src/content/blog/year2023-1.mdx

@@ -37,16 +37,17 @@ Here's a little reminder of what we started with.
 <Cards images={[
     {title: "Before", src: s("hallfront-before.jpg")},
     {title: "Before", src: s("hallback-before.jpg")},
+    {title: "Before todo", src: s(".jpg")},
 ]} />
 
-Not too terrible
+Not too terrible from a distance.
 
 
 #### Removal of the wallpaper and carpet
 
 For the first week, Simon was on holiday in Sicily 🏝️ so we only had Will. We suspect this was a deliberate plan so he could get out of steaming wallpaper. Karma came back to bite him in the form of temperatures in the 40-50 range and his airport burning down just before he was due back. He must have really really really wanted to avoid the woodchip.
 
-Simon shouldn't have worried so much though - We were pleasantly surprised with just how quickly the woodchip went, but what was left was dark and dingy and not in a good way (unlike our lower hallway). The feeling it gave us every time we entered the house helped confirmed our colour choices as we were very sure we wanted it light and airy.
+Simon shouldn't have worried so much though - We were pleasantly surprised with just how quickly the woodchip went, but what was left was dark and dingy and not in a good way (unlike our lower hallway). The feeling it gave us every time we entered the house helped confirm that we wanted it light and airy.
 
 <Cards images={[
     {title: "During", src: s("hallfront-during.jpg")},
@@ -56,14 +57,14 @@ Simon shouldn't have worried so much though - We were pleasantly surprised with
     {title: "During", src: s("hall-stripped1.jpg")},
 ]} />
 
-Whilst Simon was off in Sciliy potentially commiting airport arson, we had our own little emergency back home. As the woodchip started disappearing up the house, we heard a big 'SHIT' from the hallway - with so much steam and dripping water, Will managed to get water into our bathroom thermostat controller, which then caught on fire 🔥
+Whilst Simon was off in Sicily (potentially committing airport arson?), we had our own little emergency back home. As the woodchip started disappearing up the house, we heard a big 'SHIT' from the hallway - with so much steam and dripping water, Will managed to get water into our bathroom thermostat controller, which then caught on fire 🔥
 
 <Solocard title="⚡+ 💦 = 🔥 (+ horrible smells)" src={s("zapped-thermostat.jpg")} />
 
 
 Luckily the only damage was to the thermostat and that was easily replaced - but it was a nice opportunity to ask them to replace it with a white one which then would match better with the hallway.  (Previously we had a black one that would have matched the master bathroom fittings, had it been inside the master bathroom 🤦)
 
-Once Simon got back and Will had explained what happened we were treated to a few trademan's stories of fires in lath-and-plaster walls that were started by plumbers soldering, or electrical faults 😬. Apparently it's very hard to put out a fire you can't access.  Fortunately, Bath stone is less flamable, but it did make us go and check that we knew where our fire extinguisher was 🧯
+Once Simon got back and Will had explained what happened we were treated to a few trademan's stories of fires in lath-and-plaster walls that were started by plumbers soldering, or electrical faults 😬. Apparently it's very hard to put out a fire you can't access.  Fortunately, Bath stone is less flammable, but it did make us go and check that we knew where our fire extinguisher was 🧯
 
 <Cards images={[
     {title: "Lesson learned - Carefully masked off **and** disconnected at the consumer unit", src: s("zapped-thermostat-tape.jpg")}
@@ -71,9 +72,9 @@ Once Simon got back and Will had explained what happened we were treated to a fe
 
 #### Making it pretty
 
-Once all the paper had been remove, the next thing to do was to get the walls spruced back up. They were covered in a thin layer of plaster filler and then sanded to even out all the lumps and bumps, and then started getting their base coats of paint. 
+Once all the paper had been removed, the next thing to do was to get the walls spruced back up. They were covered in a thin layer of plaster filler and then sanded to even out all the lumps and bumps, and then they started getting their base coats of paint. 
 
-The aforementioned 'Proper Equipment' ended up being Simon on a stepladder which Will held up. They started off a lot safer, building sturdy platforms out of battens and ply, but slowly descended into madness.
+The aforementioned 'Proper Equipment' ended up being Simon on a stepladder which Will held up. They started off a lot safer, building sturdy platforms out of battens and ply, but slowly descended into madness. That's what woodchip wallpaper does to you, be careful kids.
 
 <Cards images={[
     {title: "Starting off well", src: s("hall-safety3.jpg")},
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ Ever since we moved in we've noticed that one or two of the stairs on the upper
 
 <Solocard title="Cracking stuff" src={s("stair-crack.jpg")} />
 
-Simon cut a hole in the plaster to have a better look at what was going on. And we found out that the construction of the stairs was a lot more beeft that we had suspected.  The stair was actually very firmly attached to the wall, but the issue seemed to be that it wasn't very firmly attached to the other steps next to it and so was flexing at a different rate. Simon put a load of beefy screws in to make sure the steps flexed together and we're much more confident they won't all fall down. We will keep an eye on it and if the cracks return we will get someone proper to have a look.
+Simon cut a hole in the plaster to have a better look at what was going on. We found out that the construction of the stairs was a lot more chunky that we had suspected.  The stair was actually very firmly attached to the wall, but the issue seemed to be that it wasn't very firmly attached to the other steps next to it and so was flexing at a different rate. Simon put a load of beefy screws in to make sure the steps flexed together and we're much more confident they won't all fall down. We will keep an eye on it and if the cracks return we will get someone proper to have a look.
 
 <Cards images={[
     {title: "Investigate and beefily screw", src: s("stair-crack-hole.jpg")},
@@ -111,11 +112,11 @@ The inside of the pendant was only available in chrome, which isn't what we want
     {title: "🎶No colours anymore, I want them to turn black🎶", src: s("hall-lights-after.jpg")},
 ]} />
 
-We weren't sure it would work very well but it turned out fine so long as you're careful when you touch them. Most people aren't going to be looking too closely anyway 👀
+We weren't sure it would work very well but it turned out fine. It just needed care when installing to make sure the finish wasn't scratched. Most people aren't going to be looking too closely anyway 👀
 
 #### Other fittings 🌡️
 
-Prettier radiators!  Simon and Will have finally found a decent plumber that they're happy to work with.  We got them in to do the radiators and they did a smashing job 😁 No stain marks on the ceiling, no leaky hot water tanks. We'll definitely be using them in future rather than our nightmare boiler people.
+Prettier radiators!  Simon and Will have finally found a decent plumber that they're happy to work with.  We got them in to do the radiators and they did a proper job 😁 No stain marks on the ceiling, no leaky hot water tanks. We'll definitely be using them in future and go nowhere near our nightmare boiler people!
 
 #### Carpet
 
@@ -123,22 +124,21 @@ We went with the same people to do the carpet as with the lower hallway and they
 
 <Solocard title="Well, nearly all" src={s("carpet-during-2.jpg")} />
 
-They ran out of carpet for the last 5 steps and had to come back the next day to finish it off.
+They ran out of carpet for the last 5 steps and had to come back the next week to finish it off.
 
-We're pretty pleased with it.  It's nice to walk on, squishy underlay, looks good but new carpet smells a bit funny. 
+We're pretty pleased with it. It's nice to walk on, looks good and should be durable. 
 
 <Solocard title="The sorts of decisions you have to make" src={s("carpet-2.jpg")} />
 
-
+We think it looks so much better but it's currently very bare and impersonal. It's a blank canvas on which to add photos, pictures and knick-knacks - which we are bad at getting around to putting up.
-We think it looks so smart and beautiful but currently very bare and impersonal. It's a blank canvas on which to add photos, pictures and knick-knacks - which we are bad at getting around to putting up.
 
 <Cards images={[
     {title: "Looks lovely 😄", src: s("hall-done-1.jpg")},
 ]} />
 
-## Garden
+## Garden Plants
 
-Since getting some gardeners to help cut back the overgrowth, we've had them back semi-regularly for maintenance. Unfortunately we some of our trees didn't survive the winter and had to be removed, so we have been investigating the local garden centres (and their cafes! 🍰) for new plants. These have now been planted and we hope in future to have some jasmine nicely trained around the patio and wisteria on our archway.
+Since getting some gardeners to help cut back the overgrowth, we've had them back semi-regularly for maintenance. Unfortunately some of our trees didn't survive the winter and had to be removed, so we have been investigating the local garden centres (and their cafes! 🍰) for new plants (and cake! 🍰). These have now been planted and we hope in future to have some jasmine nicely trained around the patio and wisteria on our archway.
 
 
 <Cards images={[
@@ -147,14 +147,16 @@ Since getting some gardeners to help cut back the overgrowth, we've had them bac
 ]} />
 
 
-Whilst at the garden centre, we bought some herbs for the kitchen balconet 'breakfast bar'. They are doing amazingly well so far, but we will see if we can keep up the watering schedule long term. It's really convenient to have fresh herbs readily available when cooking.
+Whilst at the garden centre, we bought some herbs for the kitchen balconet 'breakfast bar'. They are doing amazingly well so far, but we will see if we can keep up the watering schedule long term. It's really convenient to have fresh herbs readily available when cooking, plus I cadge a cheeky smell during breakfast.
 
 <Cards images={[
-    {title: "Herbedacious!", src: s("herbedacious.jpg")},
+    {title: "Herbidacious!", src: s("herbedacious.jpg")},
     {title: "The 🪄 water wizards 🪄 that look after our plants when we're away", src: s("water-wizards.jpg")},
 ]} />
 
-Our garden gate has been getting steadily less and less secure. The lock was dangling by a single screw in a slowly rotting screwhole and would probably have given way with a good shove or a particularly gusty day. We thought this less than ideal, so we bought a new garden gate lock. It was a bit annoying to install, avoiding existing rusty screws and holes and the doorframe, but we managed it with (on average) half our tempers lost. 
+## Garden Gate
+
+Our garden gate has been getting steadily less and less secure. The lock was dangling by a single screw in a slowly rotting screwhole and would probably have given way with a good shove or a slight breeze. We thought this less than ideal, so we bought a new garden gate lock. It was a bit annoying to install, avoiding existing rusty screws and holes and the doorframe, but we managed it with (on average) half our tempers lost. 
 
 
 <Cards images={[
@@ -170,7 +172,7 @@ Last time, we said that:
     We are on the lookout for a nice bench with storage.
 </Quote>
 
-Well, we are delighted to announce we actually did order one. It was made to order, so it took several months to arrive. One of the reasons we went with this company was that they could use the exact same shade of paint as our walls.
+Well, we are delighted to announce we actually did order one at the beginning of this year. It was made to order, so it took several months to arrive. One of the reasons we went with this company was that they could use the exact same shade of paint as our walls.
 
 <Solocard title="Shoe bench!" src={s("shoerack.jpg")} />
 
@@ -191,7 +193,7 @@ Every so often I wonder whether the 3d printer was worth it and do some sort of
 
 ## Kayaks
 
-Two years ago, after Nikki got Covid, she bought an inflatable tandem kayak while dreaming of getting back outside and having adventures. We've used this kayak quite a few times now, on the river near us and on Windermere, but there are certain aspects of it which mean we don't use it as much as we like.
+Two years ago, while Nikki had Covid, she bought an inflatable tandem kayak while dreaming of getting back outside and having adventures. We've used this kayak quite a few times now, on the river near us and on Windermere, but there are certain aspects of it which mean we don't use it as much as we'd like.
 
 First off: Ozzy grew up a keen kayaker and his paddling technique is very good - if you are in a proper kayak. If you are in an inflatable one with no spraydeck then it is less good and the kayak ends up with a layer of cold water at the bottom that you have to sit in. This water was conspicuously absent when Nikki tried the kayak with a different copilot. We solved this issue by getting two single kayaks and Ozzy can have a closed cockpit one by himself.