Actually, we have been back for almost a month but haven’t had a great deal to show for it until now.
It was great to see Jo and John and the rest of trip was just fantastic, much better than we imagined. The Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Melbourne, Tasmania, Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef, the Himalayan foothills for John and a Tai Chi pilgrimage to some amazing places in China for me. It was almost a tour of world heritage sites. But that’s another story.
We returned to find that the house fairies had been busy. There was a pile of flooring in the house denailed and ready for planing. There was a pile of logs and sticks for the fire. Swathes of rushes had been sprayed and there was no knotweed to be seen. Thank you Emily and Richard!
The sun shone for our journey back but the weather soon turned chilly and wet and we noticed it! Our first task was to go back over the unfinished bits and pieces, so John used up all the cladding on the south gable. Would you believe it? There’s a recession on and the building industry has come to a standstill so there is no timber to be had. Stuck!
With the weather against us anyway, we launched an attack on the kitchen and built the remaining cabinets with doors and drawers. Although we haven’t brought all the crockery and gadgets from the garage (they are still buried under the flooring) it is all functioning very smoothly. We are still trying to decide on the worktops though.
We also floored the living room dining room area. That was a long haul and we suspect we will not have enough good timber to do all of the upstairs. Bringing more planks up from the garage, denailing and planing them takes a while. Then they have to be sorted into those with one good end or two good ends and then laid so that the joins don’t overlap. We started at the hearth, where it joins the kitchen/utility area and had a bit of a wobble
as we reached the end of the kitchen wall. Rather than a big adjustment we ‘eased’ it through a few rows. It has gone in nicely level at the big doors. Now we need to seal it and have ordered oil and wax for a thorough job.
We have been struggling with the paint, partly because breathable paint is so expensive that we want to get it right first time and partly because so many areas link up. We are trying to avoid boring off-white throughout, particularly in the kitchen with the bright white units, but it is tempting, especially when we try to remember all the paintings and hangings that have to be placed. However, we have gone for sage in the bedroom, grey in the kitchen and white elsewhere except for a terracotta accent wall in the snug.
When the weather permits, John has been weeding the buttercups from the veg garden and he has made a start hand digging the drains. It will probably take all summer to complete but we only need a bit of it for a few peas and beans and last year’s sprouted potatoes.
Meanwhile, we are finding out how we live in the house and it is becoming clear that we want a table in the corner window where it is light, for doing crosswords, reading and sewing, as well as eating.