The Year It All Started
2023 RoundUp
Happy New Year! I thought I’d do a bit of a roundup of the year’s work before we get into 2024 planning. Selfishly this is just as much for me as it is for you. It often feels like we haven’t made much progress so it’s good to lay it all out and see what we’ve done. It’s gone by so fast!
January
We bought a house! I don’t think I ever really expected it to happen. All month there were questions about budgets, contracts, titles, etc. We picked up the keys on the 24th of January and I still couldn’t believe it. It took me ages to feel like the house was our home.
February
We spent the month driving back and forth trying to get the house ready to move into. We stripped the wallpaper and painted the kids’ bedrooms. We got a new electricity supply and made the electrics safe. We got the Aga serviced and working. Then we had a new hot water cylinder installed and new pipework to two new bathrooms. They don’t look great but they work! We fired up the central heating from the old boiler and were pleasantly surprised that it worked. Just as well because it was super cold in the house.
March
We moved in. This was a highly stressful month of driving back and forth between the two properties trying to get one ready to move into and the other ready to hand back to our landlords. We also moved all of the outdoor stuff ourselves. We had an outbuilding filled with all James’ tools, all the gardening stuff and some stored furniture. We borrowed a Luton lorry and drove it back and forth way too many times. I don’t know how we did it now! James’ brother, my Mum and my sister were all brilliant in helping us with packing and cleaning.
April
Mostly this month was about unpacking and trying to make the place functional to live in. I started work on the airing cupboard (it’s still not finished!) and I finally got the kids’ shower working.
May
We did a lot of clearing work in the garden. James got horrible sap burns from the fig trees! We had the giant tree right outside the back door taken down. I got some plumbing jobs done and we took a trip to Dorset and Devon.
June
The weather was lovely and we spent quite a lot of time hanging out in the pool and garden. Toby and James did a lot of clearing in what will be the gym. We had friends to stay and I attempted to prune the wisteria until I found a hornet’s nest.
July
I learnt to drive a digger and spent a long time moving gravel. We took down the worst of the ceilings in the estate office. The pool surround was all dug up and levelled and we had a new french drain and water main installed at the front of the house.
August
The pool was drained and painted in between the many summer showers. All the pipework and pump equipment were relocated to the shed at the end of the pool and a new heat pump was installed. I started work on the cupboards in the estate office bedroom. We also took off the roof over the dormer window in the estate office sitting room. The wood was all rotten and the roofing felt had been damaged by rodents. We replaced all the wood and felt and bricked up all the holes so no one else can get in. We still haven’t got the tiles back on as now the big scaffolding is in the way! I also trimmed some hedges back into their original teddy bear shapes!
September
It was quite warm and we enjoyed the now-heated pool and a few end-of-summer barbecues. We fixed the subfloor, insulated and laid the new (very level) floor in the estate office bathroom. I spent quite a lot of time sourcing tiles, light fittings and switches. We also met with our architect and started the planning process for the lower barn.
October
The tiling was done in the estate office bathroom. Very glad we got a tiler in to do the floors. James then moved on to panelling in there while I spent a long time working on the ceiling before deciding to have it skim-coated. The scaffolding went up on the back of the house and we had our wood burner installed in the snug. It was all a bit of a drama due to the very old beam we discovered that had been sawn in half. We also spent a good few days moving tons of wood from what will be the new boiler room into the old apple store. It was hard work but everyone helped and I remember it fondly now!
November
The new boiler was installed and we had three plumbers here for a week. They were fantastic! It did mean some emergency roofing work to the new boiler room and discovering that patching brickwork while lying on a ladder is my least favourite job so far. I also spent lots of time in the estate office bathroom wallpapering and painting. When I wasn’t doing that I was stripping and sanding the fireplace surround for the snug. A busy month!
December
A race to finish things before Christmas. The weather was unseasonably mild so any dry days were spent on the scaffolding sanding and painting the gable ends. Wet days were all about finishing off the estate office bathroom and preparing for Christmas. I was still finishing plumbing jobs on Christmas Eve so our guests had water in their bathroom on the third floor!
And so now here we are at the start of another new year. Our second year in this home. I’m using this time to make plans and try to get some sort of order to all the jobs that need doing. I’m hoping this newsletter will be more regular and I’ll be offering some extras too like access to budgets, mood boards, plans and how-to guides. Thank you for following our journey in 2023 and I hope you’ll continue to join me for whatever the next year will bring x
Fab round up and wow, you should feel very proud you’re doing an amazing job xx
So exciting to read your story. It must be satisfying to reflect on how much progress you have made. Good luck with this year's plans!