Jack of all trades ...

As you can see by the previous entry, Kenneth is pretty handy - partly because all through our married lives he's had to be, we never had the money to bring in the professionals. I might be biased but I think he does a pretty fine job - he did most of our "apartment" single handed, fitted the kitchen, did all the woodwork and plumbling. He is still in the middle of doing the bathroom, though I think it will be next year before that's finished given our current financial status, but I can live with that!
With Yasmna now walking we suddenly realised that the lack of a protective rail at the top of the stairs could be a problem! The stairs themselves were fairly recently built. Until then we had been coming upstairs by means of a vertical ladder! I must admit it was a bit scary but you can get used to most things! However, climbing the vertical ladder with a baby in arms was impossible - one of us had to go first and then pass the baby up or down! It was quite a pantomime at times and quite amusing at times but also dangerous so we knew we had to do something. On discovering that the cost of having a company build a staircase was far too much for us, Super Ken leaped into action and said "I'll build one". "Build a staircase, how will you do that?" I replied "Not sure yet, but I'll work it out!" was his answer ... and he did! Of course he'll kill me if he reads this blog ... not least for the earlier photo of him with the false Mohican hairdo!

Since then with the pressure of all the other things he has to do, the stairs have been left unpainted but functional. At the top we had an assortment of pieces of wood to stop us from falling, but with a baby now toddling around this was obviously inadequate so it was over to Kenneth again ... and a couple of days and several trips to the wood merchant later here is the result (if you look closely, you'll see wee Yasmina standing alongside). Nice eh? Behind the "barrier" you can see Kenneth's office corner!

Poor Kenneth, he has so much to do that most of the time he doesn't know whether he's coming or going. Recently he had to deal with a flood at Kenny's new apartment. Kenny's first apartment was put on sale so we had to help him to find a new one. Then he had trouble with flatmates not paying bills (their parents sent the money and they spent it!) Finally he has a nice two bedroom apartment and two lovely flatmates - Claudiu sleeps in the living room, Kenny has the smaller of the two bedrooms and Ana has the other bedroom. Yesterday Ana cooked for them all because it was Palm Sunday here in Romania.

Just after they moved in one of the pipes burst and it turned out to be the pipe for the heating system for a quarter of the apartment block. Believe me when I say it was like a fountain and it just kept on coming until the whole heating column emptied. It was hilarious - while Kenneth battled in vain to try and stop the gush of water Rosanna and I baled out into the hallway with plastic tubs (he stays on the ground floor fortunately). We were all covered in a brownish sludge from the old pipes and Kenneth especially was absolutely soaked through literally to the skin. Kenny meanwhile ran upstairs for the owner who then arrived with a plumber as the flow of water had slowed to a trickle. The kitchen, hallway and bathroom were all under several Cm's of water and we only managed to save the other rooms by putting a barrier of sleeping bags and towels across the doorway from the hall. Just another day in the life of the crazy Clokes!

our "loft apartment"!

For those of you who have been worried about us living in very difficult conditions for the past 7 years ... worry no longer! It isn't finished yet, but the upstairs apartment finally resembles a proper home. We have a combined living/dining/kitchen space - it's about 5 metres by 6 metres in total (a little over 15 feet by 18 feet) and when everyone is home at weekends it's a bit squashed, but we prefer to say cosy! Most of the furniture and fittings were given to us by friends in the UK, the cooker etc were from my mum because her apartment here included all white goods. We brought everything over in the minibus on various trips. The bathroom isn't finished yet, the lights aren't yet fitted (we use lamps) and the two bedroom doors you see in the photo have no frames yet, though as of last week they have handles!
As you can see the kitchen might be called "compact" but we're just so delighted to have our own kitchen that we don't have to share with dozens of people that we don't care. You can stand in the middle of the kitchen and access every cupboard without moving your feet, but it's fine unless there's three of us all trying to do something, then it becomes a bit of a challenge.

The dining area is small too but nice with the window overlooking the garden and, in the distance the next village. We can just about all get round the table, it's a big squashed but it's only weekends now that we're all here and baby Yasmina has her own high chair.

The downstairs of the house is now just for visitors, volunteers and teams. We have three bedrooms and they have the use of separate kitchen and bathroom. We still have some work to do downstairs, some plastering and painting to get everything as nice as it could be but that will have to wait until we have some help I think! After 6 years of building Kenneth is thoroughly sick of it and says that once he's finished our apartment he never wants to see another brick, plank or tile. Ha ha ... Johanna and Philip are counting on dad's help in his "free time" to help them with their wee house in the country!

Spring at last!

We're so glad that the weather has turned warmer, no more monthly panic when the gas bill arrives ... until next winter anyway. The price of gas has doubled since last year and inflation in general is still to high. All right it's not hyperinflation like in Zimbabwe and for that we are very grateful but it's still a problem for us and all Romanians.

Arad is a lovely city, this is the river Mures which runs through the middle of the city and provides beautiful walks in all seasons. On Saturday we rounded up the whole family, including granny and Johanna and Philip (except Kenny who didn't come home until evening) and we went for a walk along the "mal" next to the river, ending up at the children's park to let Rosie have a play. We then went to our favourite coffee shop for espressos and cappuccinos.

It's great for the kids having granny around, especially for Rosie who was very fond of her grandmother who died and has now become attached to her new granny. I think it's good for my mum as well even though she misses my aunts and uncles. She has moments when she feels lonely being away from her family and friends but then, she was lonely sometimes back in Britain. She really enjoys having more time with her grand children than she ever had before and of course her new adopted grand children, not only Rosie and Yasmina, but Irina's wee girl Daniela and our friends' children. My mum has a blog so if you want more general info about Arad and Romanian traditions etc check it out www.rose-mynewlifeinromania.blogspot.com She was recently asked to be a guest blogger for BBC Radio Manchester and did a live radio interview! I think the presenter found the idea of a 65 year old moving not to the Algarve but to Romania rather irresistible!

We are still very busy, in many ways more so than ever with the day centre now open five days a week but we are trying very hard to take time out at weekends, if not the whole two days.
Most weekends Johanna and Philip and Kenny come home and whenever possible we try to do something together as a family, even if it's just to watch a film and eat popcorn and crisps on a Friday or Saturday night. When Johanna and Philip come home, their wee Westie, Hamish comes too and as you can see, he and Tiger Lily, our three legged cat get on well together!