Bank holiday

Bob has now finished all the joints for the extension and we've tried putting the various bits together - and they all fit!!!  Upside-down, it looks as though we're building an ark (as you can see).  So, now onto sanding them all down (well the bits you'll see inside anyway) and chamfering (?? spelling ??) the edges.  Once that's done, we'll have to check the weather forecast for a fine day and then enlist some local help to put it all into place.  The two of us have managed on the dry runs, but it's a different matter when it all has to go up together.  It's a bit like a jigsaw - you have to do it in the right order and some bits have to fit into two other bits at once (from different directions), so extra pairs of hands will definitely help.

I think I've finally finished pointing the walls in the kitchen.  I have a theory that mortar pixies live around here and at night they sneak in and undo the work you've done earlier - I seem to have nearly finished it so many times and then when I look again there's another big patch that needs doing.  I daren't look today in case they came again last night!  Next job in there is to sort of plaster over the stone - this is done by throwing bits of mortar at the wall and hoping it sticks . . . . . then scraping it up off the floor and trying again!  We just want to cover the stones but still have the bumpy outlines.  These walls were never meant to be left exposed and some bits are pretty rough.  The people who built it 200 years ago would be horrified at all the efforts to leave exposed stone inside I'm sure.  That said, in some other rooms we will have some exposed stone - in the lounge (which used to be a barn that was built onto the house later) we will have one stone wall because it is really nicely done - it was the outside wall of the house and so good stone was used.

As it is a Bank Holiday today, we're having a more relaxing day.  So, this morning we went for a walk - round the quarry and up the hill the other side through the woods.  Every now and then there is a clearing and you can look across the valley, over the quarry and (if you know where to look) can see our house.  Strange this fascination with seeing your own house from far off isn't it?  Like looking on Google Earth.  We see the house every day, but always try and pick it out when we are anywhere else.

Laura is coming for a few days next weekend - it's her birthday.  So, I'd better get that knitted rabbit finished so she can take it with her - nearly done, just got to sew the ears on.  Then I think Ben and his girlfriend, Lucy, are popping in on Tuesday afternoon on their way home from Aberystwyth.  Busy, busy, busy!

Oh, now I've got a blackeye!

OK, so now I've got a black eye - I did just try taking a photo of myself, but close-up and at this time in the morning (6.45am) it's not a pretty sight, so I couldn't inflict that on you.

Yesterday afternoon, Bob was getting on with the oak joints, so I decided to carry on with yet more pointing.  This time in what will be our bedroom, which means upstairs so I had to put some boards across the rafters and take everything up the ladder (and then try to remember not to step back while I was working up there).  Managed that OK.  I then had to move everything along to the next section.  Now when Bob gets his teeth into a job he is totally absorbed in that and doesn't really take any notice of anything else going on - least of all what the unskilled labourer is doing.  When I asked, he helped move the planks along, but then disappeared quick sharp back to his woodwork before I could pass stuff down, so I had to squeeze down the ladder, between the rafters carrying various buckets, etc and stupidly caught the cable leading to the cable-reel which was precariously balanced on a rafter as I did so bringing it crashing down on top of me.  Why didn't I move that first - stupid girl!  Anyway the plastic edge of the reel bounced off my eye, knocking my glasses off and it HURT!!!!  Made me cry even - how stupid did that feel, but it really did hurt.  Luckily I had unplugged the light from the cable or I'd have had a very hot builders light on my head too!  So now I have a black eye and a small cut above my eye and, as I only realised during the night when I couldn't sleep because my shoulder hurt each time I turned over, the cable reel obviously caught my shoulder too as it bounced down.  So feeling a bit sorry for myself now!

Anyway, enough of that!  This morning we spoke to the architect about head height and it seems that the only way we could reduce the size of the joists is by adding one or possibly two purlins (they go across the ceiling under the joists) which would probably have to be a foot deep .  . . . well that kinda defeats the object doesn't it?  So, I think we'll forget that idea and just be careful how we arrange the furniture.  Or we could have one of those height restriction charts like they have on the rides at Alton Towers to say 'If you are above this height we're sorry you can't stay in this room'.  Not so easy when Ben is 6'7" and Laura is 6"!!

We also wrote a letter to the Planning Officer asking if we could put an extra window in to let more light in.  In the past these minor amendments to the plans could be dealt with by writing a letter, attaching a drawing and then popping in to see the planning man at a drop in session, you could chat it through, he could tell you yes or no or what would be possible and then he'd confirm that in writing a couple of days later.  Not anymore.  Now you have to download a four page application form from their website (not easy to find the form), complete that with many of the details of the original application that they already hold on their computer, send four copies of that and any supporting drawings, etc (so that was 24 sheets of paper) to Shrewsbury so they can scan them onto their computer system - so why do they need four copies?  Eventually this all goes to the guy in Oswestry for him to rubber stamp and we should have a decision in about a month.  Well, that's progress for you!

So, a pretty crappy day yesterday.  But, today's another day - I'm off to Sainsburys again today as we have visitors tomorrow.  My sister, her husband and two teenage daughters are coming for the day.  I always worry that they'll be bored, especially the girls, but they seem to enjoy it.  Ellie, the youngest at 13 thought this was a fairytale place the first time she came and can't wait to get her wellies on and scramble about the cliff and woods.  Sophie is not quite so enthusiastic, but when she was given a get-out clause last time she, apparently, looked horrified at the thought.  It's funny, we get a lot more visitors now we live in a caravan than we ever did in our four-bed house!  That's actually really nice - lets hope it continues when we finally have proper accomodation (even if you can't stand up in it!).

The oak has arrived

At last, on Thursday, in the pouring rain, the oak arrived for the timber-framed extension as well as the chestnut cladding for the outside.  This is what Bob's been waiting for!

So, I had a domestic day yesterday to give Bob some space to get his head around how to do this part of the building without me making my usual 'helpful' suggestions.  So I was kept busy with three washer loads of washing at the launderette (we still haven't sorted out washing machine facilities here), Sainsburys (who had no food because the fridges had broken), making a carrot cake and knitting the head and ears of a rabbit as a present for a Buddhist nun!  Now, that sounds a little strange doesn't it?  Let me explain - rabbit first,  I bought a lovely pattern for a floppy-eared rabbit and when Laura (my grown-up daughter) saw it she went all gooey and asked for one.  I then made one for Ben's girlfriend (also grown-up) who then asked me to make one for her 18 year old sister at the same time as Laura asked for one for her friend.  So, I have made four little toy rabbits and none of them are for children.  What a soppy lot!  Now the nun explanation - Laura became a Buddist about 18 months ago and regularly visits the Tibetan Centre in Scotland and is particular friends with the young nun who runs the shop there and, as it is her birthday next month, asked me to make another rabbit.  Perfectly simple!

Today Bob has started cutting the mortices (square holes) for the joints in the timber frame.  Very kindly, the chap from the woodyard let us borrow their chain morticer which is a machine you clamp onto the wood and it cuts the square holes - very clever and so much easier than by hand - they'll just need a bit of tidying up later.  People round here have been so good with help, advice and the loan of things - really helps you along (especially when you've not done this sort of thing before).  While Bob was doing that, I carried on with pointing the inside of one of the barns (now there's a job that seems never-ending!).  We've also had several breaks to chat to neighbours as they pass on their daily constitutionals.  We're quite enjoying living next to a bridleway - best of both worlds really as we're fairly remote from hustle and bustle, but still see people every day as they walk/ride past and stop for a chat or a cuppa and check on progress!  Some even come bearing gifts - beans, rhubarb, field mushrooms and so on - even better!

We are a little worried about the head height in this bit of the extension and also the fact that the only window will look straight out at the sleepers of the retaining wall (luvverly - perhaps I'll paint an alpine meadow scene on them!).  So, on Monday, we need to speak to the architect to see if we can gain any height by using smaller timbers in the roof (but more of them) and we may ask the Planning Dept if we can put a second window in which will look at the stone part of the retaining wall which is more interesting and should be quite pretty when some plants get established.  We also need to ask Building Control if we have to insulate all the outside walls (thus losing all their character and turning them into modern, flat, square-cornered walls).  Not sure if we can put more insulation in the roof to compensate, we'll see.

We've been busy (and my cold's gone)

Yep, my cold only lasted a couple of days - just left with a tickly cough now.  Ho hum!

Last evening we had a BBQ (just the two of us) which was very nice after a day building a dry stone wall.  It was a lovely evening so we put some wood in the brazier after we'd cooked and stayed out until 10.30pm with a bottle of wine watching the stars appear one by one and looking out for shooting stars.  Think this was the end of the week of meteor showers, so we were a bit late and didn't see any.  The sky is amazing here though with no light pollution, very black with millions of stars - where we used to live the sky was always orangey-brown and never really dark.  One of our criteria for where to move to was a black sky at night - tick that one off then.

So, jobs we've got on with in the last week are:
Finish the retaining wall - all the steels and sleepers are in and secure (phew).
Re-inforce the stone retaining wall - because we had to dig down to build the extension, we've had to reinforce the old stone retaining wall.  So we've put some pretty hefty stones along the bottom and up about a metre and continued that round into steps in front of the end barn door (a bit steep, but it's only really a fire escape so won't get used much - hopefully!!).  I went into the woods yesterday and got some pretty little ferns out of the wall up there and pushed them into some of the gaps in this new wall to try to make it look a bit more established.  We're now in the middle of building another section of stone retaining wall.  We're certainly get through our supply of big stones - thank goodness they're free.  If you had to buy these, they'd be about £20 each!!
Downpipes - yeah! at last, we have some of the gutters attached to proper drains and soakaways.  Up until now they have been real Heath Robinson affairs of my making using all sorts of bits of pipes, upside-down ridge tiles, tree guards and tilting buckets.  I quite enjoy doing that sort of cobbling together - reminds me of diverting streams and building dams when I was a lad!  Ahh, what fun.  One of the downpipes was a bit short, so we stuck the end into a piece of old salt-glaze drain pipe we found and built it into the wall.  Because it is bigger than the downpipe and has a socket on the end, we could actually put some little trailing plants in it which would look novel.  I'll take a photo some time which'll make it easier to picture, but it's too dark at the moment.

Oak beams in the kitchen are all in, shaped and sanded and even levelled, so in theory we could put the floorboards in upstairs.  Might wait until the walls are a bit further on first though.  When Bob finished levelling the beams he came bounding up to me to ask if I wanted to go upstairs (hey up, I thought, my luck's in!).  So we climbed up the ladder and balanced precariously on the beams - I was OK until one started swaying.  Oh yes, forgot that one wasn't attached to anything at the other end and was just balancing on a post!  Bob took this photo by balancing the camera on the top of the wall, setting the timer then legging it across the beams before it went off.  You should see the one before this - he looked a bit scared because he'd just run along the wobbly beam!

So, we are now waiting for the timber for the oak-frame extension.  It was supposed to be delivered at the end of last week . . . . still waiting, so I guess we'll have to ring the timber yard again tomorrow.  Still, we've got lots of loose ends finished while we wait.

Oh, and we've had four eggs now - all with shells.  One of our chickens is very clever - think it is Elvis bless her little cotton socks.  I guess the other two have retired.

We have an egg and it has a shell!

Yeah!  Someone laid an egg today and it actually has a shell (which is handy!).  Must be because I bought some yesterday I think.

Elvis looking much more like a proper chicken!

On the subject of the chickens, Elvis is doing really well without Myfanwy.  She was actually nicking bits of bread from under Sid's nose this morning which is amazing considering how nervy she was even just a few days ago.  Does make you wonder if she would have got as brave if Myfanwy hadn't decided to go to the hen house in the sky?  As you might be able to see from the photo, Elvis is also looking much more presentable too - wonder if it was her that laid the egg?

I've got a sodding cold!

Not fair!  I've got a cold - I kept telling myself it wasn't a cold, just dust up my nose, but there's no getting away from it - it's a sodding cold!  It's the first I've had since we moved here, so I suppose I shouldn't really complain - two years without a cold or a sniffle isn't bad.  Must be all the fresh air and outdoor life - not like when I worked in an air-conditioned office and every bug someone had got passed around like wildfire.  Just seems bizarre to get a cold in August having got through minus 10 degree temperatures, scraping ice off the INSIDE of the bedroom window, etc for two winters.

Oh well, not to worry - pass the tissues!

Something sad was happening while we concreted . . . . .

Despite all I said before about Myfanwy and how horrid she was (not to mention ugly), she was actually turning out to be OK.  She and Elvis had made friends and now pottered around together - two against two with Sid and Molly, but she was actually getting a bit braver around the two older chickens.  Her feathers were growing nicely and she was turning into quite a pretty chicken - in fact I had just been telling her the day before that she was starting to look like a proper chicken with feathers and all.  So, it was quite a shock when we finished concreting the barn floor for Bob to find her, stiff as a board, under the hen house.  Aaah, poor thing - don't know why, she seemed OK when she got up, maybe her comb was a little pale, perhaps she had been a little subdued?  I don't know, but we weren't expecting it.  So, we now have another little chicken grave in the garden.  Good job I didn't call this blog 'Myfanwy the Chicken'!

'What about poor little Elvis?' I hear you asking.  Oh, she looked so forlorn to start with just wandering around the run, into the house and out again,  but no little friend to be found, just the two bully chickens!  So, we decided an intensive intergration training programme was called for.  Elvis doesn't manage the steps down to the caravan too well so Bob carried her down and we sat on the bench outside the caravan and fed her sweetcorn (a real favourite).  When the others came for their share we had to carefully throw theirs just far enough away that they couldn't nick Elvis's without the risk of losing their own share.  We then sat there with them for ages making sure that they didn't bully Elvis (after all the concrete shovelling in the morning, I was glad of an excuse to sit and do nothing much!).  We did the same thing the next day and it seems to be working.  Elvis is actually doing really well (maybe not having Myfanwy to hide behind is a good thing really).  We bring her down in front of the caravan each day and she potters around and has started dust bathing and scratching a round much more than she used to.  The other two seem to leave her alone unless there are tasty morsels to fight over and Molly and Elvis were even seen pecking around together today while Sid was off doing other things. 

So, Elvis is doing OK, thanks.  She even tried to lay an egg . . . . forgot it's supposed to have a shell, bless her, but it's the thought that counts I suppose.

Jobs done

OK, on with the retaining wall - so we concreted in two more pieces of steel, waited for them to set in place and then just dropped the sleepers into place.  Actually, not quite dropped . . . . more like heaved!  They are really heavy.  We had to cut a bit off the first set and our little chainsaw really struggled.  Once cut, we pushed them over the edge of the bank at the top until they were resting on one steel post, then one of us ran down the slope, through the extension and out at the bottom of the steel posts to hold the sleeper while the other ran all the way round.  Then, with various blocks of wood propped against the steel, we lowered the sleeper down taking turns to lower one end then the other.  It was hard work and a lot of running back and forward, but we managed it with no injured backs or trapped fingers.  Just one more section to do, but that is quite low and that bit doesn't have to be done before we do the timber extension.  It'll never be pretty, but it should do the job and we should be able to soften it with some trailing plants, etc.

Next job was to concrete the floor in the middle barn.  We decided the easiest way was to move the ballast (sand and gravel mix) down onto the extension floor, then with the cement mixer in the barn doorway, there wouldn't be far to move the mixed concrete.  So, on Wednesday we shovelled 3 tonnes (or is that tons, I can never remember which is the metric spelling?) of ballast.  The idea was to shovel it from the top onto a chute made from an old piece of corrugated iron (or 'wriggly tin' as the Forestry Commission chaps back in Northamptonshire called it when we did some volunteering with them before we moved - that term made us smile so we've adopted it and shorten it to just 'wriggly'.  So, the barn opposite the caravan which is made of currgated iron is known as the wriggly now.).  Anyway, back to this here chute . . . it sounded like a good plan, but didn't work too well and we ended up shovelling and flinging the ballast and hoping it landed in the right place.

The next day we got up early and started mixing.  Bob was outside the barn with the cement mixer and I was inside spreading and levelling the concrete.  Because this floor is higher than where the mixer was, we couldn't fit the wheelbarrow under it to move it around, so it had to be shovelled into place - oh my, did my back and shoulders ache and when we finished I could hardly walk!  That aside, it went well.  We had screwed wooden rails along the walls at the right height to be able to use our special wooden bar (see picture) to tamp and level the concrete single handed - it just makes it so much easier.  So, that is all the floors concreted now.  Just need to lay the underfloor heating and then screed over the top and we'll be ready for carpets - well, we're not actually having carpets, but you know what I mean.

Unfortunately, something sad was happening while we were busy concreting . . . . . . . (there that's my first cliffhanger!)