Wrought iron railings... one for you dad!

Dad, mum says you love all this blacksmithing stuff... get a load of these then! My new railings for upstairs! I didn't just want straight bars because it would feel like we were in a prison or something. The guys doing it were nervous wrecks by the time I popped by- apparently it was really hard because they cant have any gap that is more than 10cms because of building regs. I think they have done a really good job. The only thing I asked them to change was the final bar on the left- to upend it so that the outline was symmetrical. Otherwise it looks a bit drunk.

Happy customer :)

Week 25 - Knock throughs and the dust of doom

They have knocked through. It has happened! The building projected has burst out of its neat little hiding place and is now invading our lives!!! It's a bit like some weird Dr. Who phenomenon where you open a door to another dimension and then shut it again totally confused about where you are!!!

This is downstairs...

This is upstairs.... what a hike to get up to the new bedroom!

Now people warned me about the dust. I thought I could cope with a bit of dust- but its the smell that I wasn't prepared for- the breathing it in- this musty dry peppery smell. Its driving me up the wall and hoovering just seems to make it worse!

Of course we are only at the beginning of the craziness- in a few weeks time they will be knocking walls down in here. I think we may abandon ship for that part...

Week 24 - Shades of Yellow and the Roof is On!

Well, winter has arrived, (-4 tonight) fashionably late, and we have made it by the skin of our teeth. The guys are out there now putting the final lick of paint to the barge boards and most of the scaffolding will come down tomorrow.

The slate is Welsh, and the ridge tiles reclaimed. The Velux stream light into the building, especially in the ensuite upstairs which I'm now feeling really positive about! Our bath and shower has arrived and Nick and I did various exp

eriments at the weekend and I think there will be plenty of room in there after all - joy! :)

My friend Joe Woodcock turned the finials for me- don't they look fab? Here is a picture of one, alongside the block of wood he turned them from, and the old rotten thing we replaced.

I had to get some more yellow paint to match the existing woodwork. Our yellow bargeboards are a love or hate it thing, I know a lot of people cringe a bit as it is hardly subtle, but if I'm honest I love it- I think it was subconsciously one of the reasons we bought the house. The colour is quite close to custard powder - I found an old tin in the garage- it is called "Golden Rambler". Its been quite a yellow week :)