November 7th - Grrr!

A completely wasted morning when I accidentally went from Berick to Newcastle by train was followed by a frustrating wait for instructions for the cooker hood (none were included with the equipment, and the manufacturer then faxed the wrong ones over) which almost scuppered my day completely. At least my time in Berwick wasn't wasted, as I paid for the bathrooms and arranged delivery, quizzed a pointless pillock about boilers and colleted the insect mesh for the bottom of the cladding. Anna at least had a productive morning, undercoating the front fascia with a light sage green, which we though would look nice but actually doesn't work at all. Still - better to find out with the undercoat, as we can now choose an alternative for the top coat.
I eventually got stuck into some work mid-afternoon, cutting and fitting a couple more rows of sarking while I waited for a Howdens rep to turn up with the right cooker hood documentation. When it arrived, I cut a hole in the kitchen ceiling, nailed a couple of cross-members to the floor-joists to support the weight of the hood (32kg), then patched the hole and cut a hole in the patch for the ducting. I had to get this done today so Stevie the taper can make good the joints tomorrow when he comes to do the waterfall window.
Right at the end of the day a driver from Navitron pitched up with the solar panel and hot water tank. He'd driven from Rutland to Skye, and had another drop in Newcastle before returning to Rutland, about 1000 miles' driving in a Transit van. His eyes looked like fried eggs, and he still had 250 miles to go! I arrived home in the evening to find £15,000-worth of bills in the post. Eeek!
Below are photos from the last few days.

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