2 grand days out

These 2 pictures represent how we're spending our time out - sourcing materials & tools for the build, and walking in the Northamptonshire countryside.
The top picture was taken between Wadenhoe & Aldwincle, on the Nene Way.

2 things have been pre-occupying us at the moment. The very first post on this blog shows an aerial view of the plot. The trees along the western boundary are ours, but we are obliged to keep them in order to guard the neighbours' privacy. However, in levelling the plot, some of them will lose their roots, and we must re-plant. We also applied for the height to be reduced to 5 metres, to enable us to use photo-voltaic cells on the roof. These issues have had to go to the Planning Committee, before we can finally discharge the conditions.
We knew the trees were going to cause us some problems, but a riverside plot in a nice village at an affordable price was so lucky that we were prepared to deal with them - and so we are! Should be all over in the next month or so, and then we can break ground.

We have been asked many times if or house will be "green". Our initial answer was "as much as possible" and it still is, but along the way we have been dealing with all the details that prove nothing is ever simple.
I wrote some time ago about the decision not to use a ground source heat pump, and a recent survey by the Energy Saving Trust seemed to confirm this, but within a few years, I expect they will become a lot more efficient.
Is it better to use insulation from renewable resources, or insulation that is more efficient but from non-renewables? We have opted for the latter on the grounds that when faced with an equal dilemma, opt for the cheaper solution.
Take rainwater harvesting - seems sensible, but: extra pipes that use materials and extra pumps that use electricity mean that the equation is not an easy one (either financially or ecologically). So we have decided to use rain water externally but not internally.
At the moment we are struggling with new water use conditions. As they only apply to new builds, and only came in 9 months ago, there is little experience to tap into (!). We had decided not to have a bath, only showers, but "normalisation" of water use within the table the inspectors use means that it works in our favour to put a bath in! Some of you may like it, especially as you won't be able to enjoy the shower towers we had originally planned because the inspectors will not allow them. If need be, you can always bathe in the brook at the bottom of the garden (as, indeed, some villagers did within my memory).
You may also be relieved to know that we don't have enough space for a composting toilet (also known around here within my memory).

not there yet!

Today we went to the plot to talk to our project manager. There are still a lot of details to be finalised around levelling the plot. It seems every time we think we have arrived at a solution, more problems crop up.

We are also trying to organise services. It so often seems that the bureaucracy feels impenetrable, but when you meet the real people who get the work done, they are helpful, pleasant, and cut through all the rubbish!
So thanks today to John Ager of Anglian Water who will be organising the supply.

This photo shows one of the reasons for pressing on: the hazel tree at the bottom of our garden-to-be. We should be done by the time next year's snowdrops come through!

Northamptonshire

During the last week we have moved to Irthlingborough, the town where Jacky was born, grew up, and has family going back hundreds of years.
Thanks to Dale at Ace Removals, and Barry & Dean for making it go smoothly, and to Nice Baps in Caddington for the sandwiches.

From here, it is a 15 minute drive to Denford so we can manage the build.
We have estimates for the groundworks, and hope to be breaking ground within a month ( but see previous posts for the reliability of timelines!). The frame is now on order.

Today we went over to Fotheringhay (this is a picture of its church, by the banks of the Nene) not to pay homage to its famous guest ( or prisoner) but to ask Barry at the Forge to install a woodburning stove for us and to get all the technical detail that we need for Building Regulations.
We also visited its pub and found the food and hospitality excellent.

Technical meeting

No photo for this post - although there have been many opportunities, I never remember to take any!

I write surrounded by packing boxes. We are getting ready for the move - probably next week. Lovely Xmas gifts and old treasures are packed away for fear of being spoiled or lost, for how long? Several months at least. When they see the light of day it will be in our new house.

We are moving a lot up to my dad's old house, where we can stay rent-free during the build. We are lucky compared to most self-builders, and there are family and friends nearby as well.

Today we had a 6 hour+ technical meeting with Steve, our project manager & Claire, our designer at Potton. Lots of technical detail to be finalised before the frame is built.
Tiny sample:
Weight of the thermal store cylinder
Holes in the steel beam to allow for heat recovery ventilation
u-values of all doors & windows

It is easy to get bogged down in this, but last week's trip to the site reminded us. Standing down by the brook, looking at the catkins and first shoots of the snowdrops, we realised that this time next year, it will be our home.

And PS: I now have a hard-hat. That's a missed photo-op!

Christmases past

I picked this at random, from one of the 27 Christmases we have spent in this house. This one, our 28th, will be the last. Who knows what next Christmas will be like? We really hope that our house will be built, and we will be settled in it. But given all the delays we have experienced so far, we are not certain!
Last Sunday we held an open house, to say goodbye to our friends in Caddington. It was a very good day, with people dropping in as they found time, and we were able to chat with everyone. This has been a lovely place for us as a family.

Our planning conditions are not yet discharged ( although they should have been, last week). However, we are a tiny step forward, as the foundations are now designed, and have been approved by Anglian Water (whose permission we needed because of a sewer that passes through the site).

A very happy Christmas to all of you who are reading this, we hope that you will be able to come to the house-warming sometime in 2011!

This photo was taken in May, Jacky's father Derick, with his 7 grandchildren. As those of you who have read our early blogs know, he used to be a builder in East Northants. We discussed buying the plot and designing the house with him. Sadly he died on October 21st, before he could see out house built or enjoy having us living nearer.
He throroughly enjoyed 3 family celebrations this year: the two weddings, and a barbecue held for his 85th birthday.
We held his funeral reception at Stanwick Lakes so we could look over the countryside he had loved his whole life.

soon it will be goodbye

Looks like our house is sold, and in the New Year we shall say goodbye to a house we have loved for 27 years and a village we have loved for 33.
The table will come to Denford with us - we hope there will be many more gatherings around it - old friends & new.
We hope we'll look after the new garden rather better ( but this picture was taken after poor rainfall!)
We are also hoping that this scheme - an ambition of ours for 30+ years, and which we have been planning for the last 5 - succeeds.
Tomorrow we are off to the Grand Designs show - first time we have been to one, and it will be interesting to compare to the Homebuilding & Renovating shows of which we are 5 year veterans!