The Gloomy Week That Was
A Renovation Journal
Well, this week hasn’t been as exciting as I’d hoped. It was rather gloomy weather with the dark nights drawing in and very little sun. (Although not at all cold and very still.) We’ve been busy but things are moving somewhat slowly and it’ll be another week before we see the roofers.
Monday
Mondays have become my housework and errands day. I went to Tesco and cleaned out the utility room. One day we will have a laundry room for laundry, a boot room for the dog, boots and coats and a store room with a sink where we can wash paintbrushes and keep tools. For now, it is all in one room with a few dodgy shelves and no worktop. I do my best to tidy it up and sweep out the mud and dog hair.
John the builder is back and working this week in the old stables. James is determined to finish this workshop space so he can start making cupboards and windows. I’m still not entirely sure why he needs so much space but I’m sure it’ll become clear to me in the end. Windows are hugely expensive so if he can make them it’ll be worth it. I am at least promised a finished chicken house (I’ve been waiting about 5 years) so I suppose I will come to appreciate the workshop. I still miss the rotten old stables though. Even if I did get a pony I would want to build new ones but still, they were cool. John has nearly finished replacing the floor between the stables and hay loft and then the stairs can go in.
Tuesday
Andy the electrician is here today. He’s such a comfort. Nothing is too much trouble and he just quietly gets on with it, making sure everything works perfectly. He’s fitting galvanised trunking for the electrics in the gym. It looks fantastic on the exposed brick.
I spent the day sanding woodwork in the guest bedroom, that I’ve been working on. It’s boring but looks pretty good all stripped and sanded.
Wednesday
I’ve been stripping cupboard doors today. I’m not sure it’s an entirely necessary job but I’m sure they’ll look good when they’re done. I’m finished with all the smaller ones, just the 7 big ones to go!
James has been fitting the new windows into the gym. It turns out the wall is very wonky but they’re in and looking pretty good.
Thursday
I had to pick Toby up super late from school last night after a school trip. It was 1 am when I got to bed and consequently, I’ve been useless today. In the end, I went back to bed and slept for a couple of hours. I did then manage to do some wood filling on the cupboards but it was fairly half-hearted.
Friday
It’s gardening day and it’s still all about the asparagus bed. We’re over halfway through and it’s looking good. We talked about moving all the fruit which is currently in a fruit cage at the other end of the house. I guess at the time the vegetable garden was full and so the fruit cage ended up over there. The trees have grown up a lot though and it’s quite shaded now. It would make more sense to have all the fruit together in the vegetable garden now I think.
Saturday
Back to decorating and I made good progress today. Another two doors are stripped and all the wood filling is finished. I then had a good clean-up and dusted down the ceiling and walls ready for priming.
This afternoon I managed a quick run into Shrewsbury. Grabbed a new pair of trousers in Marks and Spencers while Toby had his haircut. I was reminded why I hate shopping on Saturdays!
Sunday
Priming day in the bedroom. I’ve used Peel Stop on the patches in the ceiling just to stop the old paint from flaking at the edges. Then, I’ve used Zinsser BIN on the walls where they haven’t had new lime plaster. The old paint on these walls is oil-based over distemper. It’s the same downstairs and the BIN is the only thing I’ve found that works. I’ve chosen to put it on before I fill so that the filler has something to stick to at the edges. Fingers crossed it will be fine.
Another bonfire this afternoon and that’s me done for the week! I’ve got something pretty exciting going on tomorrow so I look forward to telling you all about it next time. Until then, enjoy these dark and quiet November days, the lights of Christmas are just around the corner!
