Hmm, I started the last post with ‘What a surprise’ .. little did I know that the world would grind to a halt with a global pandemic. We caught a few days in Majorca and a week later we were in lock-down. This means that the building companies, QSP and Kompass both shutdown and are unable to complete their snagging. Some big-ticket items: kitchen and staircase are on hold – partly the companies not operating but also I’m managing cashflow for the time being. Supplies have been variable, we’ve managed to get most of the materials we want to keep going from Screwfix, Wickes, B&Q and the web but that’s getting more difficult as they are not restocking.

On a huge positive we have (kind of) moved into the house. The first floor bathroom, dressing room and bedroom are 95% completed. We’ve plastered, painted, plumbed, sparkied, IT’d and even laid flooring and carpet. Access is via a ladder (I try to convince Ang staircases are only posh ladders). The final bit was building a walkway for the cats .. but they are far from happy. OK .. so far we have a bedroom .. but we’ve noticed some excellent surprises: the loo and shower work, the hot water and radiators work from the home control system, we get birds flying by at eye-height and .. we see sunset from the bedroom west window. Maybe the past year was worthwhile 🙂

Mick is doing a couple of days a week and has finished the first floor bathroom, moved on to plaster and tile the loo and is now plastered and tiling the bathroom. Phil and team have spent the past weekends (with a couple of breaks) plastering away. We have the kitchen, utility and dining rooms done and lounge 80% complete. Unfortunately this has ground to a halt as there is no plaster available for 100 miles (or more). Ang is painting away – with the loo, kitchen and utility rooms completed. The lounge and dining rooms are next but she’s far happier in the garden and making curtains. Peter, the carpet fitter came in last week for a morning – the fifth house he’s worked on with us. Chris commissioned the boiler with no issues (other than a crisis when he thought I’d capped the radiator pipes – given that I hadn’t they promptly flooded). Andy and son – the sparkies have given us a good part of last week and we have the garage half-complete and two of the five rings (the first floor and the kitchen-utility) running. I seem to be running around doing little as usual. Alex (Ang’s eldest) and I laid the bathroom wood floor – the first couple of sqm of a huge amount to do. I make progress with techno-shite – highlights being the garage cameras, wifi, poe etc running and the house control system coming on with the heating system and some security running. Al and I have started recycling the old house timbers, with Al making raised garden beds and me preparing a wood wall.