What a difference ...

... a day makes. Actually it's a day and a half since the previous photo, but I still find the sacred mysteries of building to be just that. By late afternoon the wee plasterer had finished putting this beautiful skin on the insulated plasterboard, but before that there were herculean efforts around the fireplace that had me putting earphones in and music on to avoid the noise of the drill that made me feel that my house was one big tooth being attacked by a mad dentist...

This hyperbolic sentence merely underlines the effort of drilling into and through the concrete plinth on which not only the previous two fireplaces but also the original range sat. Because of the newish regulation that has all new gas fires supplied by a pipe that has to go through the wall (or floor, or whatever) rather than just meandering along from the floor to the fire, a hole had to be made and lined with a copper pipe to protect the gas supply when it's installed. More dust, and that hellish noise, for what seemed like hours.

The shelved area has also been restored, with a new shell to hold the existing shelves. The fire may go in tomorrow, and the fireplace - who knows? And there are trial patches of paint on the walls: are they too pink? too pale? Perhaps daylight will help.

The fire opening does not seem to be in the centre of the hearth. Doubtless there is a reason - let's hope this will be remedied...