Pathage

Well we (actually Lyn and builder Paul) discussed the subject of paths for many hours, finally settling on using road planings, which are created when roads are resurfaced. They are just smashed up roads really. It's a cheap and easy solution and so far looks very good. As I type, they are all whizzing back and forth in the rain with barrows full of the stuff, occasionally stopping to use a wacker plate to smooth and compact it.

Before:

During:

Later:

There will be an "After" pic, but it's now late in the day, and I'm keen to post something, anything, as it's been so long. 

We all know the news we're waiting for, and obviously there will be a joyous post on the day we get it.

More soon

Frontage

Front patio and rockery area is taking shape.

40 tons of good topsoil will arrive soon to fill the two corner areas. Lyn is looking forward to planting those up and putting in some artfully placed stones, and of course in a nod to the trees that populated this area for 30 years, these lovely silver birches..

Can't tell from this pic, but they are 4m tall.

The rest of the patio area will be porcelain tiles like the one in the first pic.

More soon

Update

Work has now started on the patio and decking which will surround the house, so that won't take too long.

I need to do a final montage of the time lapse stuff, which involves loads of photos and images from the last 3 years. I'll get on that right away.

Here's Lyn's latest photo, taken today on the way home from Benchmark Building Supplies in Romiley, to show our delight at finding the right tiles for the patio. A sample is in the background, but I think the photo just illustrates how well the colour goes with her eyes, and hair. Must be feeling romantic :)

Montage will appear here soon, don't miss it it'll be ace.

Laters

Silver beam

Hi all, well we'll be done with scaffolding very soon, but I thought I'd share these pics of the old steel beam that's supported the front facade for 130 years, now in its shiny silver coat. There's a bit of pointing to finish off, then this lot can be moved to the north wall so that can be repaired.

In other news:

• We get our first two bedrooms carpeted on Tuesday, the rest will wait til the ensuite in the master bedroom is tiled, mid-November.
• Hot water is now a thing in our house
• Final second fix begins next week
• Our posh glass balustrade for the landing arrives on Monday
• We think we'll be living there from next weekend, albeit sleeping in one of the carpeted bedrooms, not the master one.
• Furniture will be brought from storage slowly, as we'll be doing it ourselves and we're a bit broken for heavy lifting

More soon :-)

Lights on, nobody home

Lots to tell. How to begin. I know, pics:

Yes, the scaffolding has finally been moved away from the house so we can get a better idea of Jeremy's design. We think it looks very fine and contemporary and contrasts nicely with the setting. This was known at the start, and the planners greatly approved of it.

After nearly killing me, the North meadow is beginning to give back. The longer parts will eventually be 60-70cm tall, with all kinds of native goodies. Foxgloves, fritillaries and so on. We will continue to mow this path, for wanderings.

Constrained for space after the great refactoring of 2022, we fit in bookshelves wherever we can.

Up close, the finer details are very pleasing. The burnt larch is lovely.

Final few days of second fix. We even have electric light. The colour here is Cornforth, and anyone who knows me will have heard many times that we really like this colour. It seems to work with anything you put on the wall. We've used it throughout the last three places we've lived.

I expected more complaints than we actually got on tree-felling day. In fact it was well received by the vast majority of passers-by. It's produced this impressive pile of logs and an even more impressive pile of chippings, which will be put to good use around the gardens. Another effect is of course, more daylight into the light-starved areas of the South meadow. The seeds we sowed earlier this year have really struggled, but next year it will be lush and beautiful.

Finally got something out of storage :)

Our trusty (and very heavy - many thanks Sam and Colin) washing machine is in place. In the coming weeks, more items will be released from captivity, as we gradually re-evolve into house dwellers.

More soon.

It's been so long

Long time no update. So here goes.

I'll put up a selection of pics and try to give a feeling for how we're getting on, how about we do it that way?

Before we start, here's the state of play.

Plastering is very nearly done and Lyn and Andy are currently painting walls and ceilings. Yes we've gone from red tape, through gaffer tape, now arrived at masking tape. The kitchen units have arrived, the fitter will be here tomorrow. The ovens (yes plural) and hob arrive on Saturday. The dishwasher (I am SO tired of washing dishes) arrives on Monday. Concrete floor has had its final polish.

Outside, the rendering is complete, burnt larch just needs a few bits doing. Windowsills are on, a man is coming to mastic round them next week. North meadow continues to delight us despite its creation nearly crippling us.

Now pics: I think they speak for themselves :)

More soon :-)

Stairs

We have stairs. Look. Just look.

Note the plastered ceiling on that last photo. Oh yes it's all happening. 

In other news, the north and south meadows are looking lovely and lush in all the rain. I don't have pics sorry, but we're about to mow the paths into the north one and it will look great, I'll post pics afterwards.

What else?

Kitchen fitter is booked in
Concrete floor gets its final polish soon
Burnt larch cladding will be done in the next week or so
The awful protective tape is off the lovely black window frames - again no photos sorry

That'll do for now, more later