one year ago ..

.. the builders started work on the remodelling and extension of Yew Tree Cottage. Now I cannot say that we are actually finished, but for the most part the builders have left us and we are living in and enjoying our new space.

We have been asked now that we have been through all the stages of a large project whether, knowing what we know now, we would have undertaken such work. The answer from all of us is a big 'yes'!

We expected lots of dust and we got it, though much later on in the schuedule than I anticipated. There was copious amounts of mud and the loss of the use of the garden but it was during winter so that didn't seem so bad.

There were some positives too - always someone on hand to take in parcels, always someone competent available to undertake those little diy tasks that seem to crop up.

It is hard to remember now how we lived for 18 months before work started. Then how we squished together for 6 months with one folly sleeping downstairs and another in our bedroom. A good thing we have the photos to remind us.

frustrating

... well I clearly jinked things with my last post, as after high hopes for an end to the renovations, things have slowed down once more.

The report from the building control officer has forced a change to the external door to the utility room. Mr and Mrs Folly are both disappointed about this as we were re-using an old door from a doorway we bricked up and it linked the old and new parts of the house really well from the outside.



The utility room door we had hoped to use on the new extension

The existing door to the kitchen in an older part of the house

The plumber fitted the toilet and put some water in the bowl to test the joint and discovered a leak through a hairline crack in the side of the toilet bowl.  We have returned this to the store and now have to wait for a new one to be delivered.
The data points were eventually installed but when Mr Folly checked them with his data connection gadget he found that half of them didn't work.  We also seem to have lost the majority of our tv channels much to the younger follies disgust.

All of these issues are small problems and for that I must remind myself to be grateful but I am becoming increasingly aware that patience is not one of my virtues.

catching up

an electrical disaster with the computer lead left me without means to charge my laptop. I wasn't too upset with the inconvenience whilst waiting for the new lead as with Mr Folly heavily into IT and 2 teenage follies with laptops I thought I would get plenty of opportunity to read e-mails and update my blog.  However, my alloted timeslot was minimal and once the necessities of banking, reading school newsletters and organising shopping deliveries were dealt with I found my screen time over and the loaned laptop whisked away.

Eventually the new electrical lead arrived and I did manage a little blog reading but all opportunities for taking photos and writing have been quickly obliterated as things are moving fast with the extension. Each night we have to make more decisions than we ever realised possible. Having chosen our internal doors we then had to choose hinges and door handles.  Even now I'm not really sure of the appropriate criteria for hinge choosing. My current night-time reading consists of catalogues and more catalogues though surely this must change soon. 

• 

• The bathroom is all chosen now.
• We are trying out carpet samples for the bedroom - all the follies line up in their bare feet and have to approve the texture as well as colour. 
• Plastering and painting are ongoing with heaters running overnight to encourage the drying process.
• We are still considering the possibility of a butler sink in the utility room.
• The walls of the pantry have gone up.
• The picture rail has been ruled out and skirting boards lie across the floor ready for fixing.

Tomorrow Mr Folly leaves the country for 10 days and I am unsure whether this is going to make things easier for decision making or more complicated, but I'll be sure to let you know.

The calm before the storm

I got up early yesterday morning as I felt too restless to return to sleep. All was quiet and I was able to sit alone in the kitchen sipping my tea and thinking about the project that was about to begin ... 

... building an extension to the back of our home.  Our plan is to turn the old garages attached to the back of the house into an eat-in family area which will be knocked through into the kitchen.  Then the old outhouse will be turned into a study and a room over which there is dispute - dance room for some, home cinema for others and some have suggested a gym (though who would use that I am not sure)!  Above all this we will have 2 new bedrooms and one of our existing bedrooms will be turned into an additional bathroom. This will give Follies 1 and 2 a bedroom of there own whilst Follies 3 and 4 will share a large bedroom.

We have waited 18 months for this project, since moving into our hotchpotch house in the country.  I am certainly keen for work to start, yet I will be sad to no longer see the old and broken brickwork, the exposed rafters of the outhouse and the gaps and holes the reason for which have long been forgotten.  Mr Folly took photographs of the old place as we both know that once the new walls are up with a extra storey and new roof atop we will struggle to remember how our house used to look.

And so after my tea I take a wander amongst the aged building dating from the 1960's in part and the early 1900's in others. I say my goodbyes to the lives lived here before I arrived and prepare to face the onslaught of the day.