It’s been quite a week.
2 four letter words in the same set of Countdown letters on Monday/Tuesday, amazing temperatures (day and night) at the end of the working week, Paul Heaton and Rianne Downey on the Isle of White today. And The Orange One doing what any thinking person has worried about.
But, closer to at home…
This middle section in the picture is the only bit of the original house roof still not replaced, just a week on. The back, including replacing a Velux (no, they don’t pop out and in as easily as the manufacturers claim) and 4 dormer tops, as well as the slates and the decayed woodwork, was done by Thursday lunchtime.
I drove back down the track yesterday afternoon around 5pm after attending my spinning guild meeting and looked with concern at the LHS front. There had been intermittent rain showers all day and the overnight forecast was for torrential rain. Despite the roofers saying that all was watertight after the slates and old tarred felt were stripped on Friday morning, and the new breathable membrane and battens installed, I was worried.
I woke up soon after midnight last night: there was lightning and thunder from the SE (Cumbria) and from the north (Scotland), of a continual, prolonged, spectacular type I last saw over 31 years ago on a little island in the Bahamas where we got married – although then we were under it, rather than watching it from tens of miles away. But, Mr BW (having been supervising and assisting the roofers, and coping with all arising eventualities, all week) snored through it all, and it, amazingly, didn’t hit us. As promised, all was still dry this morning.
The roofers have been amazing.
Despite living over an hour to the south, the two company owners have been here every day from 7.45am. Over 100 hours of work this week, plus travelling. Because the unnaturally high temperatures (28.5°C in the shade) meant that they had to go home early afternoon on Thursday and Friday, at the point of heat exhaustion, despite wearing hats, shirts and sunscreen (unknown in ones less than 30), one of them was back with us at 20 to 8 this morning (Sunday), and worked through 5 downpours (refusing a towel to dry off as, “I’d never live it down!”) to finish the front LHS slating.
I have never seen tradesmen work as they do.
They turn up when they say they will, work non-stop, irrespective of weather (with no phone scrolling), until they leave, use the bins provided rather than just drop wrappings, sweep up every night and check for stray nails in the drive, don’t swear continually, ask if their radio is too loud, and remember to say please and thank you for refreshments provided. They communicate well, reply to messages promptly and helpfully, and say goodbye and ask if we are happy at the end of every day before they leave. They even sent a text message apologising for accidentally having gone home with our tray and empty cups in their van on Thursday! Plus, they have offered to clean the external top windows and UPVC edges/windowsills when they have finished, before the scaffolding comes down. Best of all, they take their power tool batteries home to charge each night, rather than plug every gadget they own (irrespective of whether they are using it here) into our electricity, as most previous workers have.
At last, 5 years on, the perfect workmen. They do exist!
Fom the outset they have insisted we only pay anything at the end, when we are completely satisfied. Today, after a discussion about the plan for the next week, we offered to pay an amount now, so that we could be sure the roofers could pay the scaffolders, to be sure the scaffolding would be taken down on Friday, before the roofers go on their holidays next weekend, but he wouldn’t hear of it. It is lovely that he is so trusting, but I do fear for his future as his work expands.
The end of the 5 year renovation/refurbishment/extension project is in sight…
To celebrate, and as a reward for the ice-cream loving Mr BW’s hard work, I have bought an ice cream/gelato/sorbet/frozen yoghurt making machine. A proper one, with a compressor, not just the £20 freeze-the-bowl for 2 days before each use version I bought (and later junked) a few years back. So far we have pineapple frozen yoghurt, and frozen (commercial) smoothie versions (both yummie, made in less than an hour from start to finish). I have chocolate, and rum and raisin, planned for tomorrow. Only good ingredients, no additives or fillers, and no added sugar, as the ingredients in the products available in the shops just leave me cold.
Anyone have experience of such machines and any sources of good recipes?
Scoakat
I didn’t know such a machine existed. Now I want one but really need to diet more.
Great workers, the kind you pay well and hire for anything you need that they will do.
Blue Witch
Sadly they only do roofing Scoakat.
Given the amount of sugar in shop-bought ice cream, the calorie count in home-made is definitely going to be lower, and the ingredients certainly healthier. I first saw the machines on Masterchef. It’s this one, although I paid £50 less than RRP. With a 5 year guarantee, it works out at less than £1 a week over its definite lifespan. Given Mr BW’s love of ice cream, and the cost of the luxury brands, I expect to break even very soon 🙂
Tim W.
Do a Google search for The Messy Baker Peach Melba Ice Cream. Fabulous, and we only have the freeze-the-bowl type of machine!
Blue Witch
I have been dreaming about peach and raspberry ice cream Tim, so that recipe has already been sent to the printer, thanks.
Tomorrow morning’s shopping delivery has half-price fresh apricots, so I’m planning lightly-poached apricot and almond confection, maybe with a hint of lemon verbena.
delcatto
If only all workers could be the same.
That ice cream machine sounds marvellous and in light of the many ice creams consumed this past week it looks like it’s worth its weight in gold.
Z
Weeza bought a fabulous ice cream maker in lockdown, taking the view that delicious food was needed to keep them all happy. She makes wonderful ice cream, I’ll ask her for the name of the book she uses most.
She also has some really good workmen, they had new windows a couple of years ago and chose a firm that was wanting to make a good name for themselves. They were faultless. She’s also got a good general builder.
I texted Craig, who mended my Tudor chimney and various bits of roof last year, to tell him that there was no water in the house at all during the torrential rainstorms we had last week and thank him.
Z
The book she uses is Perfect Scoop, by David Leibowitz. Eloise says he’s American, so the recipes are a bit too sweet for them and she usually deducts 5-10% of the sugar.
Blue Witch
Thanks Z. By coincidence that was one of the few ice cream recipe books in the library’s catalogue when I looked a few days ago, so I already have it on order. With a bit of luck it might be on the mobile library when it calls tomorrow.