New (to us) dishwasher

Today I got my new dishwasher plumbed in and it's had it's first run this afternoon. My neighbours had their kitchen refitted before Christmas and they had all their appliances built in. This dishwasher, less than a year old, was homeless and available for only £50! We always thought that we didn't have room for a dishwasher but the prospect of one at such a reasonable price really concentrated our minds to be creative about how to incorporate one into the kitchen. We had a dishwasher at our last house for two years and we have missed it.

We decided the best place for it due to proximity to cold water supply and ease of wiring into existing socket but it meant losing a double cupboard with two drawers. I emptied the cupboards and drawers in question and went to work fitting everything I took out into the rest of the kitchen.

When that worked, we got the joiner arranged to remove the double unit and he put in the small shelves in order to use the spare space, I can keep my clean t-towels and pinnies in there and so that took care of one drawer! We got the electrician in and had the plumber booked for the Tuesday before Christmas and we've been waiting for him to come ever since! Due to the extreme weather, he has been exceptionally busy fixing people's heating systems and broken down boilers. We felt as the weather was so cold, it wasn't right for us to get priority over peoples' heating so we were happy to wait (but slightly impatient if truth be told!)

We could really have done with it on Christmas day - eight people generate a lot of washing up and it was a bit of a laugh having the dratted thing sitting there but unable to use it whilst surrounded by a kitchen piled high with dirty dishes. Fortunately, my brother came to the rescue and led the charge to the washing up backed up by one of my sister's partner's to get it all done. Thanks, Dave and Chris! but I think we'll be alright next year. There is a bit of minor decoration retouching up though if you're interested ... :-)