From makeshift table top to airing cupboard door.

The piece of MDF that we used as a table top for our murder mystery door was transformed today into the airing cupboard door for the top of the stairs.  Whilst I was out on the road G had the day off from police work and worked had to create an airing cupboard door out of the the MDF.  It was a tricky job and took most of the day to complete.  All the doors in the house are oak and made in a certain style - G wanted  keep the door looking like the other doors however because of the sloping ceiling he was unable to buy one off the shelf to fit.

In order to achieve the right look first he cut the door to size then he used the router which can create groves in the wood so that it would match the look of the other doors.  Unlike the other doors this one will be painted white.  The photo shows the door - I was very impressed when I came home.

Tonight we cooked another Jamie Oliver 30 minute meal creation of Asian Style salmon on a broth of noodles and beansprout and mango salad but it was way too hot and our mouths are still cooling down.  G is still cooling his mouth down with wine.

From Building Site to Crime Scene

Work halted on site this weekend so that we could host the  murder mystery party.  We also got to spend some time out doors as our friends Emmie and Emma came over in the afternoon and we all went out for a bike ride which was great as it was such a sunny day although very cold.  G's improvised MDF top for the table made it really big.  We got Emmie to lie on it and we drew round her to make it look like a corpse on a crime scene.  For the rest of the decoration we got G's blue and white crime police tape that says 'Police do not cross' and draped it round the room.

The costumes were very last minute and I had to dash to the charity shops in the morning to try and find G a velvet suit and flowery shirt.  When I was in the first charity shop I bumped into our friend Sam who was on a similar mission look for bits for his costume.  The lady in the shop said that we were the third  lot of people that had come in look for costumes for the murder mystery dinner that evening.  I managed to find a velvet flowing top for G that was in the ladies such very large sized  - I didn't mention to him that it was it was a woman's top.  He also had a velvet scarf and hat.  He looked very flamboyant and a true actor. 

We had a fantastic evening  - we started in the new loft area with champagne reception and everyone introducing the characters, we then came down to the crime scene - which had been sealed off with police tape and finished with coffee in the lounge in front of the fire.

The included, character books for everyone with their roles, background information and a few tasty secrets.  Also it included scripted parts so at times it was like a mini play, we were amazed at how much our friends got into their roles and enjoyed the acting.  We also had different exhibits that we had to produce at different times and a DVD which we had to play at certain times which summarised events and gave clues.  It got bit complicated to co-ordinate especially whilst we were drinking, champagne, snowballs and wine.

The solution to the murder was on the final chapter on the DVD.  Our plan was to show solution to the crime on the TV in the lounge with coffee to conclude the evening.  However things did not go quite to plan.  Just before the third course when G went to play the 3rd chapter of the DVD with some more clues he accidentally hit the wrong button and showed the solution to the crime!  We all found out who the murdered was before anyone had had a chance to guess.  It particularly made me laugh as its normally me who does the more ditzy things at our house.  Everyone was enjoying the game so much we decided to carry on regardless.  G's solution to the dilemma was that everyone should say who they thought was the murderer before we accidentally heard the truth.  It was a great evening and lots of laughs.

Busy Day from Dawn to Dusk TGIF!



G opening the mirror

 

It was very busy for us both at work yesterday and with with errands in between.  G is trying to sell his house in Launceston and I trying to keep on top of the estate agents who seem to need a bit of managing!  We sacked the first lot and this is the second lot.  G managed to hang the bathroom door yesterday and also plumb the radiators so we now have heat up there!  While I was away he had ordered a mirror to hang on this door to add light to the room and also because it will be where the walk in wardrobe is.  It arrived yesterday however when he went to unpackage it it was smashed into lots of pieces he was very disappointed as you can see from the photo.  Just part of the ups and downs on the building site.

 

New door to the ensuite

Smashed mirror - un happy G

In the evening G went for Friday night fish and chips with our mates at the local pub and I went out for champagne and dinner with a group of girls to celebrate Mogsy's birthday.  We both had a great time and this morning we are busy about getting ready for our murder mystery evening.  G has got a large sheet of MDF that we need for the build and placed in on our dinning table so its big enough to fit us all round.  We are also going to have some of the evening in the loft as we are so happy with the new space.  We are going to do champagne and introductions up there before dinner is served.  We are going out for a bike ride this afternoon when Emmie and Emma get up here.  Watch this space to see G in his flowery shirt tomorrow night.  Although having said that I have to admit that is his costume suggestion but I am a bit behind with our costumes and have even started sorted that bit yet!  Better dash things to do.



New radiator, new sockets and mums i-pod docking
station seems to have found a new home!





G no longer home alone

I finally got home late tonight.  G has done an amazing job completing lots of finishing job.  Finished painting the walls in the stairwell, hung two radiators on the wall, finished the lights in the dressing room, did some work on the airing cupboard at the top of the stairs and fitted the banister rail.

Despite working today and then completing all this when I got home I found him fixing Mums i-pod docking station.  He really doesn't stop.  The docking station was much loved by Mum and it stopped working G did some detective work and a bit of research and discovered it needed a new capacitor.  He ordered one from ebay for 99p dismantled the machine and fitted it.  Its working brilliantly now and G turned it on full blast and we had a dance round the kitchen just to test it.  Mum you will be pleased to know its fixed and will be coming back to you so

G with the dismantled docking station and the offending capacitor

The Staff Walk Out

Another day doing the real job, dealing with local criminals, and then back to keep the project going.  Annie is away tonight, hence the title, a day with her boss and then working in Reading tomorrow.  I am sure she is disappointed not to be here, and taken the cameras so I can't show you what I have been up too.  I did intend showing a photo of tonight's part of the project, some of the final touches to the day......  A bottle of red and some oven chips!  But I can't find the camera, and I am sure you are fed up of the same old images.
I have managed to give the stair well a second coat of paint, undercoat the airing cupboard door frame, connect the final few power sockets, lights, Internet and phone line.  Not too much.

We are trying to get the main area almost complete by the weekend, ready for our 'Murder Mystery Evening'.  Time to have fun and show off our work to our friends.  But still plenty to do, so stay tuned...

Miss you Annie! x

Blogging Blind

Tonight's title isn't a reference to G's new found shortsightedness but is because I am not really sure what he did in the loft today.  I have been working all day and he is on late shift so he did a load of work before he disappeared to work.  He is not back yet and I don't want to leave the blogging too late so I have just been up to the loft to investigate what looks different.


I think the main work he has done to day is gloss the skirting boards and build some of the structure for the airing cupboard that will be built in on the small landing on top of the stairs.  This is great for us as we have gone from no airing cupboards to two with a few months!  We figure it will be important to have them to  keep sheets for the guest room if we run it as a B&B.

Seeing as its a light news tonight on the building site.  I will give you a little bit more insight on our B&B plans.  The hope is that we could run the B&B in the summer months with 3 en suite bathrooms.  I could possibly work term time contract and run the B&B or maybe when I give up work.  One big step forward in the development of the B&B (apart form all the building work that is) is the help we have got from Dan building a website for us.  We thought we might call the B&B, Bude, Bed and Board and as a unique selling point everyone who stays with us gets free use of a surf board.  Dan has done a sterling job setting up the website for us, here is the link if you would like to check us out http://www.budebedboard.co.uk/newlook/ .  It's still work in progress, just like the house, as so far we haven't managed to take any decent photos to put on the site.  We are very grateful for his help and he has definitely earned the ski break.

Sorry the photo doesn't have any people in it tonight.  G will be home late so I just wanted to put something on.  I have had a  bit of a Monday low,  I have a two day field visit with my boss starting tomorrow, then to Reading for a District meeting so away Wednesday night not back to v late Thursday  :-(.  Roll on the weekend can't wait.  Lots to look forward to; Mogsy Bithday dinner Friday night, bike ride on Saturday and Murder Mystery dinner on Saturday night.  Four days and counting!

Start as you mean to finish

Tonight's title reflects the fact that we (well G to be more precise) started the day painting and we (both  of us) finished the day painting.  I thought this morning might be a bit more of a leisurely start as Dan and Hayley were here.  However as I was chilling having a morning coffee and my breakfast, G disappeared midst conversation.  Next thing the he reappeared from the garage with a paint brush and disappeared again into the loft.  He had decided he needed to get the gloss paint on the skirting boards.  He does make anyone in his radius end up feeling a bit lazy.

However he did agree to a coffee down the beach cafe, everyone was surprised to see us two days in a row.  Dan and Hayley had came down with us but they had to scoot off as Dan had someone coming to look at his car that he's selling.  For anyone wondering how the test of whether Dan or Jordan do read the blog the results was Dan does and Jordan doesn't.  So Jordan if you are reading - which I know you won't be  - the drinks are on you when we go snowboarding!

We had a beautiful sunny cold day here so G & I decided to go for a long walk.  The tide was out and we managed to walk to Sandymouth and back on the beach.  It was such a lovely day for it there were lots of people walking and a few horses down there too.

We came back to more painting this time the stairwell and balancing on that ladder again.  A couple of hours and we had achieved a lot.  The photo shows G balanced on the ladder painting again.

He has also done a bit of work around the window that gives us our sea glimpse (blink and you miss it).  It was when we were admiring the work he had done to the window and the new oak tiling in front of it that we spotted a great sunset.  Within minutes we were down the beach enjoying the last glows of the sun. 

Tonight we are cooked another Jamie Oliver 30 minute dinner of crispy chicken with Thai Curry sauce and some bits and pieces to go with it.  http://www.channel4.com/programmes/jamies-30-minute-meals/4od#3153622  It was delicious full of flavour and was fun to cook.  We are now chilling with a glass of wine and we are planning to watch a film about a medical rep!  How funny is that.  That's if we stay awake of course and G overcomes the IT problems he is having at the moment trying to set it up.

A bit more painting



Vicko, G, Me, Den, Horace & Jordan



This morning G was straight to work painting the skirting boards with primer.  Jordan and Chloe were still in bed and I was busy sorting all the household jobs out and making a lasagna for tea.  Thanks to Jordan and Chloe's presence it was a less busy day on the build today.  At 10:30 Jordan, G & I went down for the regular cafe meet at the beach, it was a beautiful morning and the air was crisp and cold and sun was shining.  The beach looked lovely.  The photo shows us all enjoyed a well deserved coffee break  We are planning a 60's themed murder mystery dinner next Saturday so it gave us a chance to hand out the invites and let everyone know about what character they will be.  (Mogsy I have your invite here you are Wiggy a model - Hope you can make it).  Chloe joined us and we all took a trip into town to get some salopettes for Jordan for the ski trip. He has managed to misplace his own pair  - its been a bone of contention between Jordan and Dan as they could only find one pair of salopettes and each of them laid claim to them and insisted the other one had lost theirs.  However after a bit of detective work and looking at the photos from the previous holiday it became evident that the remaining salopettes belonged to Dan!  Anyway Jordan now has a new pair and we are all sorted for the holiday.

Of course on the way to the ski shop we had to go to the 'blind shop' the name that G refers to the opticians as.  I initially thought he wanted to look at blinds for the new bedroom before I realised he was referring to  Vision Express our local opticians.  We seemed to cause a bit of entertainment to all the people waiting to have their eyes examined.  As we all took it in turns to choose glasses for him.  He is still taking his new found shortsightedness very seriously you would find it hard to imagine that he has been able to even find his way home with such a bad sight impairment. 

Dan and Hayley arrived for lunch and for a few hours the boys visits overlapped before Jordan and Chloe had to head home.  G & I managed to get another hours work done in the loft this time doing a undercoat on the skirting boards and the last coat of paint in the dressing room. 

This evening we went for a lovely walk across the cliffs and came back to a big  lasagna and we are all sat in front of the fire watching a film.  As painting photos have become a bit mundane tonight's photo is us on the walk.

Skirts in the loft

Skirts in the loft has a double meaning.  Firstly G fixed skirting boards in the loft and secondly I went out for a girlie dinner with Mogsy and Kathy and put a skirt on ( a dress to be precise!).  Hence as I was out partying I didn't blog last night so apologies to our readers :-)..  Tonight's photo shows me and Mogsy with the newly tiled top of the stair well in our glam rags. Another site visit from mogsy always much appreciated.

G was on a rest day yesterday and worked really hard all day putting in architrave, fitting skirting boards  and tilled the top of the stairwell in the oak looking tiles and finished fitting all the lights. Unfortunately I was working so couldn't help out.  The second photo shows G & the new skirting boards a modern square look skirting board to go with a more modern look for the loft.  He has done a great job and it is looking better and better each day. 

He also went to the opticians in the morning and discovered he is officially blind so we are now looking for some trendy glasses for him.  I think the optician said he was mildy short sighted but the drama he is making of it you would think they were about to issue him with a white stick not a pair of spectacles. It makes me smile as normally he doesn't tend to make a fuss about anything and its me that's the drama queen!

After his hard days work, G had Chloe and Jordan's company to look forward to as they were up to visit for the night.  They were impressed with how much the build had come on and happy to be sleeping in the new en suite bedroom.   That was until the morning when the sun woke them at at 8am as we haven't got round to fitting the blinds in the room yet!. They do like to enjoy a lie in at the weekend - but obviously not this weekend. 

 Tonight we are putting a little teaser at the end of this post.  Both Dan and Jordan always tell us they read the blog but its our suspicion that Dan skim reads it and Jordan just looks at the pictures.  So here is the challenge..Dan and Jordan if you have managed to read this far text us and let us know.  If you do there is five euros for you each when we go on our ski holiday.  If you don't get this far then its a round of drinks from you each when we are on the slopes!  We are off skiing in three weeks time and we are all looking forward to it.  Its a treat for the boys for all the hard work they have done on the build over the summer.  G & I are especially looking forward to the round of drinks that the boys will be buying us!

White and Light

Today was more painting and I managed to get the lights wired in in the main room.  After another hard day fighting crime and Annie selling drugs, I got home to start wiring in the sockets and lights to the main area, and Annie carried on painting.....

I managed to wire up 16 down lights this evening, as well as a few sockets and light switches.  The room is really starting to take shape.  Low ceiling and being tall made me able to do it all without steps, therefore a lot easier.

Annie managed to get a mist coat on the dressing room area, so as not to let you down without any painting being done today. 

After her long day, Annie also managed to purchase some tiles which are to be fitted on the top of the boxing over the stairs.  The tiles are ceramic (very hard!) but look just like oak.  So we manage to keep up the theme through the house, as well as ensuring the area will not get stained.  As this is the area we imagine we would set tea and coffee making facilities for a B&B....  Or my glass of red when I go to bed!

We eventually finished just after 7pm, and Annie cooked me yet another fab tea, love her to bits.

No rest for the wicked

This morning we got up at 6:00 am. That's the time that G needs to get up to get work on time and  I try to get up with him in the belief that the earlier I get up the more I might achieve, it doesn't always work like that.  G normally has a slice of toast, no tea and rushes out.  This morning he got one of the cereal bowls out so I assumed he was having cereal - next thing I look round and he is mixing a paste that looks a bit like porridge in the bowl.  Then finally I twig he is mixing poly filler in the bowl.  He then went up stairs to fill all the cracks and holes.  He needed to do at this time so that it would all be dry for our painting session in the evening.  I caught a photo of him in uniform filling cracks.  He just doesn't stop!

After a hards day work he got back at 4pm.  I was surprised that he suggested going for a walk before we started painting.  Amazed actually!  However it was such a beautiful afternoon with the sunny shinning and very cold weather the cliffs just beckoned to us to go for a walk.  There were great waves tonight and lots of surfers in the water.  We didn't pause to watch them for too long and we were quickly back on site and painting. 

Tonight we managed to get another coat of paint on and its really starting too look good.  It was a bit frustrating tonight as I didn't like the paint it kept on having lumps in it and I complained a lot.  G just got on with it like he always does.

Tonight we have been inspired by Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals and we are cooking piri piri chicken, with crushed potato chili feta cheese and coriander with rocket salad.  Its great not to have a freezer meal for a change and it was well yummy would definitely recommend.  Here's the link if anyone is inspired http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/jamie-oliver/piri-piri-chicken-with-quick-portuguese-tarts-meal.  Took a little longer than 30 mins the photo shows the complete meal, he is really into serving thing in what you cooked them in and chopping boards so we went along with it all.

We are done for the night now and G has a glass or red wine as I finally did some shopping.  We are really pleased with how its all looking so we are enjoying a glass of celebratory wine (any excuse).

Its all a whitewash

Exciting times for us on site as tonight we started painting the loft walls white.  It might not be so exciting for our blog readers and unfortunately the next few days posts will just be about painting,  For us is marks a crucial stage in the loft and it starts to transform from a building space to a bedroom.  Its also great for me to finally get really involved again although G constantly worries that I may step in the paint pot.  If he hears any noise that could sound remotely like my foot going in the paint pot he drops his brush to check me out.  

The photos tonight so us both in full swing painting.  We managed to get the whole of the room done with the first coat.  Plan is to do second coat tomorrow and third and final coat if needed on Thursday evening.  So some busy evenings lie ahead.  We are eating meals from the freezer  as we have no time left to cook.  We are on a painting mission!  We are both finally crashed in front of the fire - G has had to resort to white wine as we are a bit behind with the food shopping. 

Plastering finished, time to get plastered!!

I am finally home after a week of blogging remotely.  I have loved seeing my family but its great to be home.  I came home to the news that G had finished all the plastering which is an amazing achievement so we decided to open a bottle of champagne to celebrate.  He has done an incredible job and its exciting to think we can get painting as soon as it drys.

You will also be pleased to know there will be no more plastering posts for a while and no more awful play on words that you have had to endure over the last few days.

Gotta sign off  - we need to celebrate!

Pastering almost complete! G completley exhausted!

My last night away from home so still blogging from telephone conversations from G.  He worked really hard all day long plastering the loft there are so many different faces for him to plaster.  He was happy to report tonight that he only had one wall left to plaster.  He has worked really hard all day and was completely shattered tonight.  He had fetched a Chinese take away this evening and was going to crash in front of the telly to watch a boys film.

He didn't manage to email me a photo as he was having computer problems.  I hate to post without a photo so tonight I thought I would include one of my niece and nephew.  My sister and her husband have been busy sorting things out for their move to the states so Dad, Mum and I have been taking it in turns to look after Harry and Kate.  The photo is from when me and Dad make cookies with them.  They are gorgeous but exhausting!  I will miss them all loads when they go.

Busy day in Bude

I am still a roaming blogger.  Tonight I am at my parents house.  My younger sister Karen and her husband Simon and my nephew Harry (3) and Kate (1) are visiting my parents as its their last weekend in the UK for a bit.  Simon is working in the States for 5 months in Kissimmee, Florida and the family are going with him to support him and play in the pool.  All our family will miss them loads but we are happy that it is only short term.  Hence I have come up for the weekend to see them before they go.

So yet again G is home alone on the building site without me to help him.  I think sometimes I may be more of a distraction then help as he seems to get so much done when I am not there.  When he emailed me the photos tonight I was amazed at how much he had done.

He was on a rest day today - which is the police word for a day off - however he did anything but rest.  He plaster boarded the wall with the chimney arch on it and did a great job as you can see by the photos.  Hopefully this arch will make a real feature in the room when it is finished.

  He also did more work on the area when the bed head is being built into the eves.  He came up with the idea that we could store our snowboards behind the bedhead as we are loosing all our loft storage space with the conversion we desperately need all the storage we can get.  The snowboards are only used infrequently and will fit really well behind the bed head - we have four all together as we keep Dan and Jordan's as well so we have a collection.  There will be a panel in front of it then our bed will sit in front of that.

The photos show the work that he has done.  In last nights photo he had just swept the floor and you could tell from the dust spots in the lens.  In tonight's photo you can tell he had the mop out before he took the photo as the floor is wet.  He is definitely the tidiest builder I have ever met!

He is doing a sterling job and I am very impressed with all the work he has done.  I hope he has a good rest tonight.  He got confused last night as it was his last day of work he decided it must be Friday night which is Fish and Chip night at our local pub when you get fish and chips and a pint of beer for £6.50.  He had his coat on and was just leaving our house when it dawned on him it wasn't Friday night.  He was gutted and had to eat out the freezer without any oven chips that he had finished already.  As I type this I hope he is having a relaxing night at the pub with our friends and enjoying his well earned fish chips. 

No plastering tonight. No oven chips.

I am still blogging remotely as I am staying with my parents again tonight.  It was G's last night of the week as he is off for the next three days. 

He couldn't do any plastering tonight until he had done some more stud work and plasterboard.  You can't plaster any wall unless all the walls adjacent to it have been plaster boarded.  Before he could plasterboard the wall he had to build the stud work where are bed is going to go.

To position the bed make the best use of the room with all the sloping ceilings we are going to build the head board into the eves and have built in bedside tables on either side.  G had to build the stud work for this tonight so that he can plasterboard this and then plaster.

He has emailed me the photo of the work he has done this evening this is where the bed head will go.  The photo has dust spots on it  - I think he probably swept the floor just before taking the photo.  I think he is doing an amazing job I can't believe how hard he is working.  When I spoke to him earlier he sounded exhausted.  I wish I was there to help him.  He has also run out of oven chips!  He was thinking about going to the pub but when he spoke to me he sounded too tired to make it.  I am missing him loads and looking forward to being home and mixing some plaster for him and cooking him some meals that don't involve oven chips :-)

More Plastering, More Oven Chips....

As you probably can guess from the title I am still away with work, still in Leicester at a sales conference.  At the moment because most of the work on site is plastering me being away doesn't seem to slow the pace although the quality of the meals seems to have lowered.  This is the umpteenth night of plastering and the third night of oven chips. 

G did more plastering tonight after work which I am sure will not be a surprise to anyone.  Fortunately it was a quieter day at work as his day in court was cancelled so it freed up some time.  Tonight's Job on site was a tricky and fairly long bit of wall coming up the stairs.  Apparently he had to plaster from a few different platforms including the ladder, the stairs and the landing in various positions including sitting, standing and bending which the job More difficult.

I have to get all this information for the blog from him while we are chatting on the phone.  Anyone who has ever spoken to G on the phone will know that chatting does not adequately describe his telephone manner.  When ever you speak to him on the phone you always get the feeling his is doing something else whilst you are speaking to him and when he is ready to go he always says " any other news then?"  which could be translated as "if you have nothing else interesting to say then I am off" .  I only mention this as while I am blogging from a far I feel like you are not getting much information.  However on the other hand what more can be said about another night of plastering and a few oven chips.  I asked him to take a photo for the blog but he felt that another photo of a plastered wall would not add much to the blog. I hate to post without a photo so I took my camera to dinner and got a photo of me away with some of my sales team,

Three more days till I see him, three more days of remote blogging and three more days of oven chips!

G gets plastered on his own

I am blogging remotely again.  This time I am in a hotel in Leicester as I am away for a two day meeting so I having to blog from a far.  Its hard to really know how things are going at home because G's telephone manner does leave a little bit to be desired.  It does sound like his consumption of oven chips has gone up since I have left.  He continues to be busy at work but he wasn't home late tonight and managed to get the ceiling of the stair well plastered.  Apparently it was a very tricky job and he found it hard going.

I asked him to email me a photo so I could put them on the blog, when I spoke to him on the phone he said he done it already and I commented that a picture of the ceiling after it had been plastered might not come over that well.  He told me not to worry he had managed to get a good photo.  I was slightly surprised when I opened it and found the photo that I have posted.  I think its meant to be because of him being plastered again!  At least it makes a change from the plastering photos

Criminals stop work

I should explain  - I was not trying to say that the criminals stop working what I was trying to explain was that G was so busy arresting people that he had to work late and by the time he got home it was too late to get any work done.  Once the light has gone its very difficult to mix plaster in the dark outside.  In the end he did a half hour of pottering and getting stuff ready for more plastering.

I am writing this remotely tonight as I a have been working away from home and stayed with my parents tonight as it is my Dad's 88th birthday.  We had a lovely evening and had a curry feast.  He had a lovely birthday and it was great to spend time with them both.

I spoke to G earlier and he sounds pretty burnt out and coming down with a cold.  I wish I was home to look after him. 

Plastered again!

G was working again today and so it was a slow start on the building site again.  I am full of good intentions when he goes to work but I miss him when he's not here and unless I have a straightforward job when he is gone I find it a bit hard to keep going.  Also at the moment its quite tricky and there are no straight forward jobs.  The job I was trying to get done was to start to scrape cement off the bricks that form an archway on one side of the room, we are not sure what to do with this archway as its a great feature but ruined by uneven mortar and patches of cement in random places. 

However when I got up the sun was shining and the job seemed a bit daunting so it wasn't long before I was down the  beach cafe where our friends meet regularly about 10:30 most days.  When I got there I found them all looking a bit like lost souls as the cafe was closed the owners were on a ski holiday so had shut up shop.  Not to be deterred we walked across to the other beach cafe on Summerleaze beach after our coffee we head off for a walk along the cliff.  The photo shows us at the cafe. By the time I got back it was a bit of a struggle to get much done before the gaffer got home although I did manage to prepare a roast dinner for him.

G's day on the other hand was slightly busier than planned.  He had two prisoners in custody from Saturday night to deal with straight away.  Then another customer decided to turn himself in whilst he was in the midst of dealing with the other two.  He was non stop until he got home.  When he returned from work he was raring to go and the atmosphere on site changed as he got into action.  I mixed plaster for him, changed his water buckets and  cleared rubbish.  Tonight was another night of plastering and he did bits round the velux windows, another bit on the stairwell balanced on a ladder and around the window.  It was a stressy time for him because of the difficult angles and tight confined spaces that he was working in.  There is still a lot to do so we will be posting about plastering for a while.

In addition to this we also decided to have a good at chipping cement off the brick arch that we hope to use as a feature. The arch is where the chimneys from both our fires meet.  I was using a chisel and hammer and was chipping away at the cement.  As I was banging away we became aware of another banging noise eventually G realised it was someone at the door.  I jokingly said I bet it was the neighbours complaining about the noise.  I ran down the couple of flights of stairs and there at the door was our next door neighbour.  At this point I should mention that these neighbours have been incredibly patient, supportive and generally enthusiastic.  Even when over the summer G had to admit to one of the timbers from the roof crashing into their garden they still seemed very chilled.  However Roger had not come to complain about the noise he thought the banging was a cry for help.  Apparently the noise must have been amplified by the chimney and as the chimney is on the adjoining wall with our house the noise was very loud in his living room.  He thought we were banging on the wall in a desperate attempt to attract attention and that we were in trouble.  Its great to have neighbours that care.  I immediately apologised and said that I would stop work on that bit.  However as chilled as ever he said they had no problem with the noise as long as he knew we were okay.  I wasn't enjoying it anyway as it was well tricky and didn't seem to be working very well so I was glad of the excuse to finish and went to light the fires and cook the roast dinner instead.

Overall G was pleased with the night work and achieved what he wanted too.  He is next to me and looking very tired.  I am going to be away for a week so not sure what will happen.  I might try to blog remotely or G might do the odd one.  Stay tuned to find out.

G gets plastered on Saturday night.

It was a working day for G but not for me.  I woke up full of good intentions I was going to support Mogsy on her 16 mile training run by riding besides her on my new bike then a quick lunch at the pub with her then back home to do loads of building jobs so when G got back home he would be really impressed.  The first bit when very well to plan - we had a fab run/ride.  Mogsy is running really well at the moment and although it was a cold day it was a good training session.  However by the time we got to the pub it was getting later and later.  We went to the Bay View for soup and cheese scone our favourite however by that time it was getting well into the afternoon.  I planned to cook G a really nice supper and had to stop on the way home to pick up some Steak.  So by the time I managed to get home he was already there and had started plastering already!  So there was not chance to impress him with all the jobs I had done.

I got straight to work and washed out his plastering bucket and changed his water for him.  Tonight he finished plastering a sloping bit of ceiling that was very tricky and some more of a stairwell.   I was on a mission this evening to try and get a photo of him holding his pink bucket that I bought him.  I think the bucket brings a bit of a feminine touch to all the dirt of the building site, whereas G hates it.  I managed to catch him unawares with the bucket but not actually holding it. 

Whilst he was plastering  I managed to get the spindles for the staircase painted.  Its a well tricky job as you have to paint all four sides of them and the way G has devised to do this is to put a screw in the top of each one and hang them up.  Its a fiddly business and every now and then one of he pesky spindles starts swing wildy and creates a bit of a mess.  Also it was gloss paint and G felt that after completing the job the floor had had more of its fair share of paint.  I was glad when we downed tools for the night. 

The Steak and chips hit the spot with G and he didn't seem bothered about my lack of progress on the build today.   He is besides me with his glass of wine and my legs are aching like mad from the bike ride. 

More Plastering!

Writing that title 'More Plastering' it reminded me of the a time in the summer when every night for a few weeks the title was 'More Painting', as we worked on the endless job of painting the outside of the house.  We were both working on our day jobs today but as soon as G got home he was straight on to the plastering.  Tonight he had to balance on the ladder again to plaster part of the ceiling in the new stair well. In an attempt to get a more interesting photo of the plastering I have taken the photo from the bottom of the stairs looking up to the ceiling form underneath the balanced ladder.  I managed to get him to smile to keep Jenny happy :-) 

Annie also bought me a new rubble bucket today, after my others split in the cold weather before Christmas.  She got me very worried saying she would buy a pink one to match the pink bucket bought a few months ago! I was so relieved to see a nice new blue one turn up....  I use rubble buckets to mix the plaster in at the moment, and the old one had leaks in it, which meant newly mixed plaster was leaking all over the place,  now I might manage to go a day without having to mop the kitchen floor again, as I get so much grief from Annie when I do.  How many girls would say they don't like their man cleaning!

That was G taking over because my sister phoned and as I was chatting to her G took over on the laptop.  I have to admit he does get grief from me not for the plaster dropping on the kitchen floor - I can easily cope with that.  Its his tendency to to hoover and mop every night that frustrates me.  I am really not a big fan of cleaning not even if I am not doing it.  My favourite fridge magnet  says 'I have heard that housework can not kill you but why take a chance'.    I have to admit I was very tempted to buy him a pink rubble bucket but decided to be kind he hates the pink bucket I bought for him :-)  I think my next challenge will be to get a photo of him with his pink bucket.

Getting Plastered in the New Year!



Before - fitting the plasterboard



After a great Christmas break without any labouring G was chomping at the bit to get started again.  Having built the loft, fitted the staircase and fixed plasterboard to the walls the next massive job to do was to plaster the whole lot.  Its a large expanse of wall with lots of different faces, slopes and angles.  G is self taught plaster and been improving loads.  It can be a stressful job as when you start plastering a wall you have to finish the whole wall in one go so there are no joins.  The plaster goes hard quickly so you are constantly under time pressure.  If its a large wall it helps to have someone else mixing the plaster so that's where I come in.  We have been plastering now for over a week and we are only about a third done.  Every night when G comes home from work he does a little more.  Posting this reminds me of when we were painting the outside of the house and it went on for ever.  Plastering photos don't make very interesting viewing but I have included some one showing G standing on the ladder that he has balanced over the stairs in order to plaster the stair well.



After - Plastering



Getting ready for Christmas

I know that this is a funny title to be writing just as we take all our Christmas decorations down but

we are still very behind with the blogging.  Actually blogging is my responsibility so I am very behind with the blogging - I just can't keep up with the speed that G builds up.  I guess its a good job I am not in charge of the building if I was we would probably be living in a shell!

 Last night as I took the Christmas decorations down and we ate the last of the Turkey in a Turkey and ham pie washed down with the last of the champagne from new years eve I decided I will really get on top of this blog as soon as I get up to date I know it will be easier.  However it feels hard to write about the hard work and excitement of getting the rooms ready for our Christmas visitors now its all over. For Christmas we had Graeme's Mum and my Mum and Dad staying and before they arrived the main things we wanted to complete were the back en suite bedroom and also we wanted to put the toilet and basin in the loft bedroom.  We had decided it would be fun if we could sleep in the loft bedroom despite the fact that it was nowhere near complete and would mean sleeping on a mattress on the floor.

The last time we posted about the back bedroom it was a shell - G did an amazing job to get it completely finished for Christmas - all it needs now is a blind and some pictures.  He managed to get it finished just before Christmas and our friends Jenny and John came down for the weekend to stay with their little girl Kiera and were our first guests.  They gave us a glowing report and we had a great weekend.

The photos show the room in its completed state.  Its great to have it completely finished room its such a sense of achievement and great to be able to enjoy the new space.  After Jenny and John had left we decided to sleep in the new room for a few nights and we both loved it.  Its fairly small for a double room but we pleased with the way its turned out and think it would work really well as one of our B&B bedrooms.  Its definitely a lot better use of space than it was before.

The other bit that G managed to complete before Christmas was getting a toilet and basin in the loft bedroom en suite.  We put a mattress on the floor in the bedroom and event set up a little TV in there.  We loved waking up in the loft.  It feels such an achievement after such a busy summer building it and its was an amazing feeling to actually be sleeping in there.  Despite the fact we its a chipboard floor, no radiators and not all the plasterboard was up!  Who would have thought sleeping in a building site could be such fun.  The photos show the basin and toilet.

  

We had a fantastic Christmas.  It was great having our parents here and we had some lovely cold crisp but sunny days.  For the Christmas day swim we had snow on the beach and sunshine! and a terrific atmosphere.  We walked lots and ate and drank a lot and G even managed to stop work on the build - although he did keep threatening to do a bit of plastering on Christmas day!