Momentum

Or Lack There Of...And The Estate Office

I think we’ve made ourselves too comfortable! Now that we have bedrooms, working bathrooms, and a kitchen, it’s just too easy to relax. James has taken some time off work and we have so much to do it’s ridiculous but the sense of urgency we had at the beginning is gone. The weather doesn’t help. It’s tough to keep going when it’s so hot and all too tempting to open a bottle of wine and sit in the garden. Even more tempting to jump in the pool and bin off the whole afternoon! So, I’m introducing a bit of discipline and trying to make sure we hit some targets each week.

This week’s projects:

• The Pool - James is determined to get on top of the water chemistry and cleaning!

• The Estate Office - We need to finish stripping out and clear the space. I also need to finish the layout plans before the electrician comes.

• Outside - The old white goods are finally being collected and we have another van load to go to the recycling centre.

• The Garden - There’s the last of the woodchips to spread on the paths in the veg garden. We need to widen the gateway in the hedge so we can get the chicken house in and then put it in place. I also want to start the big wisteria trim.

• The House - I might finally get my airing cupboard finished and I must have a sort out of our bedroom and all my clothes.

That’s probably enough to be getting on with! The Estate Office is our big project at the moment really. We want this space ready for guests as soon as possible. Stripping everything out is the first step. Then we’ll be into lifting the floors where we need to and the first fix. Once that’s done it gets a lot more exciting. Here are the plans for the layout.

Excuse my dodgy drawings but I think you get the idea. This is how it’s currently looking.

Clockwise from top left is the bathroom, kitchen, sitting room, bedroom and sitting room again.

I’m trying to keep as much as I can and I want it to have an old-study feel. It’s quite a light space so I think we’ll be okay to experiment with some dark colours in here. There will be a few quirky features that we can keep too. The fireplace and window shutters of course but also a wall safe, map drawers and an old typewriter which will stay.

I had a friend come over to look at the house this weekend. As we wandered around the garden she said “Don’t you think it’s quite a lot to take on?”. I laughed. It is so much to take on I think we’re crazy half the time. But that’s the fun right? And I don’t think we can think about ‘when it’s done’. Maybe it will never be ‘finished’. It’s more of a project that we choose which bit to focus on and then try to improve that part. That’s the way I look at it anyway! But I don’t want to lose all the momentum. Otherwise, a year will go by and things won’t have changed at all. So, breaks over, time to get back to work!