I'm on 'oliday again!

Yep, I had my week off then back in for a week and now I have more than a fortnight off.  This is the sort of working I could get used to!  Mind you, yesterday was stocktaking day at M&S, so I was supposed to be in until 10pm  . . .on  Saturday!!!!  Just not right and I wasn't looking forward to a nine hour shift finishing that late (after a morning working at my other job as a builder!).  That said though, we rattled through the stocktake and finished in record time at 8pm, then another 15 mins tidying up ready for this morning and I was home by just after 8.30pm so nowhere near as bad as expected.  And now loads of time off - I'm a happy bunny!

Talking of bunnies . . . . we have a great big one who's desparately trying to make its home in our garden and has started numerous tunnels which we keep filling in and blocking with stones.  I may soon be looking in the recipe books for a pie recipe I think!  We also have our mole back.  I just don't know why it would want to tunnel through the rock and clay that make up our garden.  I'm sure it must bring sackfuls of nice topsoil from somewhere to build its molehills out of, because the fine tilth that keeps appearing everywhere certainly doesn't look like anything we ever dig up!  I really should collect it up - just like my Grandma used to do.  And while we're on the subject of pests (that's the mole, not Grandma by the way), the dreaded squirrels have finally found the relocated peanuts.  I'm surprised it's taken them this long actually.  It is definitely a 'them' and not just an 'it' because one of them met a very sudden end as it hung off the nuts yesterday (won't be looking for pie recipes for that one by the way - another story which I will tell the unsqueamish of you some time), but its friend was undeterred and was feasting again today.

We had a good couple of days with Mum and Dad when they visited and, thankfully, Mum wasn't ill this time.  As a special treat, we took them for a rummage round the salvage yard.  How exciting is that?  We need to find something to make a shelf next to the woodburner to put the kettle, pans, etc on.  Ages and ages ago we bought a fancy cast iron grid (used to be over the floor heating in a church) which we think would have been just the job.  Trouble is, we can't find it.  It used to stand up outside the caravan, but it ain't there now.  So, it's either been nicked (and I guess it was quite nickable, so it was a silly place to leave it) or we've put it away somewhere safe . . . . very safe!  So, we were on the lookout for soemthing else to use as a shelf, but didn't find anything.  We did buy a little round lead rose (they used to put them as decorations on the hoppers for gutter downpipes) and that will do nicely to cover the keyhole in the oak bedroom door if we can just think how to attach it!

We have had another busy week in the end bedroom (ex padded cell) and have got all the plasterboarding done and all the beading on the corners.  Bob put wooden quadrant beading on any outside corners so we have rounded corners instead of the very square corners modern houses have where platerboard meets.  It's a bit of a faff, but looks much more in keeping when its finished.  He has also made lovely oak sills for the windows. I have filled all the little gaps round the edges of the plasterboard.  One wall in there is going to stay as exposed stone so is, obviously, not at all straight or square.  We cut the plasterboard to fit as best we could, but you're never going to get an exact fit, so the gaps needed filling.  Same goes for where the plasterboard meets the purlins.  They are made from small tree trunks in the round and so are not cut straight and square.  I haven't told you about the friends we have to help us with plasterboarding.  Do you know how you cut palsterboard?  I didn't until we helped Bill do a bedroom ceiling what seems like a million years ago.  You score a straight line on the right side of the board with a stanley knife which cuts the paper and marks the plaster middle then you just snap it along that line, bend it and cut the backing paper - simple innit?!  Sometimes you have to tidy up the edge a bit by scraping along it with the stanley knife and that's it.  Of course all that plaster dust really knackers the stanley blade and clogs the knife up so while we're plasterboarding we have a designated knife that is just used for that and he's always been known as Plaster Stanley.  This time he has been joined by a friend called Stanley Skrimshaw (sounds like he should come from Oldham I think).  He is sharper and used to cut the skrim which is the mesh tape you put over the joins between boards which strengthens them and stops the plaster cracking.  Of course he can do all sorts of other jobs as well, it's just Plaster Stanley who is only allowed to do the one job. 

So, we are now ready to start skimmimg . . . . if we can remember how! Just need to scrounge another scaffold tower of someone for a few days. With two, we should be able to both work on one section of ceiling and do the whole length in one go. Hopefully, we'll be able to make a start on that tomorrow.

This afternoon was lovely and sunny so we had an outside afternoon and had a bit of a tidy up in the garden.  We cut down all the dead stalks and seed heads we'd left over the winter for the birds.  Everything has got new green bits peeping through - it's an exciting time of year isn't it?  Especially for people like me who can't remember what plants are where - a nice surprise every year!  Some of the plants never did die down properly and have new shoots and leaves with old dead bits all together.  Someone on a gardening programme once said that for a natural look you should garden like a cow - that is, you should use your hands and gently grab and pull at the plants (like a cow grazing) to thin them without pulling them out or chopping them, so that's what we've been doing.  It does a good job of pulling off the dead bits and leaving the new bits.  We have also been up to our bit of wood and chopped down a dead holly tree.  It was quite big and got caught in a hazel (so that got coppiced in the process).  It made a proper tree-felling crash as it came down which was quite exciting.  Holly is brilliant on the woodburner.  A decent-size log lasts ages and burns really hot which is good for cooking.  Because this has been dead for ages, it is already seasoned so we can use it straight away . . . . well, when it's been cut into slightly smaller pieces!

Here's Bob relaxing after our day's exertions.  Can you
see his feet?  He's stretched out reading the paper
on the settee which is in the oak bedroom.

I've had my first week's holiday from work which has been lovely, but actually quite tiring as we've been really busy.  I was back at work today which was a joy of course!  Actually, it wasn't too bad - Sundays have a different atmosphere somehow.  I got called into the Manager's office this morning (gulp!) - apparently, a couple of weeks ago a mystery shopper visited the store and I served her on the till - just what you dread, but you obviously don't know who they are at the time.  Thankfully, she gave me a 100% score and so I was given a bottle of wine which is nice (and a relief).

Anyway, back to my relaxing week off.  The weather turned quite mild so we were able to mix up some lime mortar and point round the door frames on the outside.  This meant that we were then able to squirt expanding foam into the gaps from the inside which seals the holes and insulates.  It also has some adhesive properties and we saw a Grand Designs once where the only thing holding the window frames in was the squirty foam - don't think I'd trust it that far! 

When we put the first windows in the house 300 years ago, we hadn't used this foam before and didn't quite realise what a monster it is.  You squirt a bit in and it puffs up a bit, but you can't help putting a bit more in to fill the hole properly.  Then when you come back an hour or so later it has trebled in size and is all over the place.  Bob did that with one of the little draft hole windows in the extension and the foam ended up covering the whole window!  It was soooo funny! 

So, this is why we wanted to point one side first so it had something to stop it on one side at least.  It still goes everywhere, but at least it is only on one side.  Just look at this ridiculous Mr Whippy effect!  I'm sure this appeared overnight - surely we would have noticed it when we locked up for the night wouldn't we?  You can cut it off once it's hardened but you do have to spend a fair bit of time scraping the residue off the paintwork.  To finish off the sealing-up job we had to put silicone along the bottom edges of the thresholds so rain doesn't find its way in.  The black silicone looked rather stark and shiny, so once we had it sealed and before it went off, I went and swept up some concrete dust and scattered that on to camouflage it a bit.  Sounds a bit bonkers and I suppose on a new house you'd be glad of a sharp, shiny look for a while but it just didn't look right here.

We have also completely insulated the padded cell which means it no longer looks like a padded cell because the bubble-wrap-like tanking is all hidden away.  It took way longer than we expected to do the insulation, but what can you do eh?  This room has a very high ceiling so we have bought a chandalier for in there - thought a bit of blingy sparkly glass would be nice . . . . . erm, no actually we haven't really.  We have a three-headed fishermans light with an antique brass finish which hangs from a chain.  We decided to use a bit of old timber to make a new beam in there to hang the light from - so it is known as the light beam (or I like to think of it as our light sabre!).  I think it used to be a floor joist in the old house - there were only two or three remaining when we bought it - so it is nice to re-use it for something.

On Friday morning I vaguely heard a truck through my sleepy haze at 7.10am and groggily got up to peer out of the rooflight.  I'd completely forgotten that the plasterboard was being delivered and even if I had remembered, they never arrive that early!  So, in two seconds flat I'd pulled on some trousers and a sweatshirt (and nothing else!), dragged my hair into a ponytail and was outside helping the driver unload plasterboard while Bob got dressed properly.  Bob then invited him in for a cuppa and I had to sit there in my dishevelled state chatting about rally driving and rival builders merchants! 

So, we have also plasterboarded the ceiling in the end bedroom which is a real relief - I was dreading doing it.  I just thought it would be so awkward heaving boards up the scaffold tower and holding them in place while we fiddle around getting them to fit.  It was nowhere near as bad as I thought (as these things usually aren't once you get going) - I think we've learnt a lot as we've gone along and are actually getting better at it which makes things easier.  It actually cured the twingy back I've had all week too which is a bonus!  I held the boards in place which involved stretching with arms and legs braced and it obviously stretched the aches out of my back.  Maybe I should start a plasterboard back therapy clinic - could be the next big thing with the celebrities you know!  So, all in all, we had a very productive week and we really feel we've made progress. 

Not much time for socialising or relaxing, but when I have my fortnight off (after this week!) we are definitely going to factor in a couple of days off.  We did go to the Ironworks in Oswestry on Tuesday evening.  This is a pub/bar/venue which has a lot of bands on and we've been meaning to go since we moved here, but just never got round to it.  So this time we did and were really pleasantly surpised at what an amazing place it is.  I guess it must be the old ironworks (clue's in the name) and has fantastic beams, huge arched windows and loads of brickwork - a really nice building.  It's only small - I'd guess 200 max upstairs where the music is.  It was a good evening and they were brilliant musicians although quite forgetable at the same time.  Definitely keep an eye on who's on and go again sometime.  Our little mohican friend works behind the bar there although she was on holiday when we went.

We have Mum and Dad staying for a couple of days tomorrow - lets hope Mum doesn't come down with something nasty and have to spend the whole time in bed like she did last time they came!  So we had the afternoon off from building yesterday to have a major clean up in the house.  The insulation we used (and plasterboard) makes so much dust and it clings to your clothes and gradually drops off as you walk around.  You could see a pathway down the hall which our socks had cleaned with about an inch-thick of dust either side.  It would have been a waste of time cleaning up while we were in the middle of it, but it is so nice to have it cleaned up and mopped now - Henry and Bob did a fantastic job!

Still no mouse - and maybe it won't be able to get in anymore now we have sealed the gaps round the doors.

Marmalade shelves

Yeah, the marmalade shelves are up and full of marmalade, jam, chutney and various alcoholic concotions.  Better not eat any now or there'll be gaps!

No sign of the mouse yet.

Two walls insulated in the padded cell.

Beer half-drunk and meat and potato pie bubbling in the woodburner oven - life's good!

Welsh cakes, woodburner and windows

Well, guess what . . . . I have actually had three whole days off this week!  Can you believe it.  I think this is the first time this year on my new M & S contract (under which I should in theory have four days off) that I have actually had more than two.  I kept expecting to be asked to go in, but it didn't happen until my first day off when they rang to see if I'd work today.  By then though we'd got our schedule organised and so I politely declined.  So, I just have to go in tomorrow (wearing pink because of their valentines promotions!) and then I'm off for a whole week!

So, what have we got done?  We have finally got all the windows done, that's what.  We collected the new glass on Monday morning - all lovely this time thank goodness.  First we did the little window which still looks endearingly wonky and, yes, that strange blackbird has been to investigate it, but still seems to prefer fluttering at the oak room windows.  You can see it's poo on the triangle window ledge!

The opening door in the lounge and the fire escape door in the end bedroom are also done with bolts and locks fitted.  Unfortunately, it hasn't done much to make those rooms cosy because there are still some pretty large gaps round the frame.  Ironically, we need some warmer weather to be able to point them in with lime mortar, then we can squirt expanding foam in and that should all make a difference.  It has been extremely chilly and dank for the last few days - freezing fog.  I think we've got away lightly on the snow front though compared to the rest of the country - we only had about an inch that lasted for about a day.

So, with the windows as far on as we can get them for now, we have moved onto insulation.  We raced ahead with the first layer in the roof of the end bedroom.  That's the easy one, just 1" thick which goes between the rafters leaving a gap between that and the breather membrane under the slates so condensation can escape.  I was in the lounge on cutting duties and Bob was up the scaffold tower popping them into place and calling down the next measurement - a tried and tested system that works quite efficiently.  The next layer goes immediately under that and is 3" thick and will need a bit of shaping to make it snug against the purlin.  If it's not a tight fit, it will also need screwing itno place, so that won't be quite so easy to do.  Then we will have to attach some battens so we have something to attach the plasterboard to.  You just can't get plasterboard screws long enough to get a good fixing through that sort of thickness and we found by trial and error in our bedroom that this was the best way.  We will probably put another 1" of insulation between the battens seeing as there will be a gap doing nothing, so with all that, I don't think we'll lose much heat through the roof!

We have to be careful what order we insulate that room in so that we can get to the bits we need and also so there are no gaps.  So, we've finished the first roof layer and we've started on the walls.  This room had to be tanked as it's built into the hill and so we put metal studwork up which is only fixed top and bottom so doesn't pierce the tanking.  The insulation fits into the H-shaped studwork and it is easier to do that before you screw the studwork together and so needs to be done before the thick roof insulation or we wouldn't be able to screw the top together.  Annoyingly, the insultaion is about 2mm thicker than the recess in the studwork.  I tried just bashing along the edge of the insulation with a mallet to squash it, but it didn't really work, so we have to shave a bit off each edge to fit it which is a bit of a pain.

We had a bit of a slow start this morning.  Firstly we had to go in the 'bat loft' and design a new (much smaller) loft for the little creatures that have never actually shown any interest in the huge luxury living space we originally provided for them.  This means we can reclaim the space up there and have a sort of mezzanine storage/slobbing out area (called a crog loft in Welsh houses).  I also had a quick look through the boxes of Laura's clothes which are stored up there to find something pink to wear to work tomorrow.  Then down to the kitchen where one of the joints in the woodburner flue had dropped just after we lit it last night.  Obviously we couldn't do anything about it immediatley (a little warm!), so that was priority this morning.  The plumber had just joined the pieces of flue with heatproof silicone stuff, but it obviously didn't work too well, so we needed to get some self-tapping screws to do the job a bit more securely, so another trip into town (I made cheese scones for lunch while Bob did that).  We are also on cat feeding duties for Bill, so by the time we'd done that and checked that his ground source heat pump/underfloor heating was behaving it was lunchtime!

We have had a little visitor at night recently which nibbled a potato and some pasta stored in the utility room.  So we shut the door to the utility at night and put a piece of chocolate on the floor which didn't get eaten, but the one in the hall did.  So we assume it can't get in the utility with the door shut.  We hadn't heard anything from it for a few nights and the chocolate in the hall didn't disappear.  Last night though, we were watching TV and heard a little scrabbling noise from a carrier bag by the fireplace so in a co-ordinated movement, I switched the light on as Bob snatched the carrier and the little crittur scurried behind the fridge.  With a torch we could see it's silouette behind there with twitching ears (it actually looked quite cute) before it made a dash for the fireplace and disappeared.  As I said before, replacing the tiles round the fireplace is a job for when we clear that corner to do the stairs and part of that will be patching up the back of the fireplace.  Currently there are lots of broken bits and holes and a cunning little mouse would easily find a way through the unpointed wall in the lounge to the fireplace in the kitchen.  So, we haven't really got much choice but to put a trap down.  I just hope I'm not the first down the ladder to find it one morning!

We have made tea on or in the woodburner every night for more than a week which is quite a good feeling!  I even had a go at making welsh cakes on it last week.  They actually burned a bit, so I did the rest in a frying pan on the cooker - they also burned a bit, so it wasn't the woodburner's fault at all.  I guess because they have sugar in they go from not cooked to burnt in the blink of an eye.  They were good though and I'll definitely give them another go some time.

Evil vacuums, poorly computers and forgetful chickens

One of our woodpeckers seen through the
kitchen window.  It's a bit fuzzy because of
the zoom - sorry! 

As usual, the time has flown since I last wrote.  We've had major computer trouble.  It's not been right for a while, but has gradually got worse and worse and when the anti-virus software stopped working, we thought it was time to do something about it.  So, the laptop has been to hospital for a while and had a hard-drive transplant (££££££) and has gradually been recovering at home - by that I mean we've been re-loading things and altering the settings back to how they were, oh, it's such a boring job, but I think we're just about there and up and running again.

I bet you think we'd have the windows in by now don't you?  WRONG!  All the frames are finished and painted and have hinges, locks and bolts attached.  Bob went to collect the glass on Wednesday and we were all set to fit the first one before I went to work on Thursday and the other two on Friday.  But when we unloaded the glass from the car, we realised that they'd put the wrong colour spacer bars in.  These are the metal bits between the pieces of glass and generally you get them to match the frame colour as best you can, so these should have been black . . . . silver!  Aaarghhh!!  How frustrating.  We get our glass from the funeral directors in town - a good old fashioned place in the old tradition where the local carpenter made coffins too, so they make windows and do funerals.  Anyway, they were really good and could see that they'd made a mistake and so have ordered new glass which should arrive on Monday.  They also said we could take the old stuff back and they'd skip it or we could dispose of it ourselves  . . . . . mmm?!  We decided we'd 'dispose' of it - Bob can have nice big toughened, double-glazed windows in his workshop (so, it's not all bad).

The delay meant that Bob was able to help my friend from work to make a door frame for her house.  She is also renovating a cottage and so she brought the timber round and used Bob's machines and expertise and is now ready to fit her first door frame.  Her house wasn't as bad as this one to start, but she hasn't been doing it full-time and so is not so far on.  They have a ladder instead of stairs too!  But they don't have hot water, in fact when she came round she had to bring a 2ltr bottle to fill with water because their pipes were frozen.  They also don't have much heat and she had to get two more cats to snuggle up to for warmth!

We had a demonstration of pork butchery at last month's meeting of the smallholders group.  It was actually really interesting - a local butcher brought along half a pig and chopped it up in front of our very eyes while chatting about sausage making (we're definitely going to have a go at that as soon as we can get hog casings for the skins).  I made the second lot of marmalade and that also turned out well, so Bob is in the middle of making a set of marmalade shelves for the utility room - we also have jam and chutney to go on them, so they're not exclusive.

Oh, nearly forgot to update you on Elvis's funny little egg.  Well, you know in the past the chickens have forgotten to put a shell on their egg . . . . this time Elvis forgot to put a yolk in the egg.  So, instead of a perfect but tiny egg, it was just white - OK for a little meringue I suppose, but not much else.  She must have heard us laughing at it, because she hasn't bothered since - oops!  They were all a bit miserable this afternoon in the bitter cold with slushy freezing rain and snow, so they hunkered down in the workshop with Bob among the shavings - well, obviously, Bob wasn't in the shavings with them!  We have been treating them to a bowl of hot porridge with raisins for breakfast and they just love it.  Robin the honorary chicken is desparate to get in there with them, but is just not quite brave enough.  I did try putting a dollop on the ground a little way away for it, but the chickens made a beeline for it before returning to the bowl.  The chickens now recognise Phil and Ann when they walk past and go running down to the path to greet them - could be something to do with the fact that Phil sometimes has some corn in his pocket I guess!  The other day Phil got the corn out of his pocket and Bonny jumped up onto his arm to get there first - we have performing chickens!

You'll never believe it, but we have actually been thinking about the stairs, not only thinking, but we have actually bought the wood to make them!  How weird will that be?  Dead posh eh?  We decided on Ash because it has nice grain and we already have quite a bit of oak.  There'll be quite a lot of fiddling around to get the bearers on the walls in the right place and then a lot of shaping and smoothing of the steps (actually know in technical jargon as 'goings' for the bits you step on and 'risers' for the upright bits).  So Bob can get on with that while I'm at work and then we'll have a mad panic when it comes to fitting them because there'll be a point where we can't get up the stairs but won't be able to use the ladder.  I suppose we could always stay in the spare room!  That won't be for a while yet though.  When I'm off for a week we are hoping to get the ceilings done in the 'lounge' and the padded cell, so that's insulation and plasterboard.  That'll definitely be a two-man job because one of us has to hold the stuff up while to other attaches it.  Not really looking forward to the padded cell as it's a really high ceiling so we'll have to use the scaffold tower and there'll be a lot of passing boards up and down and moving the tower around, so lots of logistics to think about.

We have a new member of our household.  He's called Henry and is a cheeky little chap with a smiley red face.  He's really helpful though and happily helps with the cleaning unlike his predecessor the evil Count Vax.  When the stately Lord Dyson (a faithful companion of many years) finally decided that he was too old to be cleaning up building dust and that with his creaking joints and split hoses it was time to retire, Count Vax weedled his way into our lives with promises of superior cleaning abilities.  After just a couple of workouts though his evil ways began.  He'd refuse to work after just one room and whine that his filters needed cleaning and once that was done he'd wait until your back was turned and then spew clouds of dust all over the place.  Once he excelled himself and actually set off the smoke detector!  He was evil in vacuum-form!  And so he had to go and has been locked in the top barn pending a stoppy letter to his manufacturer.  And so now we have adopted the cheap and cheerful Henry and he is a pleasure to have around - I even find myself talking to him as we clean!

The view from the kitchen door last Sunday morning just as I was going to work - spectacular!