Hold the faith

Budgets are being tested, we're sick of cooking in the shed and, to our untrained eye, the work the builders are doing isn't actually showing any result. It's apparently all normal. We're in what seems to be known as the renovation 'icky bit'. "When was the last time you heard someone say: 'Our renovation came in on time and under budget?'" said my good friend Kate the last time I moaned to her about it all.

Rob, the tiler, also tells a similar story. According to him, tilers (who are pretty much the last on site along with the carpet layers) always get short shrift. "You start the renovations and everyone gets beers at the end of the day and it's all friendly. And, by the time I come along, it's pretty much "thank you and we haven't got any money left and forget the beers!"

Rob, who comes to us thanks to Euan the builder, has been helping out on what could have been a tile disaster. A couple of weeks ago I emailed the tile supplier (who at the moment shall remain nameless) re our basalt stone tiles, which were  due. "Sorry," they said. "Flood at the mine in China. You won't be getting them at all."

I was gutted. Flooring was the hardest decision to make re the renovation. To be told the tiles I'd so carefully chosen were no longer available a week before they were due to arrive was a nightmare. All my interior decisions were based around these tiles: carpet, wallpaper, curtains... I've been running around all week trying to find a supplier who can fix us up with 70sq/m of dark grey basalt within a week or two (not an easy task). Rob's been a big help. But it seems like the best solution is to go for a lighter version of basalt in a different shape and size to the 60cm x 60cms we originally ordered from the same supplier. The cost remains the same and we are assured of supply but the grey is a bit too 'mid' for me.

But after my minor meltdown at the kitchen-makers, there's only one thing to do: keep calm and carry on...