Wednesday 24 September 2008

TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING


Sunday was the inauguration of our new kitchen. Not quite finished, but finished enough to have a big family gathering to celebrate our son-in-law’s 40th birthday. It is sooooo good to be able to spread out again.

We now have our Holywood bedroom with en-suite wet room and dressing room, two finished bedrooms that are waiting to have furniture moved back into them and another bathroom (thank goodness!) Now we can at last have guests without them having to use our en-suite bathroom.

Phase II is to refurbish our lounge (we will use the family area of the kitchen to live in) and convert our existing bedroom into two bedrooms with en-suite wet rooms. Sounds great doesn’t it until you remember that we are in the middle of the scariest economic situation that probably mankind has ever experience!

We have always been famous for buying at the top of the market and selling at the bottom. This could be our biggest boo boo of all times! A wonderfully refurbished home worth zilch! Ah well! At least we will be comfortable.

But back to the “garden party”. The weather behaved impeccably. Horrendous rain and freezing temperatures all week and miraculously on the day of the party it was sunny and warm. The children had a wonderful time together on the swings, slide and trampoline. They laughed and eat until they felt sick and then came back for more. Thankfully no-one was actually sick until the next day! But I think that little boy just wanted to pull a sickie from school!

One of our great grandaughters refused to go home, citing the fact that two of our grandsons were still here. Her sister said she really wanted to stay with OG and me and she shyly admitted that was the case. I was so chuffed. They really love the space in the house and now we have the room they can stay over more often again.

OG enjoyed himself so much he was even tempted back onto the roller blades. Hodavethoughtit!? He is feeling quite good now that the chemo has finished which is quite a relief because we are going to have to take a trip to Switzerland soon to move our stuff out of the apartment.

Here comes the birthday boy.


Don't touch the cake!

I thought I told you not to touch that cake.


The golden oldies.


Clouds can be so interesting

and...........OG in action


And finally …. A Birth Certificate shows that we were born, a Death Certificate shows that we died, pictures show that we lived!

22 comments:

Maggie May said...

That was lovely to see the family shots. You had a lovely time by the look of it & the one of OG on roller skates was hilarious. I sincerely hope he didn't get run over by that car that was approaching!
The kitchen looks lovely! Lots of space.........lucky you.

DogLover said...

"Buying at the top of the market and selling at the bottom" ... That Swiss sale has let you down - you missed the bottom there!

I liked the last photo of OG as a bullfighter, but I think he's a bit optimistic if he reckons he can take that car on!

Sandi McBride said...

What a great post! And the kitchen is looking great...now that's what I call a kitchen! Lovely family shots and were I you, I'd hide those damned skates!
hugs
Sandi

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Maggie, you can't imagine how many times that I wish he would be run over by the car!

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

OK doglover, I get your drift, but we would have done better had we sold it last year. OG as a bullfighter sounds just about right!

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

It is a lovely kitchen isn't it Sandi. My photograph hasn't done it justice either.

Grit said...

what a great house! i would never leave that!

ADDY said...

Wow. What a lovely house. You should sell the photos to Homes and Gardens!

Lesley said...

Luverly house and luvlier family folks! The cake looked very delicious!

Anonymous said...

Hey you cheery and happy post, lovely piccies -which one is you?
Great refurb, and practical as well as stylish
Nice to se OG being active and not so bogged down in things medical

Anonymous said...

Looks like you all had a lot of fun! Love the picture of Birthday Boy on his rollerblades! LOL!

An en-suite wet room! How lovely. I'd like a wet room - it'd be great to bath the dogs in!

Anonymous said...

Amazing Cake!! Your improvements look like something from Grand Designs, really stunning.

CJ xx

Ashley said...

It is good to see OG full of energy! I am glad he is feeling stronger and hope to get the time to visit you both one of these days. xx

Deb said...

What a wonderful post - full of good news and good energy! I enjoyed 'meeting' your family. The renovations look fabulous - may you have many happy gatherings at your 'new' home. I love the saying at the end - my pictures mean the world to me! Enjoy the day!

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

The girls would love it grit - so much room to run and play.

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Actually Rosario I've only shown the good bits. Most of it is quite tatty really.

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

The cake was very, very rich Lesley. But it was fun because you could set fire to it. The children loved that bit!

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

I'm the old fat one on the left VM.

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Well bring your dogs on over to my place Jay and we'll bath them together. The children would love that.

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Grand Designs Crystal? More like grand huberis!

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Ash, I will repeat something from the Desiderada : visit your friends with time to spare, not time to kill! We'd love to see you.

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Well Debs, we sure will be able to spread out again and it's so good. We have spent the year in virtual hibernation because of lack of space.