And the walls came tumbling down.

Last Sunday night we bade farewell to our kitchen and moved all of the stuff out of it. We now eat our meals in the living room where we have put the kitchen table, microwave, toaster and the George Foreman grill. Funnily enough the living room is now bit like the living area we are trying to create in the kitchen, except there's no oven, fridge or sink. The fridge is in the hall. And the rest of the kitchen is in the front bedroom, along with our bikes which are still living in the house because the basement is out of action. So we have a few rooms full of stuff, but have managed to keep our bedroom free of any of it. It is our haven.

Hasta la vista, kitchen

Another joyful discovery - the sink held up with a bottle and piece of wood.

On Monday the kitchen units are all unfixed from the walls. Apparently the sink dropped out as soon as it was moved.

We talked about selling the kitchen units on trademe, then we came to our senses.

On Tuesday we came home and went into meltdown as the kitchen wall and ceiling had been removed!!! The kitchen and dining room were now one space. The false ceiling hid a wooden ceiling of many different shades (it is very dark in place, possibly damaged by fire?), and a bit of old wall paper. We had electrical wires hanging down all over the place.

The ceiling and kitchen wall are removed. It was like Christmas come early.

Where the wall was, as seen from the ex-kitchen

Where the wall was, as seen from the ex-dining room

David Hasselhof singing about the day the wall came down

Not a place for small children - bare wires on this hanging plug socket.

The oven still outstaying its welcome.

The other main focus this week was the deck. It was attached to the house and the framework for the floor was laid. It has about 100 bolts in it according to Phil, which is quite a lot but the council insist on these things. The west wing wall had concrete poured into it, and all that is needed for that now is timber for the top and the trench filled in.

The deck has 100 big bolts in it so that we can have hordes of people dancing on it

Unfortunately it has been cold in Wellington this week and with the various holes and missing gib on walls, the house has been FREEZING. At the end of the week Phil put some insulation in the draughtiest bits, as he had noticed it had been a bit chilly when he was standing by a big hole making his tea.