How filippin' posh are we?!

Oh, we are now sooo posh!  We have lights in all our rooms and working sockets too.  It felt so strange after the electrician had been on Monday to finally coil up all the extension leads and bulbs on the ends of cables.  We have never been here without trailing cables before.  The electrician actually seemed quite sad to be saying goodbye (after all these years!) and said we could do his barn up when he gets one (which is quite a compliment).  He seemed quite pleased when we said there was still the workshop to do and we were hoping he'd come back to do that.



This is one of the lounge lights.  They are made by an old company who used to make gas lights and have now moved on to electric versions modelled on their old styles.  Of course they will have glass bell-shaped shades and possibly different bulbs, but there's no point in getting too posh all at once - we do still have building work to do in there!  Just below this light (although it's not easy to see here) was where the wrens nested last year.  I did have thoughts of leaving the nest, which really was a work of art, and somehow covering it with glass or perspex, but realistically, it's probably not a brilliant idea as it would probably rot or something.  So last week we sadly pulled the nest out which was a shame.  I did manage to get a photo of the babies peeping out of the nest, so we are going to print that and hang it near where the nest was to remind us of our little visitors.  As you can imagine I had to nip in and take a pic really quickly before the babies ducked down out of sight, so it wasn't the best photo, but Ben kindly did a bit of work in photoshop or something to take away the glare form the stone and make everything a bit clearer so it should be fine.  Also in the above phot you can see we have put one small piece of plasterboard up on the lounge ceiling.  This is because a smoke detector has to be wired in that corner as there's a bedroom next to it so it was easier to put the plasterboard up before the electrician came.


And here's our chandalier in the end bedroom (ex-padded cell)!
This also has clear glass enclosed shades which are safely
packed away.  We're really quite pleased with how it looks
hanging from the new beam.  We bought this light fixture what
seems like years ago, so it is really exciting to finally see it
in place.  Makes my fingers itch to get decorating!



And here's the batloft and that wall I spent two days
pointing and smoothing off.  We quite fancy painting this
wall quite a dark colour and making this bit into a cosy squashy
den eventually.

So, with the electrician's visit out of the way, that's another deadline met and past.  Our next major deadline is Building Control sign-off which we have to have within three months.  Since moving here we have had self-build site insurance which covers equipment hire, contractors on site and quite a lot of public liability and is, therefore, quite expensive.  As of next week we have more traditional buildings insurance.  I assume that you usually have to have your Building Regulations sign off certificate for normal insurance, but this company will cover you so long as you get signed off within three months.  So, that's our next aim.  For that we need the electrician's certificate which he is now doing, that energy rating certificate I told you about which is in hand, a stench pipe which we've almost done (just need to get a couple of pieces of cast iron downpipe to finish that) and, of course, some stairs.  That will no doubt please a lot of people no end - it seems to be the thing that bugs the most people, except us!  Mum will definitely be excited when the stairs are in because she will be able to see our upstairs for the first time (dodgy knees don't lend themselves to climbing ladders really) and lots of other people seem really concerned that we don't have stairs.  As I said, it doesn't bother us really - we're quite used to our ladder.  Once they're done, the building inspector will have to come round and check all sorts of things - oohh it'll be like taking an exam!

Non-building things we've done include starting to thin out some trees across the path which make that corner quite dark and damp and spoil the view.  Bill and his new lady friend came round for dinner - she seemed very nice and we had a really good evening.  We were a bit concerned that Maggie may have popped round as we know she is really curious to find out what the new lady is like - now that could have got awkward,  but we got away with it!  We just got quizzed about her the next time we saw Maggie, but told her in no uncertain terms we weren't going to discuss it.  It's quite difficult trying to juggle staying friends with both of them!  We've also had the woodburner flue swept, and not before time apparently.  The other thing we need for Building Control is the commissioning certificate for the woodburner which the plumber was supposed to sort out but hadn't.  So the chap came today to do his smoke and draw test.  When he lit the bit of newspaper the smoke just billowed out, filled the room and set all the smoke detectors off!  That's not supposed to happen apparently.  So he checked the flue and pulled out loads of tarrey clinker and then swept out a tonne of soot!  Oops.  Apparently having the backboiler means the tar builds up more than normal (the water cools things and that's when tar forms) and so we should sweep the flue twice a year to include the middle of winter, but nobody told us that.  It is, apparently in the maintenance manual which comes with the woodburner . . . . we don't have one!  Once he'd swept the flue though it performed beautifully and the certificate will be in the post.  I was at work while this happened and when I got home I chucked a log on to up the temperaature to cook the potatoes in the oven and the temperature shot up past the top of the scale . . . so, it's made a difference.  Bill came round for a chat just as we were about to have tea, so by the time we ate the potatoes were very, very crispy - they actually didn't have much potato left in the middle!

Oh, I still have a job after next week . . . . until 28 April!  It's really quite unbelievable, but apparently they don't have next year's budget yet.  One of my temporary colleagues (there are three of us) resigned today which has them on their toes a bit! 

Isn't it nice now the evenings are lighter?  All the birds are in full voice and very busy doing what they do.  We were woken this morning by pigeons doing an awful lot of flappy stuff in the trees - guess there'll be baby pigeons around before too long!  We usually lie in bed in the morning listening to the greater spotted woodpeckers hammering away in a nearby tree and this morning a green woodpecker was cackling away close by.  Bob has heard the first chiff chaff of the season and the nuthatches have, once again, been showing interest in the old woodpecker hole in the dead beech tree.  Everyone's busy, busy, busy.

Heating for this winter weather

The electrician finished connecting the underfloor heating before he went on Friday.  Luckily for us Friday night was forecast to be really quite chilly, so we set the controls to full to see what happened.  Next morning the house was actually quite warm and you could definitely feel a difference in the floor . . . . . more that they weren't cold rather than that they were warm.  But what a relief!  I don't think I'd quite realised how much at the back of my mind I was thinking that it might not actually work.  For months when we ordered it all, we had real, real trouble with the company with them not being able to tell us what length/type of cables we needed, then sending extra cables/wrong cables/unlabelled cables.  You then lay the cables (and test them) then slap 2" of screed on top (and test the cables again), but it is all a bit of a leap of faith that they'll work at the end of the day and it really would be a major pain if for some reason they didn't!  Last night we left it on full again and again it was warm this morning.  So, we have now turned it all down to about a quarter capacity to see what happens . . . . . hopefully, it either won't come on at all (I think the weather is supposed to warm up tonight) or it'll just come on for a very short time.  Now I'm thinking 'What if it comes on for the full time again?  That'll mean that the controller doesn't work'.  I'm a bit paranoid about this heating, but that comes from the company not giving us faith in their product and their ability right at the start - it'll be fine!?!

We now have all the lights working, but need to do a fair bit of sorting out where light bulbs are concerned.  The move to low energy bulbs and the dictatorial way the industry is regulated now means that it is really difficult to sort out bulbs that actually do what you want them to and it is all soooo complicated!  We have a light in the bathroom that takes so long to warm up that it should just be bright enough to see by when you've finished having a wee, washed your hands and made a cup of tea - useless.  We have a light in the hall which is OK and is bright enough, quick enough but has writing all over the collar which is easily visible and looks horrible.  We have several light fittings which need a nice-looking bulb as part of the overall look, but you are no longer allowed to buy globe-shaped opaque bulbs.  There are possibilities out there, but of course you need to try them out in-situ . . . . at about £7 a go that could work out expensive.  Oooh dear, I've just realised what a moan I've been having, sorry!

While the electrician was here Bob kept out of the way by fitting some of the window catches upstairs which looks so much better than the little blocks of wood we used to have there.  Most of the windows just open on one side, but this is our bedroom window and has to open both sides to provide a fire escape.  This means that the left-hand side needs bolts to secure the window.  This window now makes us laugh a bit - it's a little busy with fixtures and fittings and really looks as though we just ordered one of everything in the catalogue and whacked it on!  I think there's a bit of space in the top corners which I'm sure we could fill with some sort of ironmongery!

I put the silicon around the shower tray and in the corners and as predicted made a real mess of it - I should be able to do it, I can ice a cake so what's the difference?  So, one of my jobs for next week is to try and sort it out.  Luckily I didn't do the bath in the same manner and so should hopefully have learned from my mistakes.

We have had the weekend off again as my son, Ben and his girlfriend, Lucy have been here for a few days.  Ben helped us move the woodburner over a couple of inches which was a great help - it is just so heavy and a real dead weight.  So, it's staying where it is now I think.  Yesterday we went for a good walk around Hawkstone Park which is full of Victorian follies in the shape of caves and pitch black tunnels right through rocks, meandering paths and worn, wonky steps, a tower with over 150 steps leading to fantastic views over the Shropshire Plains and little huts half built into the rocks.  Something different around every corner and a good way to spend a few hours.  We were going to look round the local annual antique show today before Ben and Lucy went home, but it has been pouring down non-stop so we have done nothing at all.  It's not good for you!  We feel shattered after doing nothing but cooking a fry-up and reading the paper.  Back to work tomorrow.  We have a new work schedule for the time before the plumber comes.  Tomorrow involves some roof work.  When they put the frame for the solar panels on the roof they disturbed the ridge tiles and very quickly put them back and pointed them.  The temperature then was way below that recommended for lime mortar, so we need to check the state of all that and re-do it if necessary.  We also need to silicone around the rubber grommets where the pipes go through the roof as you can see daylight through which probably isn't good.  We are also going to paint the bright orange rubber grommets black with some tyre paint to try to make them blend in a bit.  They are all fairly quick jobs, but it'll need both of us - one on the roof and the other passing things and checking what it looks like from the ground.  I did most of the ridge tiles in the first place, so I might do the roof bit if I'm still brave enough to get up there!

We've got power!!!!

Yahoo!  We have real electricity in the house, as opposed to borrowed electricity via extension leads.  The electrician has been here for the last three days and we now have working lights in the kitchen and utility rooms, sockets upstairs and downstairs working and all the outside lights work!  Wow, it's so strange to walk in and just flick a switch or just plug stuff in without trundling extension leads from the temporary sockets in the meter box.  We're now waiting for it to get dark so we can go and see what it all looks like. 
The light Bob is hiding behind will be over the table, so eventually we won't bang our heads on it . . . . . in the meantime, we have a tally going of who bumps into it most and Bob's winning so far.

These spotlights will shine on worktops, cooker, etc rather than straight down the walls as they do here, hopefully (looks a bit like a museum with them like that).  Except for the ones mounted on oak in the kitchen, we went for plain white sockets and switches with rounded edges and definitely no red blobs to tell you they're on.  We seem to constantly be battling to find things without writing, coloured bits and lights on them - think at this stage we're capable of knowing when a socket is switched on without constant reminders (sorry, this is one of my bugbears)!  Finding a cooker switch that wasn't bright red took ages and we did get fobbed off at one stage with a brass one with a red switch being told that they had to be red.  Luckily I didn't believe them and checked t'internet and found this one (right-hand one in the picture), phew, good job I checked.

The pile of 'spaghetti' in the corner of the utility room is a bit tidier now with the first lot of cables stripped and attached to trip switches in consumer unit number one.  Below that will be a smaller one for the six underfloor heating trip switches and next to that is the immersion heater timer.  Under all that will be another box to house the underfloor heating controllers.  I feel a cupboard coming on to hide all that lot!  I think the electrician was a bit disappointed not to have got more done, but he worked flat out for the three days, so he can't do more.  Connecting to the mains wasn't straight forward.  Scottish Power had mounted the box really low down with very little room to get the cables (which are very thick and unbendy) in and then something wasn't done properly which meant our electrician had to take his life in his hands to tighten a screw between two live wires - he said his heart was thumping!  I think the lights in the kitchen took quite a while too.  In all there are twelve separate lights - goodness that sounds awful!  They are all small lights rather than one big one . . . . . no wonder it took a long time really is it?

It has been quite awkward to get on with things as we don't want to get in the way, but at the same time want to be available to answer questions/help as necessary.  We installed the basin in the en-suite and Bob has been on hand making wooden pattresses so that the lights sit well on the uneven stones.  This afternoon I felt like a bit of a spare part so I did some very much needed hedge weeding.  Everything either stung or had thorns so my arms are tingling, red and covered in bumps and scratches.  I've done about two thirds of it, but I expect it'll all have grown back again by the time I get round to finishing it!

The chickens have found a new bath . . . . . in the remains of a bonfire!  Oh, what a mess they looked covered in black dust.  I think it must be the chicken equivalent of a dead sea mud spa treatment!  Needless to say, Elvis didn't see the need for such beauty treatments!  Tomorrow we're doing the village hill walk.  It is an annual event to raise money for charity.  16 miles over the local hills with the option of a shortcut . . . . 10 miles!  We'll be taking the shortcut!