Aerial antics

I had another go at taking some pictures from my little aeroplane. My "point & click" camera doesn't really have good enough zoom capability for this sort of thing, so these are cropped from larger images, with inevitably poor resolution.

There is, of course, also the problem that it is quite hard to take pictures at the same time as one is flying an aeroplane!

Ready for carpets

The dining room painting and decorating is finally completed, as are the kitchen and family bathroom. This is a significant step because I can now get the carpets fitted in the rest of the cottage and the inside building work draws to a close.

Outside, the steps to the French windows have been built and what we hope will be the final weather sealing applied - we shall find out next time there's a decent wet sou'wester.

The wall to support the path around the extension is mostly built, needing just a top level of finishing bricks. We can then fill the void with all the rubble that's left over, ready for the paving slabs to be laid on top. We can also use the huge pile of earth than has been lurking by the oak trees to build up the surrounding garden. Most of this will be work for next year.

Carpet fitting is booked for next Tuesday.

Slow progress

The dining room work is dragging on a bit, partly because I have spent much of the past two weeks away but also due to tradesman availability, waiting for stuff to dry and so on. The room is now plastered, the new radiator fitted, electrics completed and coving & skirting boards done. The plaster has at last fully dried out, ready for painting, which is scheduled for next week. The carpets will be fitted to the remainder of the house during the first week in December and then I should be able to move back in, in time for Christmas!

Meanwhile, work has started outside, although it's bitterly cold. The rainwater drainage system has been installed and the foundations are in place for a retaining wall for the path around the new extension. Hopefully the wall will get built in the next few days. The pebble dashing around the new windows on the east side has also been completed.

Dining room episode 2

Reasonable progress this week. The new dining room window is now fitted, so the building is once again weatherproof (not that it was really a problem - the window faces east and the weather tends to come from the south west). Also the first fit electrics have been completed, so we are ready for boarding and skimming next week.

 Meanwhile, the electrician has fitted a generator changeover switch. We tend to get power cuts, especially in the winter and the ability to switch the entire house over to generator is bound to be worthwhile. I have a 3kVA generator and tests indicate that it will run the entire house apart from high current electric heating devices such as the kettle. The main thing is it will keep the lights on and the central heating running.

Finally the step to the front door has been built. A similar step is needed for the French windows and, of course, the patio and pavements are yet to do as well, so this is just the start of the outdoor work.

Hopefully we will be able to finish the wet trades work in the dining room next week.