Last weekend was mostly spent worrying about timescales. When we'd spoken to BOB on the Friday he thought we could be in 'by 17th July'. Quite where he got that date from, we don't know, but we were supposed to have been in by the end of May... Somehow in the last 8 weeks the schedule has slipped by 6 weeks. We rattled his cage a bit and suddenly were promised more plasterers and a speeding up of the process.
On Monday we had to decide whether to give a month's notice on Tuesday... We really didn't know what to do - pay for yet another month, or go for it? We were helped in our decision by the floor chap who turned up to test for damp on the concrete base. It's at 4%. Which, apparently, is OK. We're aiming for 0% and he reckons we'll be there in a few weeks. We talk timescales and agree Monday 10th July for installation of the floor, which will take about 5 days. Which means we will, as BOB said, be moving in on 17th July.
On Monday we had the roofer working on the chimney skirt thing - it's finished!
We also had the painter wanting to paint the outside. We said we'd rather have the inside done and he suggested he went somewhere else for the week. NOOOOOO - please don't leave, just paint whatever you like... He stayed. The plasterers (who are now on another job) came back to put more render on the kitchen wall (which is meant to be plastered, dried AND painted by next Monday) and we opened lots of windows...
On Tuesday we gave notice to the rental agents - we move in on July 17th, and out of the rental on July 20th. WOO HOO!
There was nobody - and we do mean NOBODY - on site. Seriously. Apart from us - we moved bicycles into the barn and opened lots of windows... We did, however, have a chat with the joiner who is making the bathroom cabinet and the kitchen. We had been waiting for a price for 3 weeks... I had rattled his cage on Monday too, so at 7am we had the quote, by 7.30am we'd agreed a timescale - cabinet by the end of next week, kitchen before the floor goes down. WOO HOO.
On Wednesday we were swarming with bodies again - plumber, two joiners, two brickies and BOB. Sills were put on the music room ends, the steps carried on out the back (again, not the band) and Guy and I put yet more oil on the oak to stop it turning black. We got internal doors downstairs...
[Note: There is a gap that needs filling in the worktop, and the sink isn't actually fixed yet. We're just pretending that it's nearly there.]
The rear steps got finished too - hooray!
And on Friday we were just back to plasterers... sigh.
At the weekend we washed oak with boiling acid, oiled the same oak a bit later, shifted more stuff into the barn and watered everything. We also decided to pretend we could actually live there, and moved the builders' plastic table and chairs down to the patio. Or what will be the patio when the slabs get put down.
Saturday's lunch was a bit rustic:
Although enlivened considerably by the arrival of some friends from the village who brought ice lollies with them - how fab is that?!
On Sunday we got a bit posh and had plates:
The weather is set to be scorching for the week ahead. So, what's a sensible job to do tomorrow, probably the hottest day of the year?
We're having the Aga put in.
Genius.
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