depressed when two prospective employees contacted me but were put off by my 1 year work visa. Despite assurances that we could easily get an extension (we are not planning to) the interviews have not been forthcoming. Can I survive a year of café work? Watch this space to find out.
Ok so apart from being grumpy about work what else have we done. Well we have had a few friends over for dinner and I James and I have been playing with tractors on a vineyard. Ross our friend is setting up a wine tour (yes mum we have booked you on) and needed some help taking a huge table to the top of a hill. Always game to play outside we agreed. The only problem when the day came was the weather. It was raining. However we soon pulled ourselves together and remembered we were British and if we did not go outside when it was raining we would never go out back in blightly.
So in the cold yes cold rain we hefted a table onto a trailer, attached the trailer to a tractor and started our assent of the hill. All was well until the bolt sheared off and the trailer hit the floor mid-way up. After some repairs, grunting and lifting we were on our way again. Before long the table was situated and I had found vineyard worker who wanted some help in the fields. Whilst there is no pay I am quite partial to wine and just being outdoors for a few hours sounds good to me.
So in summery. We are settling in, have almost created a bathroom, I may be working outside, James is enjoying his job and the world of cakes is not too bad…
No comments:
Post a Comment