30.07.06 Fruit

Today I climbed the apple tree and picked some cooking apples. This week we shall have apple crumble!
We have a pear tree, but I also think that we have a damson or a plum tree too. Personally, I'd rather have a cherry tree and one day when the garden is a bit nearer complete I will ask a relative to buy me one for a birthday. Then Rob can't say that I can't have one!
Cherries always remind me of being younger and going to the Blue Bell pub with my Mum, Dad and Sister. We used to sit outside and I'd try to reach the cherries. I think they taste lovely.

30.07.06 The Staircase

Rob was trying out ideas for the staircase. Apparantly, this is a prototype and the real thing will be even better!
Men and their toys, eh!

30.07.06 The Outside Toilet

The before and after of the outside toilet. It makes it look a bit nicer. Unfortunately, many spiders lost their homes.

24.07.06 Scaffolding (Not Home Made!)

This is what the house looks like today!
We are ready for action!!

23.07.06 The House

This is what the house looked like when we bought it and left it today.
Tomorrow it will change!

23.07.06 The Garden

As the JCB will be coming next week. We needed to move the bricks from the top of the garden to the bottom of the garden near where the bin is on the top picture.
Rob's Dad and myself did this job in the heat. The second pic is when we'd done already moved 2/3rds of the bricks.
400 bricks later, 2 pints of orange juice and much brow wiping, a wall of bricks was made at the bottom. Rob's Dad threw them at me, but I was quick and they missed me! I stacked them against the wall.
They will be recycled to make a retaining wall at the bottom of the garden and to make a bit of a flower bed. They may be used to make the steps. I would like something lovely to look out on when I am pottering in the newly made kitchen. We weren't going to do anything with the garden but as our neighbours started, it made sense to do both gardens at once.
Rob has finished the insulating plasterboard in all the rooms apart from the small bits where the central heating pipes are going. Also, the man who was going to do the gas central heating didnt mention it at all this weekend even though we've seen him several times. I hate contractors!

23.07.06 Thunderstorm!

It absolutely chucked it down last night. Thunder and lightning too. We watched it come through the roof as usual, which was nice! It was welcome as it slightly cooled the air. At the moment its really too hot to work. But I dont suppose thats an excuse not to do any!
This is the view from the back of the house.

22.07.06 The Windows

I think Rob got a bit fed up with plaster boarding as he'd been doing nothing but plaster boarding for the past few weeks. I think the router must have been calling his name as he decided to put it to good use! The insulating plaster board sticks out 1" past where the edge of the windows would have been and Rob used MDF to make the windows look lovely again! He's doing this with all the windows in the house.

22.07.06 The Garden

Our neighbours have done a fantastic job of moving the hedge from the middle of the garden. We moved the green house that was at the side of the shed. The concrete coal store and some of the tree roots. We were helped along by a cool bottle of something frothy, but at 12pm, in the blistering heat and without any food, it wasnt such a great idea!
Next week Mickey and John are coming with their JCB to level both sides of the garden out. This should make it easier for the fencing to go in. The big apple tree is also coming out. We tasted the apples and they are cooking apples which are revolting anyway! We are keeping the pear tree as they are quite nice.

22.07.06 Scaffolding (Home Made!)

The boy is a genius! Here's the home made scaffolding to enable Rob to get to the top flight of the stairs. The first shot is from the second floor and the second shot is from the third floor.

19.07.06 Top Floor, Back Bedroom.

Most of the outside walls have been insulated and the internal walls between the two houses have been sound proofed with old carpet underlay! Standard sound proofing was going to be too thick so Rob had to improvise. I'm surprised that the noise travels between the two houses considering that the house is solidly built.
Apparantly, Rob informs me that he's not putting in underlay to sound proof, as the plaster is adequate. He's just filling in the gaps! (He's just come back from the pub and is now correcting my blog!!!!!)

Oh and the wedding planning is going well! The registrar has been paid, the meal and details for the hotel booked. The favours have been made and Ive written a final list for things to do. Just in case you were thinking that Ive not been doing anything!

19.07.06 The Back Bedroom

This is the top floor, back bedroom. The window has been taken out. Well, actually it was smashed because it wouldn't come out any other way! Rob filled the bedroom side with plasterboard in readiness for it being plastered. We still dont have any idea why it was put there!
The outside wall has also been covered with insulating plasterboard. We bought the light and wall fitting lights for this room this week. Argos and Asda are fab!
Hopefully, the scaffolding for the roof should come next week but with contractors involved you can never be too sure!
We also got a staircase ladder. Its quite big and part of the staircase may have to be removed. This isnt a huge problem as we wanted to change it anyway. The staircase is original ( I think) and has loads of paint and varnish and black paint on it so its not greatly attractive.

19.07.06 Slip Up!

Rob tried to take a short cut through the top floor to the second floor! Thankfully the lathe and plaster was strong enough and the ceiling will only need skimming. Oh, and Rob was ok too!

05.07.06 The Garden

We were hoping that the greenery between both houses would be removed. We have offered to help our next door neighbours but they've not asked us yet. It is their border. Removing this greenery means that Rob's perfect garden will happen now. He's really pleased! The sunshine has really dried the grass out as you can see.

05.07.06 Plasterboard

The plasterboard going up the stairs is insulated plasterboard. This is to keep us snuggly warm! Its made the stairs look quite thin now but Im sure that's because we can still see the stairs underneath it. The blue plasterboard has sound insulation behind it as the walls between the houses are quite thin. Its going to be the most cost effective home ever! Its just a shame the initial outlay is quite expensive.

05.07.06 Gas Central heating

Rob's made a start putting in the pipes for the gas central heating. The man who will fix it all together has gone abroad to get married. How dare he! We still need to order the boiler and we are having a condensing boiler with a mega flow unvented cylinder. It sounds impressive! Apparantly, its the latest hi tec bit of kit which should save us money in the long run. Its more expensive than a combi boiler but the savings that we make from gas should pay for it within the year.