IMPROVEMENTS ARE STARTING TO SHOW - March 2013

All demolition work appears to have come to an end at last. It has been replaced with re-building along with extra damp proofing and insulation making the house a drier, warmer place. 

We haven't made any further renovations to our lounge since the builders were in here. This is likely to be one of the last rooms to complete along with the kitchen, mainly because there is so much to do in them. They need a good amount of money, time and energy spending on them and we want time to get a feel for how they are best used before deciding how we want the finished product. 

However, we have managed to make the lounge quite comfortable and homely for the time being. It is quite a dark room during the day due to it's small size and lack of windows, but during the evening, in front of the wood burner, it is cosy. Gizmo agrees!

For a lighter day room/dining room, we intend to use the conservatory. 

We are in the process of painting it and laying a floor from the re-salvaged slates we brought over from Derbyshire last year.

Working on completing rooms requiring the least work has given us another finished bedroom, so there is somewhere decent for our guests to stay.

So in total we now have 2 bedrooms and a bathroom finished and are well on the way to having a completed conservatory.

The lower rooms which were all but demolished a few weeks ago, nearly have a roof.

The outside wooden steps up to the new back door were rotten and falling apart. Rather than replace them, Will set about laying a stone path/steps up to the door to the right of the original steps.

He has done a great job.

One morning the builders started up some extremely noisy machinery well before 8.00am. I felt very guilty as there were people staying in the holiday cottage next door. People who had no doubt chosen it for its peaceful location! So I took them a bottle of wine and some Thorntons chocolates for having to put up with the rude awakening. The man who answered the door was receptive and asked my name, after which he said, "Wait there Andrea". I wondered what he had gone to fetch. A pistol? He soon reappeared carrying a large  cardboard box from which he took a pile of chocolate bars. He told me he worked for Cadburys and that I could have the chocolate bars!

So there I was, taking him a small box of chocolates as compensation for the noise. And I was the one who came back with 6 large bars of chocolate and 2 packets of sweets! If his intention was to make me feel even more guilty - it worked!! At least the ones I gave him were Thorntons - don't know if that's a good or bad thing for someone who works at Cadburys? Oh well. It's the thought that counts!!

And back to the animals ... again

As mentioned before, the cats have started to take walks with us. Now, all 3 join us.

Perhaps all the house moves have upset their identity. Like dogs, they walk with us, then on one walk, Yoda took on human characteristics and decided to lean on a gate alongside Will!

On another day, just over our fence, there was a sheep tangled in some barbed wire. 

Although the sheep was only yards away from our house, it was quite a trek around to get into the field to get to where the sheep was trapped. Will and his 2 helpers went to free the sheep, which, by the time they arrived had managed to struggle free.

Although free, Will cut the barbed wire  to prevent any more accidents. Of course his two apprentices stayed to help.

Daffodils have started to grow in the garden. 

        

                               

Supposedly, sheep don't eat daffodils. I think this is a fallacy, as I have a theory.... that daffodils and sheep both grow simultaneously. As daffodils sprout, sheep become pregnant and are then too fat to fit under fences or jump over them. This gives the daffodils the chance to sprout new leaves and buds. By the time the sheep are slim and energetic enough to clear fences again, the daffodils are too old and chewy to be worth bothering with. Unfortunately bluebells however, come to life along with the lambs. They have no chance and are eaten alive before they have chance to bud flowers.

Next blog - It's not just sheep which need saving!