Kitchen - Day Five.

Wild and stormy again today though the wind felt warmer than yesterday. At high tide this morning the waves were reaching right up to the back yards of the beachside houses. The rain which swept in around midday didn't deter a few hardy surfers from attempting to battle the strong waves.

It's been like Piccadilly Circus here today but we have been careful to maintain safe distances. First to arrive was the fitter who had brought some pipe bits to complete plumbing in the sink. He gave the worktops another oiling and finished off a few bits and pieces. He'll be back when the replacement doors for the corner cupboard arrive. Next came the electrician and his apprentice to wire in the cooker, hob, extractor and microwave. Instead of a small hole in the cupboard housing for just the wire from the microwave to go through I got them to make a big enough hole to fit the whole plug through. That way it will be easy to change the microwave when this one gives up. A basic microwave, which is all I need, costs £40- £80 in the supermarket while an integrated microwave goes from £100 to £500. I'd rather spend the money on something else. The electrician also installed the new kitchen light. I'm not 100% sure about it but I'll probably get used to it.

After the electricians left we had a visit from our builder to investigate where water was getting in due to there not being a gutter on the old kitchen roof. Once everyone had been and gone and I'd cleared up I began the fun job of filling the cupboards.

The hob is relatively simple to use. Sadly our favourite saucepans don't work on the induction hob. The good stainless steel saucepans do but Peter finds their cantilever handles awkward. Guess I need to buy a couple of 'easier' saucepans. Peter studied the oven manual and is cooking some fishcakes for our supper.

I love the larder made from three wall units on top of each other. It's looking a bit bare at the moment with our current stock of food. Better to have too much storage space than not enough. I'm glad I bought those white boxes, they're so handy and I've still got some more if I need them. Peter ordered another skip which arrived this afternoon so I'll be torn between filling the skip with garden stuff and sorting out the kitchen.