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 :)

Moroccan Inspiration

Some of the goodies that survived the journey back from a Christmas in Marrakech!

The lantern and mirror and lantern opposite are for the downstairs cloak room.

This is definitely taking on a bit of a Moroccan theme... I have even challenged James to do some coloured plaster work! Whats the worst that could happen? I can always paint over it!

This is to accompany the copper sink I bought and the lovely chunky wall mounted taps.

Moroccan cloakroom by jaykaybee22

I'm afraid the Renaissance ensuite bathroom didn't escape either! I have bought the most lovely plasterwork done by a chap called "Yesi" in front of my eyes... and a Saharan wooden door (from a royal palace no less... ;) that weighed a tonne - I can't believe we were under our luggage allowance!

Dodgy doors and a theology of forgiveness.

"So watch yourselves. If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them," Jesus

So my long debated, long awaited french doors arrived yesterday, and it was immediately apparent that they were not what I had ordered at all. Made bespoke by a local joiner, and I had had 3 face to face meetings, various telephone conversations, about 25 emails and a drawing, to scale, of what I wanted. Where did it all go wrong? There is no denying that they are beautiful and incredibly well made, but that is somewhat irrelevant.

I blew my top, went nuts at the joiner, followed by a detailed stroppy email to them showing how I couldn't have been clearer about what I wanted and it was all their fault. I threatened to get them to take the doors away and I never wanted to see them again. They wouldn't be getting a penny off me. (That's the last time anyone tries to take me for a ride.).

Then last night, irritatingly, it was our churches monthly worship meeting. God gently reminded me that I'm not perfect, that He might have had to forgive me for the odd thing in the past, and it had cost Him quite dearly.

My joiner rang me this morning to apologize. I ranted. He didn't make any excuse. He understood why I was unhappy. He sounded completely gutted. He had hoped I would be over the moon with his work. He agreed to do whatever I wanted- he would take them away, or alter them or I could have them at a discounted rate...

Grace is a word that makes me smile inside.

I agreed to keep the doors. I said I could think of a few carpentry jobs he could do for me to make it up to me. His tone instantly changed and he got excited about the new work, offering to go above and beyond what I asked for... getting creative about ways he could go the extra mile and impress me.

Before I put down the phone he

was commenting how he was thinking about going to church with his wife...

You win some, you lose some ;)

Week 20 - Doors and Roof tiles

Happy new year everyone!

Well the plumbers worked right up to Christmas eve apparently whilst we were in Marrakech having a wonderful, inspirational Christmas holidays. Will post on my purchases later!!

We got back and opened the door with trepidation thinking there was probably an 80% chance that the heating would still not be on, but joy! It was warm and snug! A nice big new water tank installed, heating back on and hot water pressure that positively gushes! Sometimes I turn on the hot tap just for fun!!!

Things are starting to swing here again - finally James is on site and apparently here now till the bitter end- which he seems to think is only 5 weeks away (!!) - that would be amazing, but I'm not getting my hopes up too much.

The windows and doors have started to go in with the french doors finally arriving today. There are roofers on the roof and slates arriving tomorrow. Justin is doing the barge boards now.

All very exciting... will post some updated pics asap!

Love to all, xxx

Week 16 - Oak smoked undies

This week the plumbers have finally arrives- yay! Deck the halls with copper pipes and monkey wrenches! Three of them turned up on Monday and proceed to rip up all the floors, banging and crashing with an enthusiasm I'm not sure we've seen on site to date.

Unfortunately by Wednesday the day came when the building project really did break into our cosy reality- the plumbers stormed through the house, ripped out the boiler, the hot water tank and have left us with no heating or hot water... probably till the new year!

Of course, as you can can see by the beautiful picture take by my friend in Tetbury, this manoeuvre just happened to coincide with some festive weather... yes, you've guessed it, its snowing outside!!!

Well at least I feel I'm at last shaking off the dreadful bug that me and (according to my GP) most of England have had to endure for the last month. The log burner has struck up and I have a wheelbarrow full of little off cuts of wood from the building project to recycle as fuel! So at least one room in the house is warm. We only have to survive a week really, as we are flying to Marrakesh for Christmas, which hopefully will be a little bit warmer!

Drying washing is proving a bit of a challenge. I am currently surrounded by piles of it dangling everywhere. The undies are smouldering nicely on top of the log burner. Not sure it would pass health and safety. I should add a sprinkling of chestnuts really, shouldn't I?