THE WORK CONTINUES & WE MEET THE LOCAL GOATS - Nov/Dec 2011

There was/is so much to do on the house that we have to be prepared for the house to be in a worse condition before it gets better. Will removed all the double layers of pine and hardboard paneling on ceilings, walls, stairs, etc. We also removed all kitchen units, shelves, etc. The layers of paneling hid damp, mouldy rotten wood, including beams and joists. As the rubbish went out to be burned at a later date on a bonfire, it took with it a lot of the foul smell, damp and mould.

The original stone walls are a few feet thick and research tells us that when built, the internal fire along with the wind and the sun would probably have kept the house dry. In recent years however, walls have been concreted both internally and externally and painted with plastic paint. These modern products do not suit the original building materials and appear to keep the damp out by keeping the moisture in the stone walls. The concrete walls are now damp and in places, crumbling so we (Will & Richard) set about removing the concrete from original internal walls. This is a long, painstaking, tiring and extremely dusty job, but bit by bit, stone walls are exposed and we realise the extent of the dampness.

Kitchen

Upper lounge

In preparation for a whole family post Christmas visit, we attempted to make something of the lower lounge. We painted the concrete floor and concrete steps and along with some cleaned up and dried out furniture we managed to get it to resemble a lounge. A fan heater, fleece and hat just about kept the chill off.

On a cold clear sunny day we all climbed the mountain on which we live. This time we found the proper path making it a much easier and quicker climb. It took about 2 hours to climb from our house. 

 

Again it  was extremely windy and very, very cold, but beautiful. We took protection from the wind in a dry stone walled shelter before returning back down.

 View over Tre'r Ceiri - Iron Age fort

 On our descent, we met the local wild goats.  

This is sheep country and we have discovered how difficult it is to keep sheep out of the garden. We don’t mind their presence and they keep us amused, but they eat virtually every living thing – or at least we thought they did until we met the goats. Yes this is also wild goat territory. When they come down from the mountain, they hit the garden in mass, 30 or 40 of them at times, big, little, young, old, brown, white, multi-coloured, horned, you name it, they are there somewhere. Keeping them out is virtually impossible, considering that they jump to great heights, climb trees and onto rooftops! I now have a personal war against the local ovine and caprine inhabitants. I am determined to grow plants, colourful plants in my garden. I had anticipated the weather and location being a barrier to growing certain plants but I hadn't considered goats. I may not be successful, but I'm going to try. However the goats were after all, as the local farmer said, here a long time before us.



Next blog - Asbestos is removed and a new log burner is installed