Footings - Bedroom 4

This will be the position of the outside wall (mainly glazing actually I thing) for the south facing bedroom/study.  I think this will be one of the nicest rooms in the house when we start putting back the windows  on the north and west facing walls.

New gate arriving - MOVE Gordy!

Here it is!  and you may have been able to see it if Gord had got out of the way!!

Fort Knox

At last - something that will hopefully stop the b...s from taking just what they want from the site -  please take special note of the pink welly socks which are the best thing ever!

Measuring up for tree line this morning

first few are in!

Dick Baines has been working all day today digging the trenches that will bring the electricity supply to the barns.....

Trench digging for electricity supply

from the inside

Same door looking from the sitting room

New Door!

Through to the bedroom.  Don`t worry that it looks as though we (they really!) have put it too far to the right.  The brick pillar and roof are coming out beyond the door to give more us more space in this study/bedroom which is south facing and will be a lovely room I think

Plans

I`m afraid the plans below are rather small - thanks Zaira for helping me get them to a size that even thinks about fitting!!  but they will give you a general idea.  Dave and Steve were sorting out levels yesterday.  There is a large drop in floor levels from the sitting room to the bedroom beyond.  There will be four steps down (one in the living area and three in the adjoining doorway).  This is the next thing to be done - next week we hope - and floors in this area to be concreted too.   All very exciting.  Since we knocked the door through from living room to bedroom the whole place feels more like home.

Putting you in the picture

Progress report

All is going really well lately. Much of the flooring concreted, two walls almost gone and radon pumps in place....Next week we should be knocking out the door through to the bedroom beyond the sitting room.  Floors either side of this will be concreted and then we will be looking up - to the roof which is going to be altered.  As we have to have new tiles anyway (planning insisted) we are going to make sure that we can leave as many beams exposed as possible which means the insulation going above the beams and then the tiles above that.  The trenches for the electricity and water will be dug later in the week I think.   Keep watching!

Sunset

The sun is setting and Noreen and Patrick must be doing some burning down at the Manor

Little windows, lots of sunshine

Looking back to the kitchen - room to the right .  This is the "not quite sure yet" area

sunny evening

                                                    Kitchen door!!

Progress to 16 November

Watch out for planting here!

The obvious line from the far hedge and then down to the corner and round will shortly be planted up with native hedging.

Completely through!

November 11th and they are through!  Looking back here to the sitting room and the "not quite sure" area..

Nearly through

10 November and they are nearly through...this will all be part of the sitting room

Joists OK but .....

this is the area behind that downstairs wall most of which will be removed by the end of this week.  This is, therefore, the floor of the library - see door opening to the left above the joists.  All the joists were fine and can be replaced but the boards had to come out.

rotten floorboards

Looking towards the gallery area.  It has gone!  Floorboards were rotten so they`ve come out and the post on the left of the picture will be the height of the new gallery.  Most of the wall at the bottom will come out but the doorway will remain the same width upstairs for Gord`s library..

Electric supply

This is where our electric is coming from so not too far to go...  Next - dig a trench just over a metre deep and lay the ducting with a sort of pull through devise at which point western power come back and thread the electric wire through... Trench should be dug next week hopefully.....getting wary of saying that though as things tend to take longer than anticipated!!

Floors!!

Concrete laid on Monday.  Just the kitchen and the "I`m not sure what it is" room so far

Building inspector hold up

The building inspector came round at the beginning of the week and has insisted on us putting radon gas sumps into the floors before concreting so that is what has been going on.  Never got to France - SNCF strike and forgotten passports to blame - HAPPY BIRTHDAY VIOLETTE! today xxxx

Three acres at the back

The brown bit is the three acres we are keeping at the back of the barns.  Putting it down to grass at the moment but also thinking of some sort of building for bike storage/table tennis table (recovered at the last minute from Sudbrook) and other "stuff" which Gordy has none of but I have rather a lot!!

Crafty ideas!

I thought we (want to help Al?) could paint this drill thingy (such a farmer`s daughter!) and use it for flowers???

Love this view!

Radon Gas Sumps

This innocent looking pipe plus a couple of others are apparently going to remove radon gas from the house! WOT is Radon Gas?  No idea but we are happy not to have it living with us

Wretched news

Those b....... thieves went up to the site last Friday night and they stole everything - cement mixer, roller and other equipment.  Now, of course, nothing can be left up there and so this has held us up a little as the concrete floors will all have to be done on one day - next Tuesday I think...  Gord and I are away to see Amy in France until the 18th and so no more blogs until then.  The wall at the far end of the sitting room will also be knocked through next week and so there will be quite a difference on our return

Sitting room and gallery library

That wall at the far end is due to go next week and concrete floors will be done.

Steel beam now in place

Yes, thanks Gord, we can see it!

Autumn colours, cows and calves

Another glorious day today - 1 October and probably the hottest day this year.  The pipes are down in the kitchen.  Next week will be floors and possibly the beginning of the roof which is going to be raised slightly to allow us to expose all the beams in the central area while still keeping to building regs with insulation etc. 

Are you mooving yet?

HI HO! HI HO! It`s off to work we go!!

Hooray!  All systems go this week and they have already sorted floor levels in the main part of the house and knocked through the wall between the kitchen and the "I don`t quite know what it is" room.  They had quite a struggle with the trenches for the drains as the soil seems to be clay and stone.....not easy.  The weather has been in the mid 20s and long may it last.  Very excited now.  Come on you lot - join up.  Let`s have more fans.  Good old Caroline and Al  x  This colour combination is Gord`s idea.  I think I prefer the greens.....

Trenches for drains in the kitchen

All systems go now

Beautiful morning!

Gorgeous up there this morning!  And listen to the work going on in the background  -  Hooray!

Help! The whole structure is now resting on two pieces of wood!

Lots of knocking through today and trenches for drainage....A blazing hot day too...

Storing up the bricks etc.

Loads of stone and bricks coming out!

Floor Levels

Friday will be the first full day of work but we are away until the following Wednesday.....They are starting on floors and levels and then we (we?) are going to knock out the end wall in the sitting room and level all that out too.  At last we are under way and hopefully things will get a little more interesting.  All Gord wants is to relax in his library (the gallery bit above the main room) with a good book!!!  Some time to wait I`m afraid.

Gord at his technical Best!

Watch that measure!

The two main men  - Dave the builder on the left and Steve the architect on the right - work starts (no really it does!) on Friday.....but I may not be there until next Wednesday when I expect it will be nearly finished!!!

More Measuring

Mooving Along!

Saying Hello to Adrian Walton`s cows on the way to the barns!

When Will it ever start?

I now have a date of "middle of this week"!!  Let`s hope that it all kicks off on Wednesday or Thursday - watch this spot (hee hee).  In the meantime, measuring out the land (5 acres or 2 point something hectares) took some brain power but with Dick and Gordon involved we were not allowed to say "this`ll do".  Oh no!  everything had to be exact and with only my mobile calculator (which, at first, did not appear to have a division button on it) it proved quite tricky.  We started off with about double what we have eventually decided is the right amount.  There are now stakes where our new boundary will be and we will be planting a conservation hedge very soon.

Still trying to work out the maths!

Jack`s ready to go!

Dick and Gordon are still doing the maths but Jack is ready to go!

wild man of the woods

Gord is going to buy a chain saw!!  Is this a good idea?  There is a lot of clearing out to do in the woodland next to the barns - Jack has promised to give him some lessons - Phew!

Hectares/Acres/Metres/sqare feet - who knows?

Measuring out the 5 acres at the back of the barns - two brains were (eventually) better than one! But it took some working out......

progress - or not?

So, the work should have started today but we have to wait until the 19th....so not much to report except that the kitchen area and main living area will be the first to have floors and then the whole place will be reroofed (is that a word?) which is the only stipulation the planners put on the project.  So hopefully there will be some more video and pictures soon.  The architect and builder were up there today chatting away about what they were going to be doing and I should have been filming really - must get geared up to this blog lark!

august 2011

spring 2011

SPRING 2011

Work on the new drive....

Well, here it is in summer 2010 and, apart from a new driveway very little has happened since.  We are now ready to start in earnest and I will be up there with camera and video as often as possible.  All very exciting and a bit frightening!

SUMMER 2010

Watch this - a link will appear at some stage

Bedroom 2!  This one will get the morning sun ....

The dining room!!