This morning and into the afternoon Darren Gregory (Facebook Page DG ceramics) tiled our kitchen.
Darren is cheerful, friendly, fast, and efficient.
After cleaning the surfaces to be covered, Darren applied a ridged primer on which he carefully fixed the individual tiles. While waiting for the panel behind the hobs to dry, the craftsman repeated the process beneath the hanging shelves and the granite work surface. The primer is kept in a small tub, liberally applied with a flat trowel thingy, a bit like the blackboard duster that the schoolmasters of my youth might lob around the classroom; once the tiles are in place the adhesive is tidied up with a forefinger, smoothed over, and sponged clean.
The tiles that have to be cut are carefully measured, sawn, and clipped to fit. Surrounding the light switches was perfectly done. “Stay there” said Darren, as he applied a length of sticky tape to hold one in place while he carried out the operation.
I was a little premature in photographing what I thought was the completed work. The silicon gun had yet to squirt the final trim.
This evening we dined on roast chicken thighs, potatoes, parsnips, pork and leek sausages, sage and onion stuffing; crisp Yorkshire pudding; moist ratatouille; firm carrots and Brussels sprouts, all with meaty gravy, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank The Second Fleet Coonawara smooth blend of Cabernet, Merlot, and Petit Verdot 2019