Stir fry

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted a blip.  Every day since the last post has been at least a 12 hour day, mostly on kitchen renovation and, partly on cerebral stuff (the stuff that earns the money!).  We pulled out our old kitchen (sounds simple, but it took us two full days of hard and dangerous graft) and trailered it away bit by bit to the refuse tip.  Then the electrician and plasterer came in and did their things, putting electricity in all the places where electricity is needed and creating (the plasterer) lovely smooth walls.  Then N and I set about laying wooden floors, painting, assembling cabinets, keeping body and soul together, doing daily shops and surviving on microwave meals. Then there were the plumbing challenges (oh the joys of plumbing, my most (not) favourite thing!).  And juggling all the waste pipes and hi-jacking the gas fitter's big diamond core drill to punch a new hole through from inside the house to the outside at 8 o'clock on a cold dark wet November night having already been working on all sorts of stuff for more than 12 hours.  And N's dedication to lifting and hauling heavy things, to cleaning up all the mess all the time, to running hither and thither and gathering all sorts of bits both big and small, to listening to my occasional (ha ha) expletives, to choosing (eventually) all the right colours and painting and repainting and repainting and repainting until it all looked as good as we hoped it would.  And then, yesterday, after two heavy weeks of work it finally started to look like something resembling the kitchen that we have in mind. We have the new range cooker up and running, we have full electrics, we have sinks that work, dishwasher and washing machine that operate with water in and waste out and no leaks (Dennis take a bow!).  We have a new fridge freezer, fully plumbed for chilled water and ice (another bow!) and we are beginning to feel as if the war is nearly over. Some challenges still lie ahead such as installing the cooker extractor unit and the remaining cabinetry, but we are almost there.  N cooked our first meal on the new cooker last night (roast duck) and I did a nifty stir fry (pic) tonight.  Microwave dinners?  Tasty, have got better since we last savoured them, but the flavours and textures meld into one.  You can't beat the tickling textures and the simultaneous firing of numerous taste buds that fresh home cooking provides.