general update

I am told it can be difficult to get a general idea of progress from the posts on the blog, so here is a round-up:
The main bathroom is just about finished, here are Ewan & Keith installing the shower screen:

All that remains is to connect up the bath, and tidy up the tiling.

As I write, Keith is painting the last room upstairs. That means we can consider flooring up here in the next few weeks. We have found a local firm Oundle Carpet Weavers who make their own carpet locally (although the one we have chosen is actually an Axminster, who they also make carpets for)

Downstairs, I am tiling the utility room. There is some tiling that needs doing in the downstairs shower room, but we are waiting until Keith has installed the door frame.
The main jobs remaining downstairs are to finish the study, and to put down the flooring.

Outside, the drive is complete, thanks to Rob for an excellent job:

Work on the decking at the back begins this week.

And off-topic, we have had 2 lovely days out. Art in Action were as well organised as ever, with parking on an old airfield, and fleets of coaches to ferry us. Thanks to the sunshine that bathed Folk by the Oak, and to Sarah & Bob for their hospitality & the excellent picnic, despite their being as busy as we are, renovating their new bungalow.

We have seen less of the swans this year as they are nesting further away, but Keith got this picture of the cygnets being taken around their patch:

And for the followers of Genghis: he has mostly been absent, but during the flooding (when from our brook to the River Nene was a complete sheet of water) he did appear, playing with the the other ducks!

a bathroom & the beginnings of a drive

Rob has been levelling the ground outside - not an easy job, but finally is ready to lay the paving blocks. He and Stuart have been dodging the rain to get the work done - but it is a lot easier than when he was here before (see 7th February)

The mosaic in the bathroom is finally finished - each piece put in individually. So the bath is installed (but not yet wired up for whirlpooling)


The rest of the bathroom will be done in the next few days and we move on to Bedroom 3 (the large front bedroom, destined to be my sewing room)

trees

The long gap in our blog is partly because we took a break and went to Crete for 10 days - thanks to Margaret & Terry for suggesting Paleohora, which was wonderful:

Most evenings we ate at one of the cafes with this view.

When we returned, we met up again with Rob, who was one of the groundworks team during the freezing weather in January. He has returned to level the ground for the drive, install soakaways, and to pave it. He has dug the border that enabled us to plant these lovely trees:



From the front: red robin, rowan, holly. Thanks to Majestic Trees for all their help (not to mention looking after them for 15 months!)


Thanks also to Stephen Molcher at Storefield Aggregates. They have delivered all the materials on time, at a good price, and Stephen's advice & patience have been invaluable.

Inside, I am doing the mosaic in the bathroom, and Keith is installing doors. More photos to follow.

a hand basin!

Keith has used iroko wood to make the stand for our hand basin:



Oh, the luxury of being able to use it instead of a bucket! It will have doors eventually, but at the moment I don't mind.

more thanks

Often on this blog, I thank people who have been involved in the build, in many different ways.
This post is for other thanks:

First of all to Medea Misch, who organised Charing Cross Medical School's 40 year reunion. We met up with a lot of Keith's old colleagues and it was good to catch up with them all.

Then on Sunday we went off to see the Underdowns, who have been supportive of & interested in our build from the beginning. They too have moved, to "Sussex by the sea". Their kitchen is in a worse state than ours (currently the oven is in the garage!) but the weather was kind and Nigel barbecued, so we sat in their lovely garden and caught up with all the news.

On Monday, Joe allowed us to look after him while his mum went to work. We all had a good time together and look forward to seeing him next week as well.

Thanks also to Jane, from Nene Valley Homemade, who selected me to trial her new handcream. I have been doing a mosaic in the bathroom tiles, so it has had a very hard trial, and has kept my hands nice & soft. Her products are sold at Daily Bread Co-operative in Northampton.

A final, dubious, thanks to the swallows who chose our garage loft to build their nest in.

a sunset, a heron & news of Genghis

Keith took these lovely sunset pictures:




The next day, I borrowed his camera and just managed to get a picture of the heron as he lunged for a fish.


Those of you following Genghis' adventures will be glad to know that today he heroically defended his ducklings against another drake (who should have known better!).

Inside, we have begun work on the main bathroom, tiling the floor & preparing the walls.

another room!

The walls of bedroom 2 (as it's known on the plans) are now scraped, filled, sanded, treated & painted. It will be the main guest bedroom, but for the moment I have moved my sewing machine in, and Keith has set up shelving.



I won't be making curtains yet, just some bunting for the village celebrations and some repairs that need doing, but it is nice to sit at it again.

Next job is the main bathroom, which Keith prepped today and I have to begin tiling tomorrow.

This picture shows Genghis & his mate, but you can't see their ducklings nestled between them.