My bathroom is being ripped apart as I type this and while right now it’s noisy, it smells, I am likely to have no shower for the next few days (hopefully only 2 or 3) and the toilet situation is pretty awkward too, I am really happy to be having all this done. After many attempts, I seem to have finally found a good builder who is friendly, helpful, proactive and has a can do attitude. It has not been easy and I’ve despaired on occasion.
This bathroom situation has been by far the biggest blocker and it looked as though I won’t be able to have it done at all this month and I obviously cannot stay in London forever, so when an opportunity to get it done at short notice arose I had to pounce, despite not having half of the stuff needed. My builder drove me to the nearest B&Q (home depot) to pick up the essentials and I scoured the Internet till late last night in the search of a new shower and shower door based not so much on whether I liked them or not, but more so on their delivery times. Not ideal, but it had to happen this way or it would not have happened at all for weeks, maybe months, which is far worse. My plan for today was to prime the kitchen walls but since there is so much building material all over the place, it will have to wait a couple of days, I think. Duncan is driving over on Saturday again to install a new fence, bless him. While I sink in DIY and cleaning, my plans of enjoying London in the evenings make me laugh out loud, I have don’t have time or energy for much of that at all. I have managed to see a couple of friends so far and plan to sneak out for another evening or two, but other than that it’s just planning, sourcing things and a lot of elbow grease. I know it will be worth it in the end. Out of necessity, I am eating very simply these days and I would kill for a steady supply of a hearty mushroom bolognese, especially that nights are so cold all of a sudden and I am perpetually having to have windows open to air the paint fumes out. This vegan mushroom bolognese is easy-to-make, nourishing and so comforting. The most effort heavy bit is chopping all of the veggies into a tiny dice, but if you are not as particular as I am, you can probably get away with chopping things roughly and sticking them into a food processor to do its thing. The key thing is not to overload the processor as when it gets jammed it tends to over process things and to keep an eye on texture so that you don’t end up with baby food. Other than that, it’s just a bit of passive time that requires an occasional stir while you get on with other things. Enjoy.
fresh thyme or parsley, to garnish homemade vegan parmesan, to garnish (optional) 500 g / 17½ oz dry tagliatelle (GF if required), cooked
