A bathroom refresh update

Back in January I shared our plans to refresh our bathroom which was booked to take place in February. On the day our plumber arrived, but only to ask if we would allow this to be rearranged. It was one of the snowy days in February, and many of his other clients were suffering broken boilers. It was a cold day and not the day to be without heating or hot water, and so we rearranged, knowing that we would want other people to do the same for us.

So last month the plumbers returned and the work could start in earnest. But first a couple of before photos:

The sink, the toilet and the shower were all being replaced. The tiles on the floor and walls, the cabinets and the shower enclosure were all staying. This may have made it trickier but we’re not ones for replacing things that continue to work perfectly well.

Like many refurbishment projects, quite often it gets worse before it gets better. And ours was no different. This was taken at the end of day 1:

The day hadn’t gone well. The sink refused to come off the wall. It had been glued and bolted to the wall, this could have been a contributory factor to the stress veins in the photo above. In the end a rather large hammer was taken to it - at one point the second plumber asked his boss, if he needed a bigger hammer. Yes, it was that kind of day.

The replacement shower had different fixings, even though it looked as if they were the same, and that wasn’t easy to remove either. They were loathed to smash the tile until they were sure we had a replacement tile. We did, and I knew exactly where they were - in our gabion baskets of course. Thankfully not under the pizza oven, but in the seating alongside it. Not in the shed like normal people! Though that’s unfair, they had been in the shed until we put these together and in an attempt to clear the shed some more, we used these until the slabs in the smaller baskets. That did mean one was easy to rescue, and I think the plumbers were slightly bemused by the fact too.

But it did mean they could do this.

They left for the evening, and after an afternoon of hopping about waiting to use our second loo (which they thankfully did sort for me) you’d think things couldn’t have gotten any worse.

And then they did.

The second loo, our spare loo, failed. It wouldn’t stop filling up and so they came back. But the mechanism failed and so overnight we didn’t have a flushing loo, one of the most stressful nights we’ve had in a while, I can tell you. By now I was making contingency loo plans, trying to work out where my nearest loo would be, apart from our neighbours, and in a pandemic.

But thankfully it wasn’t needed, as at the end of day 2 it looked more like this. It needed a clean, but it all worked, and so did our second loo. Phew.

The shower and the replacement tile were also in place and working. There had been much discussion amongst the plumbers on which colour grout to use, which was entertaining and welcome, as it showed the pride they had in their work and in doing a great job for us.

We’ve a few more things to do, including painting the shelves and built in useful cupboard, but it’s good to see the changes so far, which have brought it up-to-date, provided extra storage and reintroduced hot showers!

More to follow, but first I need to find paint to complement the very dark navy of the unit above, to transform our dark brown/almost black handy storage cupboard, and then to buy it and finish the job. Small steps, and all that.

From Woolwich to the Peninsular

Yesterday I shared pictures of the ‘Hundreds and Thousands’ rainbow art installation by Liz West which was at the end of our six mile walk on Sunday. Today I’m sharing a selection of the pictures I snapped as we made our way along the Thames Path, revisiting part of our route from last August. Looking back at that post I’m sure I’ve taken some of the same pictures, but it seems I know what I like, and the same views still call out to be captured.

There’s new views too, as this time we started in Woolwich heading from the town centre to Woolwich Arsenal. The buildings there are full of character and I’m sure many have stories to tell. As we made our way towards the Thames a couple of traditional buildings stood out, the one below because it was completely on its own.

After meandering around some of the public areas - much of the Woolwich Arsenal has been redeveloped for private dwellings - we once again found ourselves at these sculptures. I’ve seen them several times before, but this may be the first time a photo has made it onto here, I’m not quite sure why. They are just fabulous, and it’s as fun to watch other people explore and discover them and their form, and if you’re lucky pose for photos with them. A truly great spot for people watching!

They look like Antony Gormley, but are in fact by Peter Burke - the piece is called Assembly - thank you to the commenter below for helping me correct this information.

As it had been a while since I’d been this far down the Thames Path instead of heading left and back towards Greenwich and home, instead we turned right and headed towards Erith and Thamesmead, taking in the views and then realising there was just one way back, so it wasn’t too long before we retraced our steps.

The views for the whole walk were a mix of industrial Greenwich mixed in with some more modern additions, though as you’ll see they might not have lasted quite as well. This mosaic is one of those. Right in the middle of the Thames Path, unfortunately it’s past its former glory, though still charming.

Further along the tiles have moved onto the walls, or rather they had. As you’ll see the middle section no longer are, but intriguingly they’ve been left in place where I assume they fell. My feeling is if this was vandalism they would be smashed and removed, and it’s unlikely that some would still remain. Or maybe that’s my optimistic view.

Along the path, as you’d expect, there’s street furniture with a nautical theme - these steps were my favourite example, and I’m sure has seen many a Titanic moment, at the ‘bough of the ship’ end.

We walked through the area of the Faraday Works which I first saw and wrote about last August. Not much had changed, except I think the plants had grown.

We paused briefly at the Thames Barrier. Its structure is iconic and both amazing and awesome. It clearly plays an important role in protecting London and when you think of it like that it’s hard to imagine how it can be so effective. I’ve not been on one of the tours, much preferring to k eep my feet firmly on the ground.

This part of the path is more familiar, and that’s not just down to the number of repeat shot photos, I’m sure. If we start walking at Greenwich, it’s about as far as we can get comfortably and from here there’s a way to cut through, and up the hill back home. It’s where we first came when we first bought our bikes, a good few years ago, when I wobbled along reminding myself that of course I could remember how to cycle. Exploring the Thames Path is great, and we really should do it more as you can get so much further along, but for me the downside is the hill back home. Any way we go, there’s a hill - none of which I can cycle up right now I’m sure, and very few that I could before in any case.

The sheer scale of the structures in this part of the river is amazing, and these included here are very much still working. Even as we walked past something was being unloaded with the conveyor belt in use. This view through the ironwork towards the more usual views of Greenwich and Canary Wharf beyond is probably one of my favourites.

It’s the contrast I think, the ironwork and industrial setting in the foreground with the built up, high rises and cable car in the distance. How the traditional sits with the new, and how both have their place in the river’s history. We walked up to the O2, or The Dome in old money, where we headed inland tempted by a coffee and a look at the rainbow art installation I shared yesterday.

A walk along the river was just what was needed, and while Greenwich Park and its surrounds are great places to walk, I’m enjoying some new views for a change. Hopefully it won’t be that much longer before we can head much further afield, and will make it to Norfolk and to our rearranged cottage holiday in the Lake District. Fingers crossed.

Rainbow art and sunshine

Finding different places to walk has become our weekend ‘thing’. The first weekend where the lockdown restrictions were lessened we headed into the City, and it was good to wander around old haunts and I’ve yet to share some of the photos here, but I will shortly. And yesterday we headed along the Thames, walking from Woolwich to the Greenwich Peninsula, only really possible with a bus trip at either end. I’d seen online that there was a new art installation on the Peninsula so we were keen to take a look at that first hand.

And we were well rewarded at the end of our walk, and I don’t mean the flat white purchased from one of the pop-up coffee stalls. The sun came out and shone through the rainbow art, the new addition to ‘Turning the Tide’. To be honest, we’d not seen this before; there continues to be much development in this part of our local area but this walkway seems an excellent addition.

The artwork is ‘Hundreds and Thousands’ by Liz West and it’s due to remain here until the end of May according to The Londonist.

It’s great - and we were lucky to experience it in sunshine, chilly sunshine, but sun no less. And that made a huge difference to see the reflection of the colours shine though.

Let alone see them against the textures of the surrounding buildings.

But my favourite shot is this one. Angles, lines and colours - it’s just fabulous.

It’d be great if this could stay around much longer.