Tag: Kitchen Makers

No Pictures On This Post

Our boiler repair was short-lived. Once more it is not working. This time there is no light on the reset button. Another visit will happen at 8.30 a.m. on Monday.

Later this morning Richard of Kitchen Makers sealed the leak in the kitchen tap now that his suppliers have sent him the correct fittings.

Regular readers will know that I have only been able to post pictures from August to December with generous time and help given by SueW of Nan’s Farm. I have e-mailed the images and she has returned them as links for embedding. They don’t work with the new site, so we are adding them to the relevant posts which I first place in the WP media file; last night I completed that of 31st October and this afternoon of 30th – working backwards.

After lunch I posted https://derrickjknight.com/2023/01/20/droll-tales-4-old-nicks-heir/

Elizabeth visited this afternoon, bringing two oil-filled radiators, and stayed for dinner which consisted of Jackie’s tasty and wholesome chicken and vegetable stewp with flavoursome garlic bread. No beverages were required.

I Will Have Known Three

As our nation and the rest of the world reacts to the death of Queen Elizabeth II yesterday afternoon I am prompted to publish this link to

https://derrickjknight.com/2021/09/06/a-knights-tale-28-three-monarchs-in-quick-succession/

which tells of my headmistress bringing the news of the death of King George VI; the story of how he ascended the throne; and of 10 year old me viewing Queen Elizabeth’s coronation on television.

Three generations of UK residents have never known any other ruler.

With the accession of King Charles the Third I will have known three.

As regular readers will know, Peacock Computers are in the process of taking over the management of my WordPress account. They are experiencing similar difficulties in their communication with the blogging site’s Operator as I had with the Happiness Engineers.

The linked post above has lost one of my photographs. Many are missing from other posts. I really hope this will be temporary. We will see.

Richard of Kitchen Makers visited this morning to fix a leak in out kitchen tap.

This afternoon Jackie drove me to Whites in New Milton to collect dry cleaning – which seemed a bit incongruous on such a wet day.

This evening we dined on salt and pepper and tempura prawn preparations with stir fried vegetables and wild rice accompanied by Peroni in Jackie’s case, and more of the Bordeaux in mine. The young family will eat later.

Trowelling And Hawking

On another day on which rivulets slalomed among raindrops on window panes, Martin Paulley, master plasterer, completed his post- Kitchen Makers refurbishment work on our walls.

Having laid the foundation undercoat two days ago, Martin spent his time smoothing and cleaning the surfaces.

After mixing his plaster,

always keeping his tools clean,

he made two applications of the final coat by means of his

variously shaped trowels and hawk,

cleaning up the edges with water-loaded paintbrushes.

The hawk is a flat board with a short handle that can be held in one hand to carry the mixed material to the wall. The other hand is then used to apply this to the required surface, with the appropriate flat trowel.

Martin kept everything clean and tidy, although it appears that his photographer may have trodden in some plaster on a dust sheet and spread it about a bit.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s savoury rice topped with omelette, and tempura prawns with Sweet Chilli sauce. The Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden while I drank more of the Comté Tolosan Rouge.

Time For A Woodland Drive

Early this morning Richard and Al of Kitchen Makers visited to cut the bottom off the new inner door and return it to its position.

They brought a trestle in order to measure and cut the door in the front garden.

Before they put back the door, they carried the long case clock into the hall from the corner of the sitting room into which they had toted it before the flooring work began. There proved to be some difficulty with this on account of replacing the weights, which required generous patience and ingenuity considering that they had already fitted this in ahead of their planned day’s work. Jackie having reset it, the clock continues to keep the perfect time it has maintained for 200 years

Martin, from Fordingbridge, then visited to discuss and quote for rebuilding the wisteria arbour.

After lunch we posted the Probate Application, cheque, and supporting documentary evidence from Everton Post Office; followed on to Ferndean Farm Shop where Jackie purchased some provisions; and set out upon a forest drive.

The burnished landscape glowed along Holmsley Passage.

Ponies grazed and squirrels scampered about the dappled woodland and among autumn leaves nurturing mushrooms and sheltering solitary holly berries alongside

Bisterne Close, in a field on the opposite side of which basked

a lone deer in the sunshine that

backlit a pair of ponies beside Burley Road.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s wholesome winter stewp with which she drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Fleurie.

From Moonrise To Sunset

While I scrapped more archived papers Jackie added them to continued burning of garden refuse this morning. As I had better luck uploading pictures today, I have used this one that I had given up on yesterday.

Richard and Alan fitted the doors to the entrance lobby and to the airing cupboard. The chest of drawers shown beside the airing cupboard is to go.

Early this afternoon Helen and Bill visited and enjoyed coffee and inspecting the work of Kitchen Makers.

Towards twilight we took a drive into the forest.

The moon rose to grace the pastel canopy over Paul’s Lane, Coombe Lane and the Burley Road from Norleywood. A murder of crows assembled on telegraph wires, and trees wore their autumn clothing.

We were back home in time for sunset.

This evening we dined on oven fish and chips, peas, pickled onions and chilli cornichons with which we both drank Val di Salis Chardonnay 2020.

Burning Summer’s Clippings

This is the diary post for 15th November. We had no internet connection last night, so I could not publish it then.

My uploading struggles continued today, but I did manage to transfer the last problematic image to yesterday’s post, and made more progress with shedding.

Richard from Kitchen Makers skimmed the ceiling of the former dressing room and fitted a new light into the airing cupboard in which he has built new shelves offering more space.

Jackie, meanwhile, made a start on burning the summer’s garden clippings. True to form, I had to abandon uploading a further one of these images.

After taking over bonfire duties later this afternoon, I published https://derrickjknight.com/2021/11/15/a-knights-tale-65-the-peel-institute/ The illustrations to this were already the WordPress Media file.

This evening we dined on a second helping of Jackie’s wholesome winter stewp with fresh crusty bread, accompanied by the same beverages as yesterday.

A Pony For GP

On returning from our trip yesterday, we admired the progress that Richard and Alan from Kitchen Makers had made during our absence.

The frame for the internal front door was well under way, and the new vestibule cupboard in position.

Today Richard completed the architraves for the entrance door and the new sitting room upstairs; and fitted the wardrobe drawers – all to an immaculate standard.

Afterwards, Jackie announced that she would like to find a pony for GP.

Off we went into the forest, where, just outside Burley, we found

the very creature.

We stopped on Hordle Lane to admire the sunset.

Afterwards the Assistant Photographer pictured

violas in the iron urn with bidens beside their container; and the blooming white chrysanthemum that she had grown by rooting in water one of the flowers from Becky’s Mother’s Day bouquet.

This evening we dined on Red Chilli’s excellent takeaway fare. My main course was king prawn naga, Jackie’s was chicken sag. We shared tarka dal, mushroom rice, panir tikka, sag bahji, and plain naan. There is enough left over for tomorrow. Mrs Knight drank Hoegaarden while I drank Patrick Chodot Fleurie 2019.

Planning A Wedding

We began the day with a trip to The British Heart Foundation Charity Shop in New Milton, where we delivered the clothes, various ornaments, and nicknacks that our renovations had prompted us to give away.

Richard finished building the shelves in the airing cupboard, then began

removing the internal vestibule door he is to replace. This will remove the trip hazard that the frame of this door, once an entrance, has become.

This afternoon we joined the planning meeting at Lymington Community Centre for the wedding of

Barry and Karen, whose wedding I will be photographing next year.

Sunset was descending as we left the building,

and Jackie drove us down Lower Pennington Lane in search of a clearer view.

Later we dined on Jackie’s spicy chicken jalfrezi with tasty mushroom rice and light plain paratha. The Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Douro.

Renovation Progress

Richard of Kitchen Makers concentrated on two areas today.

First he cleared the inside of the airing cupboard and built a frame for the new door;

then fitted the frame, showing how out of true the original one was, and

set about building a new set of shelves.

He also removed the hall cupboard in preparation for tackling the vestibule.

This afternoon I posted https://derrickjknight.com/2021/11/08/a-knights-tale-61-soil-and-heating-from-battersea/

Jackie produced a fresh batch of pilau rice, onion bahjis, and paratha to accompany a second serving of her delicious Chicken Jalfrezi this evening, with which she drank Hoegaarden and I drank Azinhaga de Ouro Tinto Reserva 2019

On The Step

Richard was on his own today. He spent time

continuing to fit the bedroom wardrobe, concentrating on trimming, on the rails, and on the handles.

The first of the above images includes him

working on the safer step he has built to create an easier drop from the former dressing room to the bedroom.

This afternoon Jackie and I visited the Milford G.P. surgery where we received our Covid booster vaccinations.

Dark indigo clouds loomed over the Isle of White, The Needles, and the lighthouse beside which the Jesus sunbeams penetrated the canopy.

This evening we dined at Lal Quilla where the service and atmosphere was as friendly as ever, despite the fact that with the staff all masked I can never be sure whether I know them or not. My main course was the hot, sweet, and sour Chicken Jaljala while Jackie’s was the milder Chicken Boona. We shared pilau rice, and egg paratha and saag bhaji, both drinking Kingfisher.