And so another week passes.  No news on the solar stuff - still waiting for the new pressure release valve (and the plumber's been having brain scans, etc, so probably has other things to think about right now).  Oven testing is still ongoing - the top oven seems OK, but I haven't actually tried the main oven again.  Fingers crossed, the internet's been OK this week.  The CD player is still brilliant.  So, that's you caught up on those troublesome areas.

We have been doing some work on the oak room this week and have cleared it our and started putting the insulation in the roof.  No point in us heating our end of the house to have all the heat disappear through the slates in there!  We also grouted the hall floor this afternoon and it just looks so much better and more finished.

We are still - yes, still - waiting for the doors to dry out!
They must have had such a good soaking at the strippers.
Whenever the sun comes out we lug them all outside to soak
up the rays and they appear to dry out, but I guess that's just the
surface and when we look the next day they are wet again!  So,
these are the two we need first ready to spend the night in front of the fire!



 Last night , when I got home from work, we made chutney using produce from our garden - plums, apples and green tomatoes.  Because you have to let it bubble away slowly we did it on the Ironheart.  Wow, this is just the sort of thing I've pictured doing in this kitchen for so long.  I'm quite glad Bob was up for helping out, because there was an awful lot of chopping to do!  It's now all in jars to mellow and mature for three months and so it should be ready just in time for Christmas.  It tastes OK at the moment, but a little harsh and presumably that's what mellows out over the weeks. 



 This morning I started to make plum jam, also from our own plums.  I say started because I had to stop half way through because we had a delivery of plasterboard and insulation for the oak room including a coffee and chat with the delivery chap.  I then cointinued with the jam after lunch - hope it's OK.  This time I used the conventional cooker as it has to boil fast and the woodburner wasn't lit, so wouldn't have been much help!

So, here's the fruits of our labours.  In addition I have some
damson vodka on the go and several jars of damson puree
for ading to yoghurt and so on.  We have eaten the bowlful of
damsons from our own trees, but a neighbour gave us two
carrier bagsful!  Just look at those apples - the tree they came off
is really quite small, so they are quite impressive.

A week on . . . .

We've been out of the caravan for a whole week now and I really can't imagine living in it now.  Here are some of the little things that are a novelty for us (which everyone else probably would just take for granted):

*  You have to add a bit of cold to the washing up water (rather than boiling the kettle to heat it up)
*  Ditto the shower - well, obviously we didn't add boiling kettle water to the shower, but we didn't need to add cold
*  The pans fit on the hob, yes, even if you are using more than one!
*  We haven't had to share the bathroom with slugs (they were regular visitors in the caravan. . . . .  uughhh!  It makes me shudder to think about it).  Mind you, there are some humungous spiders in this house to replace the slugs!
*  You can bend down in the shower to pick up the soap
*  You don't have to wash up every two seconds to clear space when you're cooking
*  It can be windy or raining outside and we don't notice it!
*  We now have 'ready to go' clothes since I've washed and ironed most of them.  We used to have to plan several days in advance if we wanted to wear anything different so it could be washed and dried to get rid of the musty dampness.

So, our first week has had its ups and downs that's for sure.  The plumber came with the new manifold for the solar on Monday morning and he soon had the old one off and the new one up and in place.  He then found that they had changed the connections since he installed the old one, so he had to sort all that out on the roof which took ages.  Bear in mind that Monday was the extremely windy day with the tail end of hurricane Irene or whatever it was called - mmm, good day to be up on a roof!  We just got the tubes back on the roof before I had to go to work.  Oh, that made me laugh because I came in to get changed, but couldn't get upstairs because the plumber had our 'stairs' attached to the scaffold tower and his roof ladder!  Anyway, he got the solar stuff all connected and re-pressurised and left with us all thinking it would all be lovely now.  You're joking, the pressure had dropped significantly the next day and was absolutely zero by Wednesday . . . . 'Oh, bother' we all said!  So he came back again on Wednesday and checked all the joints again - fine.  So he took the pump station apart, disconnected the pipes from the manifold and blanked them off and attached pressure guages to them both.  This is to check that the pipes, which go through the roof behind the ceiling, are intact with no leaks.  Oh, what if we've put a nail or screw through a pipe?  We're sure we didn't because we were really careful, but you can't help wondering.  We'd have to rip the ceiling off - doesn't really bear thinking about.  Mind you, it probably wouldn't be as much of a nightmare for us as for many people, because at least we do know how to put it back again, it would just be such a pain.  Thankfully, there hasn't been much drop in pressure on those - phew!  He also put a pressure guage on the coil in the heat store in case that has a leak.  We're clutching at straws a bit here I have to say.  He phone every day or so to check what the readings are, but there is nothing obviously leaking.  So he has now ordered another pressure release valve for the pumping station, just in case that is faulty and is releasing pressure when it shouldn't.  WHAT A NIGHTMARE!  So, that's an ongoing saga which I will obviously up date you on again.

On Tuesday the chap came to sort the phone/internet out and that went well . . . . or so we thought!  The next day we couldn't get the internet at all and very lengthy calls to Orange in India couldn't resolve the problem.  They kept insisting we phone them on a mobile so they could test the landline and just couldn't understand that we couldn't because we can't get a signal here (no Orange coverage!).  Bob actually got quite annoyed with them - most unlike him.  So, I think we may be changing internet provider fairly soon!  In the end we borrowed a neighbours modem (to check if it was our modem that didn't like being moved).  Bob plugged that in and it worked, so he tried ours again and it worked too!!??  So, that's that problem solved.  Another neighbour with Orange said they'd had real problems this week, so I guess it was just a coincidence that it happened just after we moved operations to the house. 



My first cake in the new oven worked very well

 Other downs are that I'm not sure the electric oven is working properly - it was, but the last couple of things we've cooked in it have taken ages.  We bought an oven thermometer, but I'm not even sure if that is working properly.  So, that is an ongoing investigation too.  Also we took the CD player into the audio shop in Shrewsbury and their techy bloke took one look and said it wouldn't be worth repairing because the innards are so delicate no-one will touch them anymore.  Oh, that's sad because I did really like that player and we have really missed listening to CDs while we cook.  So, we did a very rash thing and splashed out on a new one, just like that, on the spur of the moment and without a second thought.  Not like us at all, but we had some accumulated birthday and Christmas money.  They had the updated version of our old one, but much neater and smaller and including a digital radio.   We then went and bought a couple of new CDs (there's nowhere to buy them in Oswestry which is frustrating).  As soon as we got home we plugged it all in, put in a new CD, turned the volume up and did a little jig round the kitchen with silly grins on our faces!  Good job no-one could see us.  You can have it on quite loud without being able to hear it outside - so, 18" thick stone walls have their advantages.

Today we've been putting pictures up to make this our home.
This is in our bedroom and the pictures are all baby photos
and other family shots.  The chimney breast needs some work to box in the
header tank on the right and make a wooden mantlepiece (and wardrobes
of course).



Also our bedroom (in case you hadn't guessed) - it's an odd
room to hang pictures with triangles and low spaces.



This is what that bit of the house used to look like - and this
after we'd done quite a lot of work on it.  This is actually the first
time we went upstairs together and I think you may have already
seen this photo.



Do you like our posh Axminster carpet?  We only put it down
when we have visitors you know!



Relaxing in front of the fire - what a life, eh?

 

Guess what we've been doing?!

So, what have we been up to in the last week?  Well, the plumber has swung it so Warmflow will send a new manifold for the solar panels and he should be here on Monday morning to swap them over.  Fingers crossed that's the end of it and it all works afterwards (think I'll cry if it doesn't!).  We have also given the hall another coat of white-wash, well, cream-wash actually and we have laid most of the floor tiles in there.  Bob went to get some more grout for them but the flippin' shop has closed down - how inconsiderate!  It has been taken over by someone else and should open again on Monday, just hope they stock the same stuff otherwise we'll have a real patchwork of grout.  

Last weekend was our wedding anniversary and to celebrate we decided we should get up at 6am so I could go to work and then in the afternoon we did log-chopping - we know how to live you know!  Actually, a bit of log chopping and stacking is quite a nice job to do together (we seem to have been doing a lot of separate things over the last few weeks.  It's also quite satisfying to see the pile grow, knowing it'll keep us warm next winter.  These are the logs our neighbour dropped off a couple of weeks ago so they won't be dry enough for this winter.  We also have some more to chop from when the quarry cleared some trees along the side of our lane a few months ago.  We have put down some pallets and knocked in some posts next to the hedge and, when we've chopped and stacked it all, we'll put some sort of roof on and that will be log pile number one done.  We have some logs we split last year (so OK to burn this year) so we need to make another log store near the house for those and then we'll probably make another one up near the chicken house - you just can't have too many log piles!  Do you know, I've even felt a bit of 'log pile envy' now and then when I see other people's stacks!

We also collected the doors last weekend (in the rain!).  It took some doing apparently, but they've come up really well.  Some had been stripped previously and coated with a water-based varnish which doesn't come off properly with the caustic stuff usually used, so the poor chap had to buy some Nitromors and scrape them clean.  They were still quite wet when we got them back so the are now drying out.  In the next few days we need to paint them with watered down vinegar to neutralise the caustic and then when that's dried off we can get on with fitting hinges etc.  They should look quite good, most are pitch pine which is just much nicer than the new pine you get now and will be much more 'in keeping'.

So, that's about it for this week - oh, nearly forgot to tell you, we have done something else!  Nothing much, but we moved into the house yesterday!  I was so excited and it was brilliant and didn't disappoint.  Bob has been almost nervous about moving in.  I think we've planned this for so long and had so many hopes for this cottage he was a little worried it may not live up to our expectations.  I managed to twist his arm though and we had our first night in there last night.  We are kind of camping out in there - no wardrobes so we have a couple of those clothes rails, no stairs so we still use the ladder, no kitchen cupboards so we have plastic boxes, temporary shelves and the broken freezer as a store cupboard, but it's all fine.  We were going to wait for the solar stuff to be sorted out, but as we hadn't a clue when it wouldl be done and the weather has definitely turned autumnal we decided not to wait any longer.

As we were taking stuff out of the caravan, we realised just how manky and horrible the caravan has become.  Bob was quite horrified and now doesn't like coming back in here.  I say 'in here'  because I'm typing this in the caravan.  The phone man is coming either today or tomorrow to move the connection to the house and sort out the internet and phone sockets (we've put the cables in ready), so until then we have to nip up here.

Bob took the bed apart, cleaned off all the mould and dust and
gave it a coat of wax so it now looks lovely again and smells
fresh and clean.

We had to take the door and frame off the caravan
to get the fridge out because . . . . .



. . . . . it only just fits (about 3mm clearance!)



Trying to sort out where to put everything, we wondered about
this as a novel knife block!  What do you think?  If we practiced,
maybe we could just throw them to put them in place.  By the way,
there is a split (or shake to give it its correct name) in the oak
just here, we haven't just stabbed the knives into solid wood!



First lunch in the house - very civilised to sit at a table to
eat.  The caravan table was always full of paperwork, the
laptop, etc so we generally ate off trays.



First cooking in the new kitchen.  It seemed really strange to have
to walk about to cook after the tiny space in the caravan!  That worktop
is pinched from the caravan - lovely and just what we had in mind for our
cottage kitchen.  It was actually a really good idea of Bob's as it gives us a
worktop and cupboard - it'll be a while before we have proper cupboards.  I'm
in my work clothes because I was just getting the naan bread started before
having a lovely long drench in our lovely big shower, ahhh I could get
used to living here!



So much of the planning for and talking about our move to a cottage in
the country was done while cooking a curry on a Saturday night, both
in our old house and in the caravan, that we just had to cook a curry
as our first proper meal here.  Having finally made it and with a glass of
wine in hand, we couldn't help but feel a little bit pleased with ourselves!

Our first night in the house felt like staying in a holiday cottage (a very nice one of course), you know when you can't quite remember where anything is or how things work and it's all a bit of an adventure.  We lit the woodburner just because we could, not because it was cold and it was lovely and cosy, but we did both wake up far too warm this morning!  We slept well though and the rain in the night didn't wake us up nor did the squirrels (they haven't learnt to throw hawthorn berries that far yet!).  The light through the rooflight above the bed did wake us fairly early, but it was nice to just lie there looking at our new surroundings . . . . well, it was once I'd put my glasses on!  There was a buzzard flying overhead which I could see while lying in bed - not bad eh?

Fun in paradise . . . NOT!!!

So, another whole week gone and here we are in September.  It's been really autumnal here with a definite chill in the air in the mornings, well on the way to being dark by 8.30pm and red and gold coming through on the trees.  We have been inundated with gifts of plums and apples from friends and neighbours - luckily our own seem to be holding back a bit and aren't quite ready yet.  We would also have a lovely crop of hazelnuts by now if the pesky squirrels hadn't already had them all off the trees and strewn along the lane while still green.  We have a little hazel in the middle of lots of holly and that kept its nuts much longer than the rest and we thought we might actually get to try some.  Then one day last week a squirrel found a way through the holly and stripped the lot!  I told you about the squirrel that has taken it upon itself to act as our alarm clock very early every morning throwing hawthorn stones on the caravan roof . . . well it is really, really getting annoying!  Bob has stormed out of bed a few times, grabbed the air rifle and gone hunting.  This morning I went and there were at least six of them at it!  We just don't seem to be able to get rid of them and we'd really love a lie-in!  HELP!!

Yesterday the plumber was supposed to come to fit the new manifold for the solar tubes . . . . . guess what?  He didn't come.  Apparently, the manifold (which was supposed to arrive while he was on his honeymoon) hadn't turned up and no-one knew anything about it.  I must admit, my first thought was that he hadn't done anything about it before he went away and I was seething about it all.  It turns out though that the manufacturer wants the manifold back to test before they will replace it.  The plumber is really annoyed because they won't pay for his time sorting it out (and obviously we aren't going to pay him for that time either), but that is between him and them.  We're just really annoyed that they won't take his word (as one of their accredited engineers) that the problem is a manufacturing one and replace the part up front.  It could take ages to get the part to them (in Ireland), have it tested, send a new one and get it fitted.  As it is, we've wasted all the summer's hot water potential and will now have to wait longer.  From a purely practical point of view, while they look at the manifold we will have to store 30 solar tubes safely and I really don't know how or where we will do that.  You can't leave them outside as they will still heat up, but have nowhere to dump the heat, we don't have the boxes or packing pieces and they will be in the way wherever we put them!    Aaaaarghhh!  Also yesterday my stereo went on the blink and no sound came out.  Does anyone repair these things anymore or are you supposed to just throw them away and get a new one?  I saved for months and months to buy that way back when I was a single mum and I really like it (no flashing lights or gizmos, just small, neat and smart).  Also, the fridge door won't close properly for some reason and, when I went to Marks and Spencer to pick up some of their real bargain, end of the day reduced stuff that I see go through the tills whenever I'm at work. . . . they didn't have any!!!  Aaaaand, the doors aren't back from the strippers because he is having trouble getting the gloopy varnish off.  So, by bedtime we were both feeling really annoyed and quite fed-up.  Not much fun to be had in paradise at the moment, that's for sure!

Still, today's another day and I have spoken to the chap from Warmflow in Ireland whose only suggestion was that we should buy another manifold to put straight on the roof when the other comes off and then if it turns out to be a manufacturing problem they will refund the money . . . . mmmmmm.  The plumber may have had a bit more luck with Warmflow's rep in England who is talking to the Director about it and says he will get a manifold to us.  We should know more on Monday.

On a more postive note (now I've had a real good moan) I have now tiled the new worktop in the utility room and it just needs grouting.  Bob has made a little peg board which is now fixed above the radiator in the ensuite for our towels, ooohh, toasty towels, can't wait.  He has also sorted out the bit of worktop to the side of the kitchen sink.  I think I told you ages ago about elaborate plans for the awkward space next to the inglenook which is too big not to use, but would be really awkward to get to with worktop around the sink.  Well, we've scrapped those plans and have a simpler solution.  In the alcove we will have a little dresser-type set of cupboards (eventually) but it will be accessable by having a drop-leaf worktop instead of a fixed one - dah, dah, problem solved.  Bob has also put the weather strips on the outside doors (the bits of wood on the outside that stop the rain dripping down the bottom of the door and inside).  They have been made for ages, just not attached.  Today he has been unearthing the telephone cable which wends its way around the garden to the caravan, but will of course need re-routing to the house and burying.  In order to do that, he had to move a big pile of logs and so he has also started constructing a log store.  We will need several I think for logs at various stages of seasoning.  Yesterday a chap came to sort out the gas connection for the cooker and this afternoon we wired it in.  So, I have been playing and I managed to set the timer and get it to come on and switch off automatically.  All quite exciting!  The grill pan is even big enough for more than two slices of toast at once which is really exciting after the tiny caravan one!

Everyone relaxing after a nice cup of tea this afternoon!
Sshhh, Elvis is actually asleep!!