Well, we're back into the swing of working and getting on with the house.  Although my contracted hours at M&S have been drastically reduced, I only had one day off from New Year up until Thursday this week!  So, it was quite nice to have two days off together and then this morning as well.  Next week I have three whole days off (mind you, I thought I had this week, but it didn't work out that way).

I actually got on with some real 'building work' - making mortar and building up the walls around the 'hayloft' door.  The end bedroom used to be the cow barn (it had a trough and everything) and above it was a hayloft with a door to the outside.  Because the house is built into the hill, this door is at ground level on the outside but above head height inside.  The bedroom will have a very high ceiling and this doorway will be a window.  The stonework around the frame was very uneven, so it needed more stones putting in and a lot of pointing to fill in the gaps.  On Thursday we put the glass in which was a bit scary.  We had the scaffold tower up inside, but only had two narrow boards on it because we are using the others somewhere else and we hadn't bothered adding the extra set of bars to make sides round where you stand, so I was on that while Bob passed the big double-glazed unit to me through the opening from outside.  For some reason, I was really nervous (usually I'm absolutely fine).  I think it was because of the glass and the responsibility for holding it because I was fine when the glass wasn't there.  Anyway, apart from my nerves, it went in without any problem and that is another hole sealed.

Bob has finished building the steps to the (extremely low) doorway to that bedroom.  It is not a doorway that will really be used, but because it is a bedroom that doesn't lead onto a corridor or hall, it has to have a fire escape.  The steps are quite steep and curved, they look brilliant - I love curved brickwork.  This little corner gives an idea of what I imagine the rest of the garden will look like.  I think there'll be lots of steps and little walls all over the place.  Bob is now working on the frame for the little window in this picture (this will be the opening window for ventilation in here).  He had to make a sill on the outside, so he cut and split a big chunk of slate we had lying around - I think it used to be the kitchen door threshold.  Like the bigger barn doors I told you about, this will have the little door pinned back to retain the look.

We have done a bit of entertaining this week.  Maggie and Bill who I've spoken about before (just down the lane, renovating a cottage and barns, moved here just before us, daughter with a mohican) have sadly split up.  We knew about this ages ago, but it was kept quiet for quite a while.  Anyway, Maggie moved out just before Christmas and Bill went away for most of December until after New Year.  Things were a little awkward for a while with us seeing both, but having to be careful what we said to either.  So, now Bill's back and Maggie has her own house, we can see them as separate people and things are much easier.  Bill came for dinner on Sunday and told us all about his month away - including learning to morris dance!  Then Maggie and the mohican (which has gone from green through turquoise, red, pink and is now blonde) and the mohican's boyfriend (who also has a mohican), so Maggie and two mohicans, came for something to eat last night.  We could have gone wassailing last night if we hadn't been busy.  A girl at work lives in a village about eight miles away and they uphold the tradition of singing around an apple tree, tying things in the tree and pouring cider on its roots (to encourage a good crop in the coming year) followed by a lantern-lit walk across the hills to a pub - sounds like good fun and it's a shame we couldn't go.



I thought you might like to see where we've put the telly.  When it'off
and all black, it's hardly noticable - not sure whether it'll stay there though.
We have bought some new tiles for the sides of this fireplace with
hand drawn chickens on the picture tiles.  That'll be a bit of a messy
job to sort out though, so we'll probably wait until we're clearing that
corner for the stairs before we tackle it.



We've finally hung the tapestry we bought ages ago at Stokesay Castle with
birthday money.  I've been clearing the caravan out and trying to find places
for everything as I go.  I think this will eventually go in the lounge, but it might
as well be hung up somewhere rather than rolled up under a bed.
It's the Lady of Shallot by the way.



And finally, here's the view from our bedroom window this morning.
The first really hard frost since we moved in and we wouldn't know
how cold it was from inside!  I went in the caravan and it was minus one
inside - tee hee, good isn't it?  I'm not sure what effect it'll have had on
the plants in the garden.  We have all sorts of shoots and buds that
shouldn't really be there and even plants that usually die off and come
back in the Spring that have missed out the dying off bit and thrown
out new shoots, leaves and buds - we'll have to wait and see.