I thought I’d give the world a “warts and all” look at how we’re living at the moment. This is a shot of our kitchen, with dinner part-prepared.

As you’ll see, we have a gas hob working and now all of those horrid cupboards have gone from the cooker wall. However, that means I have no food preparation area so DM has rigged me up a table made from (from its feet upwards) four tins of Chappie (cheapo but nutritious dog food), a Black and Decker workmate, a damaged cupboard door, held onto workmate with some quick grips (in lieu of a worksurface) and a chopping board.

Actually, it’s a pleasure to be prepping food on something that looks clean at least on its top surface. If you look closely at the workmate you’ll notice it’s still covered in wood dust.

You’ll see two pans on the hob, one contains my own secret spicy pizza sauce recipe and the other contains chicken porridge. Chicken porridge = vegetable peelings, leaves, stalks and other unwanted bits and bobs, boiled to within an of its life then mashed up. DM was mortified that the first pan onto the new stove was a chicken porridge pan, rather than something for us to eat, although on balance, he got his favourite supper so I don’t suppose his mortification lasted too long.

Sorting out this part of the kitchen will mean that I can cook efficiently and store all of my crockery properly – it’s all on the dining table at the moment.

Even though it seems like a long haul, I’m sure the outcome will be good. I looked up a pic of the kitchen that I’d posted shortly after we’d moved into the house and more-or-less everything that was shown in that shot has now gone. Everything shown on the left hand side of the room, except for the fridge-freezer has gone. The archway at the far end of the room too, along with the bookcases and cupboards at the far end of the room. Even that window is no longer there. The only bit remaining for now is the tiled worksurface on the right of the shot and the sink. Hopefully that too will be gone in a fortnight or so.