The Bathroom Chronicles: A Love Affair

The end of the long and winding road has arrived.

Enter the Glory

After nearly four weeks of re-filling the cistern by hand, it feels incredibly luxurious to simply press a lever.  The floor is rustic slate with underfloor heating, and we still need to seal the tiles but these are minor duties.  Rome wasn’t built in a day.

The sink is plumbed in, and I can wash my hands and brush my teeth somewhere other than the kitchen sink.  Cast your eyes to the left of the picture to see our bargain radiator-stroke-towel-rail.  I would stroke it all day if I could.

We have a shower, for the first time in three and a half weeks.  The most frustrating 24 hours of my life passed while I watched grout dry.  I passed the time by pondering the wisdom of spending 45 hard-earned pounds on a shower-tidy.  But then again, this bathroom is going to have to last 20 years.

It’s a good thing the green(s) worked out alright.  K-man isn’t usually correct about colour but I have to hand it to him this time, because I think it looks fairly special.  The tiles are more muted than they appear in the photograph.

It’s the little things that make the difference.  The gecko hook has been waiting around four years to finally find its proper resting place.  The lock on the door was a last-minute stroke of luck in an antique shop in Falmouth which we stopped into on the off-chance of finding an old door-knob.

The wizened old shopkeeper said he thought he had one somewhere, before rummaging around in the back of his shop.  You’re looking at a genuine 1930s dark brown bakelite handle with accompanying lock and keep.  We stripped it, but it will be repainted at some point because while I like the suitably distressed appearance I am concerned about rust.  But it’s not every day you find something so perfect for the price of a couple of sandwiches.  We have the original key, but it is quite rusty so we had a new one cut.

I had my first bath this morning, after my six-mile run.  I think I was in there for about an hour and a half.

Tomorrow, we have to drag ourselves away from our new favourite room and go to Spain for a week.  There will be a short interlude in updates but afterward, there will be wedding gossip and photos of a Moorish palace.  See you soon!