Very sadly our old grape vine did not survive the building work, so today Cat and Dad are cutting it down. There was no sign of any life in any of the branches. We will replace this with another grape vine, it’s a great sunny and sheltered spot and we miss having plants growing up… Continue reading Sunny weekend (not relaxing) in the garden
Category: Exterior
The art of riddling
Colin has a plan. He is going to sift the soil from the back lawn to remove rubble, stones, sticks, dead roots, etc. and has put together a contraption, using two wing stands for gliders, that he can ‘riddle’ the soil through. The first iteration collapses when used, so he screws it all together and… Continue reading The art of riddling
First Saturday off in a year
We both take Saturday off, the first time in a year. Cat goes to have her hair done and I have been invited for cocktails by the river in London with some fabulous friends. I borrowed Cat’s Land Rover as my car has a few issues at the moment, and was super excited as well… Continue reading First Saturday off in a year
Seven bloody leaks!
Tuesday morning and our plumber Andy arrives to assess what the hell is going on with the leak in the main soil pipe. The first plan of attack is to go in through the boxing and old floorboards above (under the new staircase), to the area where the waste pipe from the shower, bath and… Continue reading Seven bloody leaks!
Hedge repairs (and a major f***ing leak)
Our first morning waking up in the house and we were both still super excited and on a real high. It’s taken tens of thousands of pounds and a year of bloody hard work from everyone involved to get here, with everyone going the extra mile to make this place extra beautiful and extra special,… Continue reading Hedge repairs (and a major f***ing leak)
Cleaning, sorting & packing
Tomorrow is moving day (!) so today we are going to be crazy busy, cleaning, sorting and packing in both houses. There is a team of lovely people from the village all ready to help us move (they have been ready to help for months now) and they are starting at 9am so we have… Continue reading Cleaning, sorting & packing
The big clean up begins
Cat is on a mission. She is cleaning all the rooms working from the top down, ready for us to move in on Sunday (!!), removing any Ram Board, hoovering, washing the floors, dusting all the shelves, window seats and radiators. This is Zanna’s bedroom, cleaned up and ready for furniture! We haven’t seen the… Continue reading The big clean up begins
Carpet challenge!
Monday morning and two carpet fitters from Ray Randerson Carpets arrive to finish off the attic and fit the carpet in Cat’s old bedroom. These two hadn’t seen the attic before and so were quite surprised by the scale of the challenge. They have to manoeuvre a roll of carpet 5m x 8m, unroll it… Continue reading Carpet challenge!
Frantic final weekend
So the plan is to move back in next weekend! One week shy of 12 months to the day that we moved out! There is still a great deal to do when we have moved back in but we are rationalising it to the things that must be done before then. There is, however, still… Continue reading Frantic final weekend
Lighting preview
Our monster’s head in the attic is now lit up and looking fierce. #iseefaces Sam is not having an enjoyable day, the thumbs up is sarcastic as he tries to locate the earth issue discovered last weekend… Taking these lights on and off is a total nightmare, but the ones in the lime plaster are… Continue reading Lighting preview