Lovely weather..

on Tuesday we had our first taste of summer, able to sit in garden sun on face, nicely sheltered, spent around 1/2hr having an indulgent break with piece and quiet. I have noticed that out neighbours over the road in the big houses have an array of ducks perching on their roofs this seems unusual however maybe not, they are perfectly comfortable and have good views. There seems to be a maximum of around eight at any one time. It is lovely and peaceful here and very private in my back garden, for that I will be eternally grateful. You have to think about those poor people in the flats in Great Yarmouth surrounding those that had the drugs raid. I could see our block ending up a bit like that before long and am so glad to be away from them. We are going to have to look at garden before long and what we are going to do, we have a slop and have called in some expert help in way of parents for some practical inspiration. Any ideas welcome will try and attach pictures for you the first and last show the slope. Ideally I would like more of a seating area, I cant access the side and grass areas on powerchair.

Communications is not a strong point..

..it seems that if it can go wrong it will go wrong, I wish we had Robert Halfon as our MP he strikes me as the sort of person who would get in there and get it done or sort it out asking some outright questions at the very least. The car park was doing well as in work was started to complete and finish however it didn't last. Now I can't reverse in and out of my drive without hitting a great lump of dirt!

Not sure if this is what they call a modern feature and is staying or if an oversight and further work to continue and level out covering in Tarmac maybe. It has been difficult enough to reverse in and out of my drive over the last 6 months.This latest alteration I have put up with over the
last two weeks as thought it prudent and only fair to give benefit of doubt and yes I realise that it can't all be done at once. The men arrived to put in new fence  it seems its not a new fence or even all new posts just snipping away at the wire fence that is already there. Well that is a slight exaggeration two men did turn up and replace two posts as well as snipping at the fence:

For some reason they didn't think it would be a good idea to put the posts for the gateway in line with the corresponding dropped paving slabs laid for the foot path, leading from the car park, this will be really interesting, its not rocket science for heavens sake, surely just looking at it tells you that if the paving curbs dip with a gap in a long line of paving curbs then thats where the gate will go. I shouldn't be surprised as it just adds to the string of unfinished jobs and I am not even sure who the butt stops with now so many people have had their fingers in the pie I do intend to follow up though. Dont get me wrong if you do a good job I will give relevant praise, but if you dont I will let you know.

For those of you who have been following my blog, and thank you for those who have sent personal messages, offered advice or views and asked questions. From my list of unfinished snagging jobs published on 22.12.2014 here are those that are still unfinished and awaiting follow up.

(pale blue is original issue, dark blue immediate response at time August-December and Purple as of now)

1.  Keys the missing set, where are they now, who has them and when can I expect them to be  returned? Poses all sorts of potential problems, from Insurance to human rights, it really has been too long now. Not knowing if someone has been in your house when you are out or even if you are there is not a very nice thought.

This one is with the council as the builders say they have returned the keys to them, its now been over 4 months.
Keys are still missing, these were handed into the Council in September 2014 who said they would pass onto us but we have still not recieved, this means that one set of keys is still missing and I am not sure of Insurance implications, I will find out this week as our locks may need changing if they can not be produced.
2. Wires above doors and in hall, bare wires are left curled around, what are they for and when are they going to be finished off, some sort of explanation would be good.

Awaiting a response
Still don't know what these wires are for and they are dangling unceremoniously.

 4.Shed electric supply, when are we getting? Was asked for and we agreed to pay towards costs, freezer will have to go into shed. Fridge freezer lovely idea but not practical as I can’t reach fridge and no room for both. Already agreed the fridge freezer is impinging on living area by OT and social services recommend under counter fridge so I can access if needed. Also needed as Tarmac gets hot then sticks to wheels, need storage outside for chair and scooter, when someone comes indoors they generally can take off their shoes and put slippers on, I can’t do that with chair wheels and the tar sticks to wheels and it is spread through the house, I can’t keep an indoor and outdoor wheelchair as the storage area for my wheelchair indoors has been used with the heating system, so cant use my indoor chair and keep the outdoor one in a secure dry place. Nowhere secure outside to leave as electric at front of house, chair will get wet, damp and probably stolen (wheelchair standard homes part M of building advises of need for storage with power point for charging)

Awaiting a quote.
Nope given up decided to use an outdoor extension lead, good job Amazon is quicker.

 8.Tree in garden the dead one when it is going to be removed.

The council have passed this one  to lady who deals with trees and hedges, I haven't heard anything yet.
Dead tree still waiting to be cut down it hasn't fallen down yet but suspect its a matter of time. 

12 Metal grill in car park, not fit for purpose, catches my tyres on wheelchair both my carers have tripped on it where it lays uneven, the grill is very cheap and tinny, something more hardwearing is needed

Builders turned over the warped bits so they can dent other way, love the logics.
The grill is all bumpy up and down its very flimsy and not really fit for purpose of vehicles crossing on daily basis my wheel chair tyres are not liking it - needs something more substantial.
15.Top coat of paint needs doing on metal supports in car port needs doing.

Yep coming back after Christmas to paint all those areas left with undercoat.
Rust coming through looks horrid and could look so nice, shame

The end of February is the end of the 6 month period so will be able to do a comparable bill review from previous heating costs to current heating costs.

PR event

with Motability, what a lovely day. Met with Patrick, Sophia, Jackie and loads more of their colleagues, hugh departments, I had no idea of how many people work there or the volume of claims they have more than 640,000 Motability cars on the road.

Met Mark Harper MP for disabled people who was very pleasant and asked interesting questions, very handsome chap. Also met with Robert Halfon MP for Harlow who I have to say is really nice, shame he is not local to me. I get the impression he is someone who will get things done, and will hound his prey until he gets results,  I hope he has a long career.

Well it was a good start - Unfortunately did not last...

... work started on the car park and although progress was made ie the two tanks buried, the second week work ground to a definite halt. This seems to be around communications I suspect, anyway it is now really hard to back out of drive yesterday it was impossible with next door neighbour parked in their drive and yes I crunched the back of new car into the metal pole sticking out of ground. Parking sensors will only go so far. Needless to say that has now been removed at least the gigantic mud mole hill should do no actual damage to the vehicle. All this simply adds to the fact I am going to find it very difficult to reverse out of my drive, swing my nose round to miss metal support post of carport to pull forward and turn. The bungalows are supposed to be built with disabled in mind, how is this then? I am already catching my wheelchair base on the lip of the front door as its not flush and yes the specific disabled doors purposed for wheelchairs are flush as my parents paid a fortune for theirs to be fitted so I could gain access to their house. This is something that would be builders with similar needs should look out for, it seems I am going to have to go back to ramps totally unnecessary. To add to this the cheap drain guard covers put down across drive way are all poking up at angles again. This means I catch the wheels of chair and again the underneath which can do real damage to the chair - someone is going to trip and its not going to be pleasant. This has already been put in the snagging list along with several other items, not all of these being the builders fault for example I still have a set of keys missing. I am going to enquire with Insurance company to see how that stands, suspect they will want locks changed which could work out very expensive. I am off later to meet with Minister for Disabled which I am sure we will both get a lot out of.