Sooooo, been doing quite a bit to the house. The front room is now pretty much finished, electrics boarded in and painted (quite a job, every plane is on the piss) and the cheminee stripped and refinished (another lengthy job).
I've also made a start on the guest bedroom: more electrics have been boarded in; still to do, refinishing the bigger cheminee and the floor needs some attention; plus a load of decorating of course.
Also made a start on the upstairs bathroom: there isn't a bathroom there at the moment, no water pipes or soil pipe. This is the first room that will have some 'pierre apparent' so I get to try my hand at old-fashioned pointing in the regional style. My mate bob the builder (he's from Manchester) has some expertise with this so he's giving me some lessons.
Bev has been hard at work in the garden. The new lawn, seeded last Autumn, has done well and has had its first cut and is ready to be used this Summer. Bev has put in a load of plants: roses, a mimosa, (er, loads of other stuff I don't know, I'm no gardener) and we invested in a beautiful olive tree (something I've always wanted). We decided we wanted a ground-level deck, so Bev has shifted a load of soil (probably a couple of tonnes in all) so that I can get started. It's a huge deck, about 25 sqm, and I've enjoyed wandering about the place pondering how I'm going to do it. So far I've assembled most of the frame, levelled it up and have started to install the subframe and dug the holes for the posts. Would like to get it done for the first few weeks in May - that's the plan anyway ...
Bev and the kids are off at the coast this week (Easter holidays) while I work, eat like a student and DIY in the evenings ...
Finished cheminee (yeah I need to tile the front bit - I've blocked it up because the oil boiler takes up most of the useable fireplace unfortunately - and probably will put my wood stove in there as well)
This is what is was like half way through stripping, took me months of evenings
Olive tree, deck is going behing there. Need to put a door on the old boghouse, turn it into a storeshed.
This is what it was like last year, moved the wood-store further down the garden. Coal bunker being demolished on the left - built like a battleship, broke the handles of two picks hacking that up. :^D
Deck frame being assembled
Olive tree and church tonight ...
