A little rest before the next stage...

Good evening folks.
This last week saw my long anticipated visit from my wife and children take place. As you can appreciate I'm sure, this was something that was enjoyed to the full by myself.

Last weekend my wife and my youngest daughter drove up before the crack of dawn to get here nice and early and my oldest daughter and her partner drove up later the afternoon. It was so lovely to have my family together for a few days.
Susan was suitably impressed with the changes to the property and it was lovely to show everyone around.
Most of the weekend was of course spent enjoying the time exploring the area before the children left on Monday evening. Spending time together here was also a reminder of why we have decided to leave the rat race behind and focus on creating a simpler more creative life for ourselves.

 So we spent time exploring the surrounding beauty. This is on Little Asby Common.

 Sam practicing his climbing skills around Rydal Caves.

 Shenay also took the opportunity to coerce her sister into one of the outfits she had made for a photo shoot. (I sneaked a couple of pics when they weren't looking.

 Shenay hard at work.

 I loved introducing Susan to the little treasures I have found in the area.

Climbing up Musgrave Fell and seeing the valley spread out below.

 Going to Penrith for the Winter Droving was a brilliant highlight of the week

 These illuminated beasts were gorgeous.

 I think next year I will be tempted to create an outfit and join in.......

 Of course we spent a fair bit of time in the house, dreaming planning and looking to the future too.

 We also made time for some creativity too. All these branches, berries and feathers were collected from our walks before we spent the evening creating

 a wreath! Isn't it lovely?

One of the farms up the lane has peacocks and we occasionally find their discarded plumes which added a nice splash of vibrant colour.

It was a lovely week which went by far too quickly and now it is quiet again and today I have been back at work removing skirting boards and chipping away at the plaster that needs to come off; but more about that later.....

Until next time, take care.

Barn tales

Good evening folks.
I trust that this finds you all well.
This week I have spent most of the time so far out in the barn. I have justified this by telling myself that it is important to get the barn cleared so that when I begin to remove the skirting boards from the house next week I can store it properly out there as I want to recycle as much as it as possible. The truth is of course that I have been itching to get stuck in there as it is going to be my studio space ultimately.....
This is what it looked like when we bought the place. It had pretty much been used as a dumping ground and a coal store for the last thirty odd years.

Everything covered in a thick layer of dust and Halloween worthy cobwebs.

The first order of the week was to clear and sort everything out into "tip" and "things I want to keep and re use creatively" piles. Not that I was expecting much of the latter to be frank.
I do like these old slate tile pieces. Only one whole but the others will make good bases for some sculpture pieces. Or broken up to add decorative chips to the garden..... not sure yet

Interesting political cartoon piece came to light lol.

 Old windows, and some other interesting pieces came out in the end but more about those in a later post once they have been cleaned.

 As expected, the majority of the contents were trash, Old carpets, straw filled mattresses, piles of twigs and empty containers filled with dirt and twigs, scraps of wood... well you get the picture I'm sure. It took a good few days just to empty and bag everything ready to go to the tip.
Then it was time to begin to sweep the floor. again it took a couple of days and about five protective masks to sweep most of everything up. Believe it or not, this drain was not visible at all under the dirt!

At least there are plenty of hooks in the walls to hang a lantern on for more light.

By the end of yesterday I had filled around a dozen bags of dirt and dust; managed to fill a bucket and a half of coal and got down to the cobbles and the original hard clay floor where there were no cobbles.

Today, I cleared the rest of the barn and began to wash and sort out some of the old windows. pieces of wood etc but forgot to take photos so I'll leave that for another day.
The space looks pretty cool now and you get a real sense of the size of the space. I am full of ideas about the possibilities for the creative use of the space and can't wait to share with you the progress of stage one of the transformation.

Take care.

Back to the basics.

Hi there everyone.
It's been a while since I posted I know but to be fair, I am at that kind of waiting stage in some ways.
After the drama of discovering the cellar it took me a few days to process it and all the implications in my mind. Exciting as it was (and is) it has thrown a bit of a spanner into the process. Still, I guess that is only to be expected.

Of course, there was still wallpaper to strip and other bits to be getting on with.

 I've managed to get rid off all the wallpaper from 1500mm above in most of the rooms that will be chipped back to the stone for the damp course and then re-plastered so I am happy about that.

 This beautiful area came to light at the bottom of the stairs. I think it is just beautiful and it seems a pity to have to cover it all up again.

I've lost count of how many bags I have filled with wallpaper over the last few weeks though I am sure it must be close to forty or so. Still I am almost done at last.
I am still making little discoveries,... I think that there should (hopefully) be no more big surprises but this little selection of tools came to light in a drawer of a unit I was breaking down that didn't look like it was a drawer.

There are some pretty cool things here. I have even been using some of them in the house which makes me feel happy too. It's a bit like the house is helping me bring it back to life. I also have a few ideas about incorporating pieces into some artwork later.

I'd better get off. The sun is shining so I think it's a good time to wander along the river for a bit before I dig the sanders out for some of the woodwork
Take care folks.