Work continues unabated on the bathroom.....
Every conceivable problem you could dream up has happenned.
Firstly new water pipes had to be laid from the start, a nifty little machine was bought in which dug a neat trench one metre deep, Steve walked down to the bank to draw money to pay for this machine (GBP70), and on doing so noticed that the fat wad of cash he had just drawn out of the bank was gone!
It was almost certainly Tibor our Gipsy helper who we learnt later stole around 150,000huf around GBP400.00, he had the means, motive and opportunity! He was fired at the end of the day and looked guilty as hell and has not been back! So much for giving people a chance....
Pipes were then laid for water and drainage. The plasterer took four days and did a very crap job of leveling the walls!
Steve spent nearly two days throwing concrete onto the floor and then meticulously laying the floor tiles, he switched the water on for a pressure test, and guess what, water started (we thought) bubbling up from the floor.
I wanted to weep for him, he is working so damn hard and trying against all odds to make this bathroom better than hotel quality. The next day, he found the leak in a wall pipe thank God, which wasn't as dramatic as we thought, "someone" had put a chisel through one of the water pipes!
This set us back two days, chiselling up a couple of floor and wall tiles, finding and fixing the damn pipe and having another go at moving on!
The walls were not level, so almost every single wall tile, Steve was having to scrape away tonnes of concrete, that we had just paid to have put on the walls, so that he could lay the wall tiles flat and straight, so the tiling took a week, when it should have been only a couple of days.
Then the taps and toilet all began to leak! Not all at once you understand, one at a time, just like water torture treatment.
Fittings, washers, "O" rings, connectors, bends, seals, taps, clips and all other plumbing terms are now forbidden in our house, as is the word plumbing, it has been the absolute bane of Steve's life this last week trying to solve the leaks, driving to the very helpful plumbing shop about 6kms away, sometimes five times in the morning.
But finally the wall tiles were in! The toilet was in! Then came the washing machine, in! And finally the bath.... this posed its own set of problems, leaks from the boiler, leaks from the taps, leaks, leaks, drips, drips urgh!!!!
On the plus side, my plaster cast came off on the 27th May! The leg was horrible and scaly, it was whiffy, my ankle stiff and weak, but my mobility is getting there....
They were fabulous at Marcali hospital.
Also of note was a wonderful evening we spent with good friends! Ian, Jayne, Carol and Jo were over from the UK, and ten of us including our local friends Yvonne & Rich and Carol & Alan had a great night at Gyula Csarda.
It was a wonderful evening with lovely people!
Last but by no means least!
Steve finally managed to move the money from the UK bank (3 weeks) and pay for his baby! We have called her "The Sexy Beast!"
Have a look at the license plate! (Mr Stephen Bailey? Mrs Sharon Bailey? Or My Sexy Beast?)
So May has been a month of ups and downs, but mostly ups, what with a new bathroom going in, a new car and a new (fixed) ankle, life ain't 'alf bad!
