I thought I’d do a post about the planning process we went through for our build as we had one rejection with an appeal also rejected and then a successful approval for a plan I didn’t think would get through. I will explain! We bought our house knowing that a few years ago, it had…
Big Build – Week 2 Dust, Unhappy Neighbours and More Dust
My goodness. Whatever you prepare for, nothing can prepare you for the dust you get during a demolition phase of a build. We had grand plans of still being able to use the sheeted-off section of our living room each night but it very quickly became clear that the entire living space we are…
Big Build – Week 1 Removal of the Roof and Fun with Skips
Week 1 of our build is over. It was less of a build and more of quite the opposite. We had our roof taken off and preparation work done downstairs for demolishing walls. You will hear the ‘dust warnings’ from everyone when you start a build but nothing can prepare you for the noise, the…
Big Build – Fire Safety, Steels and Building Control
Week 0 is ‘Scaffolding Week’ – sounds glamorous, eh? Not until you get your house enveloped in scaffolding do you realise the effort and time it takes to do. We are currently in Scaffolding Week, as we are putting on a second floor, the roof is going and we need to top the house in…
Review – Kricket Soho
Indian food is my absolute favourite. It is one of the top cuisines us Brits eat but I’ve always wondered why no one has developed a chain of restaurants using this amazing food when it’s been done for Italian, Chinese, Spanish and many others (even Lebanese!) Maybe no chef felt they could modernise it. Thankfully,…
Big Build – Selecting a Builder
You do seem to take your life in your hands when selecting a new tradesman. Even a simple plumbing job can create tension in finding a decent person to fix your problem. When you’re suddenly spending thousands on a home extension, the stress is getting the right builder is immense. Because of our build (adding…
Recipe – Retro Chicken Kievs
It’s not a commonly known fact that Marks and Spencer introduced the chicken kiev to the UK. It was the first chilled ‘ready meal’ available back in the days when dinner was usually made from scratch in every home. There’s something about it that brings back memories of childhood and for me, my Mum working…
Big Build – Introduction
You may notice this isn’t a blog about cooking! We are about to embark on a very large home extension so thought I’d do a blog about our experience in case anyone else is mad enough to try it. We bought our four bedroom bungalow in Staines in the summer of 2016. It’s a multi-generational…
Recipe – Plum, Apple and Almond Cake
I do love plum season…! We used to live in a house with a Victoria Plum tree and the fruits we got from it were amazing. They do so well in baking and making sauces, we should use them more really. This is a lovely tray-bake cake which uses apple sauce for moisture and less…
Recipe – Almond Macaroons
None of your posh French macarons here, this is one of my favourite traditional British bakers shop biscuits (or are they cakes?!). Crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle, they are divine! The recipe is very simple and your children could easily help. For 10, you will need: 175g golden caster sugar 125g…
