Channeling the inner snail...

Hi there folks.
I am sure you can guess by the title of this post that not much progress has been happening recently.
Still, everything that happens is a little step closer isn't it.

There has been one thing that has made a big difference though........... for months we have been generating piles of rubbish and rubble as you can imagine

 In the lounge.

 The kitchen.

 Even a bit in the dining room

Finally we figured we had enough for.....

A skip!

Though it was hard work, I cannot tell you how exciting it is to finally be able to see the floor again.

 The kitchen was the last of the 9 fireplaces to see the light of day. The stone lintel is beautiful and just over 2m long. Unfortunately we will not be able to keep it exposed but I am glad we were able to see it)

 Still a couple of bags for the tip that definitely would not fit in the skip but the lounge feels so much bigger.

Upstairs is looking nicer too.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, I am settling myself down with coffee, pen and ink and paper for the rest of the weekend.....whatever you are up to I hope you enjoy yourselves.

Ending the week with progress.

Good evening friends.
Well, after a slow start to the week I am pleased to say that we did manage a bit of progress as the week ended.
At the moment we are focused on getting two of the rooms upstairs to a stage that they can be used as a place to store furniture. The electrician came round and got all the new sockets boxed in place.

Next, the old wall supports were removed as they were not in great shape.

New supports were added with thicker treated timbers.

 Still have to add cross supports next week but it is already much more stable.

An essential yet horrible job was also tackled; treating the beams with paste to ensure no remain beasties remain alive once we close everything up. You put it on like spreading butter and it absorbs in over a few days....

Then it was time to tank around the window area to ensure no future damp issues should arise.

There's a few different processes to do so I left that bit to the expert lol.

Then, finally, the moment I was waiting for.

One wall covered up. Now, we are not boarding every room but we have to find a balance between keeping character and creating a space that is energy efficient too. So we have taken each wall individually and worked out what would be best.  All the external walls will have a thick thermal insulation board to retain heat. The other walls to be boarded have been selected based on the overall condition. I think it's driving the electrician a little crazy as he has to make sure that the right depth box is put on the correct wall for the thickness, some need to be chiseled in, others can be flush fitted etc, you get the picture I'm sure.

Hopefully next week we will get a little further.....I'll let you know. Until then, take care.

It's alright in the slow lane.....

Good afternoon.
Well, after the excitement of my previous post I have to say, there's not been much more in the way of building up this last week. I have to keep reminding myself that life in the slow lane is what we signed up with, so take a deep breath and relax.....
To distract myself I turned myself back to chipping away plaster lol. This time in the kitchen and utility. Of course, I knew what was going to come to light on this particular wall (to the left of the alcove)

You guessed it, the fireplace! This brings the total number fireplaces discovered in this 3 bed house to a whopping nine! You can see the edge of the lintel here. It measures just over two meters in length and is intact. Sadly, though we entertained the idea of opening the fireplace up and having a range cooker, when I measured it the height is too low to comply with requirements. That means we will have to cover it all up again which is a bit of a pity as it is amazing. We do have to be practical about some things though.

The utility area has also been chipped away as well so slowly but surely we are getting everything that needs to be cleared, cleared. Then we can get a skip and clear the space properly.

The other morning I arrived to discover that another small section of plaster had been done between me leaving at five the previous day and my arrival the next morning.
The artist in me thinks the combination of textures, shades and colour looks pretty cool...

This morning I pottered around a bit at the house but then I went to look out of the window....

 There was a light dusting of snow on the hills and I decided it was time to take a wander. Though there was a bit of a nip in the air I really enjoyed stretching my legs a bit .

 The beck was coming down swiftly after yesterday's rain.

 Up at the castle the views are stunning. I don't think I will ever get tired of looking at it.

 I finished off with a moment of quiet in the church where the sun was shining beautifully through.

Back home again refreshed and revitalised and ready to sit down to create the next lot of journals I am working on.....then tomorrow it's back to making a mess at the house.
Till then, enjoy the rest of your day.