The electricity got connected on Thursday, a mere three weeks after we paid them to do the job.  Of course, as soon as it’s done, all is forgiven!  We were so relieved to get to that point, albeit with not a great deal of time to spare before we need to move in.

I started the dehumidifer working that very evening, and it’d collected over 10 litres of water in about 40 hours.  It has shown no signs of slowing down either, which is handy.  I’ve included a photo of my earlier setup for it where I had it perched on top of a washing machine with the collection tank below – I’ve refined this now so that it sits on the outer shell of an old gas fire instead.  Much easier to move between rooms that way.

We’ve borrowed an oil-filled heater as well, so it’s getting a bit more homely.

I spent the long weekend (Friday was St. Patrick’s Day) stripping old paint and filling holes in the walls, in preparation for painting once the rooms are dry enough for it to be sensible.  Old paint layers include: dark green, light green, scarlet red, pink, pastel blue, and of course magnolia.  I started to wonder about how it would have looked in its various guises, but became horrified at some of the imagery, so gave up.

The kitchen was completely re-done, with plasterboard and skim throughout, so I was able to paint that today.  The first coat went on fine, and I’m hoping to do the second during the week.  We got some cheap mould-resistant paint in Lidl a couple of months ago, so that’ll be put to the test.

Lidl has been a great provider of other things too – I picked up a wet and dry vacuum cleaner for €49 this week, along with a detail sander and other bits and pieces.  They’ve all come in very handy… I’ve pushed the vacuum cleaner hard but it’s been very cooperative in clearing up all the mess.

There are a couple of big items left to sort out.  The first is getting some gravel (‘pencil’) for the driveway.  I’d spoken to someone about that a couple of weeks ago, but they’re obviously not keen to do it right now.  When the time is right, I’m sure they’ll be in touch.

The second, and obviously it’s only a minor thing, is running water.  The well pump didn’t leap into action when electricity was provided, and I think it’s safe to say that a quick squirt of WD-40 isn’t going to fix it (as it’s probably been dormant for the past 6 years at least).  A man will be coming to investigate on Monday/Tuesday, depending on how the stars align, etc.

Stay tuned…

So we’ve got until the end of this month (March) to get the bog house sorted now.  The builder managed a couple of days of work last week, which has resulted in the kitchen being fitted and the bathroom mostly done.  The plumber has also deigned to pay a visit, and has installed the hot water cylinder, along with most of the radiators.  He clearly improvised due to lack of water supply from the electric well pump, as there was evidence of sinks being tested, etc. using big containers of water.  I didn’t check the toilet – hopefully that’s either been left well alone or flushed properly.

The main hold-up now is the electricity – the ESB haven’t been brilliant (which is a very toned-down version of what the builder called them), but after a lot of hassling, they’ve agreed to move the meter on Wednesday morning.  They said our electrician would need to be there, but there’s almost no chance that such a thing will happen (I believe that such a confluence is similar to Halley’s Comet’s visibility from Earth).  The electrician claimed that he didn’t need to be there again when I spoke to him once (he has since stopped answering the phone to me).

The weather at the moment is brilliant – I’ve just mowed the front lawn at our rental property and am writing this sat outside in the heat of the sun, the smell of freshly-cut grass mingling intriguingly with recently-blended cat mess.  Apparently good weather is bad news for getting hold of the electrician, as he’s a mad keen cyclist.  Hoping for torrential rain next week.

So, progress at least.  We went to the local post office and told them we’d be moving in soon.  Having covered the basics of who we knew and how, our details were duly registered.  We even got a leaflet about external mailboxes (ah, happy memories of moving into our rental place).  As it’s within our power this time, we might actually go crazy and get one.