OK – it’s a bit of a cop-out shot I know but I’ve been busy tiling again today and I’m tired and sore. I’m not sure why, when I’m not aware of having been working at an awkward angle but my back is killing me after a day on the tiles (ceramic not hedonistic). Perhaps it’s using the tile cutter that’s done it?

So, here I am, doing a cop-out. Never mind eh?

I’ve been waiting (since last week) for the weather to clear up enough for me to spend a day outside with my new electric tile cutter doing its stuff. DM thinks it’s daft that you can’t use it in the rain because it has water in it but for whatever reason, you can’t use it in the rain so that was that…..until today.

Today’s weather, although still overcast, has been good enough to risk setting up the workmate with the fabby cutter on top. I’ve cut and fitted two walls of tiles so now there is only one wall left to do. The one that’s left is the most complex in as much as it means doing behind the cooker and doing a straight line over a void but I’m thinking with the new toy it should be fine.

I was “forced” by DM to stop work at 7pm this evening, after an early-ish start so it’d been quite a day. Although I know I’ve knocked down another big chunk of the work, I can’t help but feel that it looks worse now than it did this morning because un-grouted tiles look worse than no tiles at all (in my view).

Last week, I said another two days of tiling and I’m on track to achieve the end of this step of the project tomorrow (another fine day forecast). It’s a messy, dirty job…..but someone’s got to do it.

So, here is the cop-out flower doing an impression of a raspberry ripple. One day quite soon, I’ll be able to concentrate on nothing more than concocting fabulous dishes such as raspberry ripples (OK, OK, it’s a bit of poetic licence – I’m quite well aware that a raspberry ripple cannot be considered fabulous, unless you’re seven years old or slightly mad) in here instead of spending my days up to my elbows in muck.