September has flown by, and also lasted forever. The builders have been here all month, I've been back in the office for the first time in months, and it's become noticeably colder and more damp. So let's see what progress has been made. The building work Our builders are lovely, we couldn't have hoped for better, but goodness me we are ready to have the house back to ourselves. At the start of September they were still stripping the old plaster off the walls. The discovered a rather woodwormy lintel, which had to be replaced - quite a faff by all accounts, but better done than not. Once that was done, plasterboard started going on. I think we both have mixed feelings about this - it's nice to have the old stone exposed, but at the same time it is starting to feel more like a house than a ruined castle. Bit by bit, more boards were added. And finally, last week, the plaster started going on upstairs. Obviously, behind the scenes, there has been much rejigging of electrics and plumbing - mostly less visible, but no less important. We are having a lot of wall lights, and the sink is moving from one side of the room to the other, which involved drilling into the terracotta toilet pipe - a tense moment all round, but fortunately uneventful. Downstairs is still a building site, but on the first day of October they started boarding, so the next week or so should bring quite a change. So, progress - and I would hope so too, as they've now been here six weeks. As I said, we couldn't have hoped for nicer builders, but it's tough having people in and out all the time, doing things to your house. Several times we've had to ask for things to be re-done, either because of a miscommunication, or because they'd just done the 'normal' thing without asking and we'd wanted something different. I never find that type of thing easy, but we're getting there. We've been a couple of times now to look at granite - the process seems ridiculous as nobody will give us an upfront price, so we've had to pick several and get quotes, which are all too expensive, so now we have to pick several more. I think we're getting there, but will be very glad when it's all over. The veg garden Outside, the veg garden is going to ruin. I hinted at the great kale disaster in August's post, and here it is. Those caterpillars munched every single piece of kale - I didn't pick any at all. Still, I don't resent them - I'm just cursing myself for not netting the brassicas like I'd promised myself I would. Next year... I have managed a small harvest of patty pan squash. And I picked the last of the calendula one sunshiney day too. We have a few apples growing, but I'm not sure any of them are going to turn out nice. I think 2021 will go down as the year of the neglected harvests... Cutting the hay field I have made a little more progress on cutting the hay field, although not as much as I'd like by this point in the year. A friend did a row while I turned the cut grass, and then we hauled some of it off to spread on the edible windbreak as mulch. What else? Not that much else, if I'm honest. The autumn is my busiest time at work, and I've had to start commuting to the office again, which is an hour each way - not every day, but enough days to be noticeable. There are lots of decisions to make around the building work, and things to do ourselves, like find appliances and choose paint colours, that all take time and energy. For a lot of September, the weather wasn't too bad, and we did do quite a bit of sitting around, often cooking over a fire in the evening. I'll remember those days - too worn out to eat anything other than veggie burgers, no desire to be inside the building site house, sitting in the last of the sunshine. Oh, and in case you thought I'd forgotten about the chickens, I haven't. September was uneventful on the chicken front, thank goodness. The ladies are shut in while the builders are here, but do get out at the weekends to cause mischief. I don't think they mind too much now they have their spacious extension. And what will October bring? A new kitchen, I hope! The kitchen itself is ready, they just need to plaster downstairs, wait for the plaster to dry, install the kitchen, fit the radiators, sort out the granite, and finish off things like plug sockets and skirting boards. We'll need to paint upstairs and down, and I will need to (finally) finish the kitchen ceiling. Shouldn't take longer than a month, right? Easy peasy...
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Hello!Sit down and make yourself comfortable. I'm Jenni, and I write here about our new foray into country living, which includes growing food, knitting, baking, wandering around the fields, and seeing which local cafe serves the best cake. Categories
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