O.M.G.

What a week! On Monday there were 16 (yes, SIXTEEN) labourers on site, not counting us, and the build moved on at a rate that DIY SOS would have been delighted with.

At 8am the vertical posts went in...

Then at 10am the A Frames started to be craned into place,

By the end of Monday we had a sitting room extension - and it's utterly gorgeous.

We also had the upper windows. And they're utterly gorgeous too.

By early Tuesday we had rafters

By late Tuesday we had a porch and all the front windows were completed.

On Wednesday it was the other extension

All the oak was cleaned off - this means dousing it in oxalic acid then pressure hosing it clean. Yes, it does make the house rather wet inside...

Guy and I stayed behind after everyone had gone and bailed out the kitchen...

The Music Room is looking lovely - and LARGE. Sadly there is a LOT of room for even more melodeons...

Oh, and we also have all of the first fix plumbing done, first fix electrics upstairs, en-suite basin and loo on site and ready to fit, plaster boarded upstairs and tarpaulins on both new extensions.

And scaffolding round the music room.

All the big paddock has been landscaped, we need it to be raining before we seed. Right now we're VERY happy with the dry weather as we have two more roofs to be done, so the seed can wait.

When we watch Grand Designs, everybody always says how many decisions need to be made. They're not kidding. At some point this week (don't ask me what day) the plumber needed to know the height for the shower rose in the en-suite. Guy wasn't around, so it was down to me. How do I know? He held it up, I asked him how tall he was (6 feet) and we agreed that if he could stand underneath it that would do nicely. Where do you want the basin? How do I know? It's either further into the room (so that you bang it when going to the loo) or nearer the door (so that you knock into it every time you go into the room). We ended up somewhere between the two. How thick are your tiles? YAY - we have one of those already.... (bumpy white 8" square from Topps Tiles since you ask).

And so it goes on...

As if all that wasn't enough, the cottage that we are renting went on the market on Saturday at 10am (with our consent - they did ask!) and by 1pm they'd booked 3 viewings for tomorrow, Monday. So now we have to have it clean and nice...

We are, perhaps not unreasonably, knackered.

Unfair division of labour of the week (1) - We got a further 2 tons of gravel to put in the pathways of our veggie patch. Guy says that he was shifting all of it while I was arranging a lunch date by text. Yes, I was but, to be fair, I helped shift the first ton...

Unfair division of labour of the week (2) - All the old joists and various other bits of wood that might make valuable firewood were put out on the lawn so that we could de-nail them. De-nailing duly done, we had a large pile of usable firewood which Guy asked the builders to put 'next to the shed'. What he should have said was 'next to the BARN'. I moved it all myself while Guy was at the 'dentist'. I think he just went out for a leisurely coffee...

This week has been epic, really it has. But the cottage is looking GORGEOUS. We are soooo delighted with it...

Purchases?

A new rake for smoothing the paddock. Just as Simon the Digger brought over a huge landscape rake that attaches to his JCB and does the work in about a quarter of the time.
Some plants for the garden. Random lavender, two things called Daphne, dahlias and some sweet Williams so at least we'll have flowers to cut even if there isn't really a garden.
9 down lighters for the bathroom and en-suite. Yes, I know I said I wouldn't have any (I think the exact words were 'over my dead body') but we lack space, we can't think of anything else and, well, I found them online. Mind you, they weren't delivered as promised on Friday, so to say they're an actual purchase is currently pushing it a bit.

Villains of the week:

Still Plumbs Upholstery. They had a massive two page advert in our weekend TV listings. Apparently they give a 3 year satisfaction guarantee. Seems a bit rum when we haven't even made it to 3 weeks and they've stopped talking to us. Still unhappy, but rapidly becoming past caring. Until they ask for the balance of the payment at which point I will become Very Angry Very Quickly. Plumbs, you have been warned...