CLIFF HANGER!!!



LIVING LIFE ON THE EDGE!



THE SIDES ARE STARTING TO GO!



GOING!.......................

.....................GOING

GONE !

Today was a big day, Pete and Dave started to dig the footings ,and  it went really well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!







HEALTH AND SAFTEY ??? .....lost in the post, missing at sea etc....

As safe as houses!!!!!

.......even young Jude has been having a go in the digger now, knocking down the garage sat on Pete's knee,- he LOVED it! I'm just worried how Finn is gonna take the news especially as there is nothing left to knock down!

 So all the fun stuff is over it all gets a bit serious now,  (and I'm not sure we do serious)!

The site has been full of people today despite the weather,  conservatory Tom came for more tiles and wood and advice on how to stick it all together, an ebayer camefor the  loft window, and a local farmer called by and is going to take away all the rubble for the farm, and local neighbours turned up to rummage through the bonfire (again) for firewood and another for bricks! And the senior member of the team turned up sometime after lunch when the rain had stopped!

Tomorrow its rulers and string at the ready as they start to measure and dig out the foundations! and it has to be right because the timber frame is built off site based on fixed measurement....aghhhh!!!!

I'VE ESCAPED FROM THE KITCHEN SINK!!!!

This morning after finishing my chores and before the playschool pick-up, I  had just enough time to have a go on the digger and knock a few walls down, it was great fun, and  a bit scary wobbling around on a mountain of bricks.

At the end play today, all we are left with is the old garage and a massive pile of bricks - no going back now!

Finishing Post-in sight!

The Garden room has taken up the last couple of days, laying the floor and skirting-  we can put the rest of the furniture in it tomorrow and it will be finished-yipeee!!!!

But Pete did get chance to knock the front wall of the bungalow down this afternoon! slowly but surely she is coming down!

"Conservatory Tom" got in touch again! and bought some of the roof tiles and wood, and more stuff has gone on ebay tonight, it's great that so much of the old place can be reused.

The next few days will be spent sorting all the bricks and knocking down the remaining walls.

A VISION IN LYCRA !

Well not quite lycra, but the image of Mark G in those bright blue long johns and red ski socks tucking into his lunch will stay with us a long time.!

Pete with the help of Mark (thankyou!) braved the freezing temperatures and knocked down the internal walls, there was lots of playing on the big boys toys, the second chimney came down, and we now have a huge pile of bricks in the garden- which we are saving for the greenhouse.

Today Pete is laying the floor in the garden room, so we can move stuff out of the old garage which needs demolishing, he's got the log burner on and a hearty stew bubbling away on the  top - hopefully the warmth isn't slowing his progress!! 



TIMBERRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!

There were quite a few title options for todays post "the damp the mould and the wardrobe", "baby its cold outside" or "things can only get better"!!
So Jack Frost finally caught up with us!, on saturday morning the regulator had frozen on the gas bottle so we had no hot water, cooker or fire, and this morning the eggs that we keep out of the fridge at room temperature!!!! had obviously started to freeze and crack, so from now on we will have to keep them in the fridge to keep them warmer!!! the wardrobes in the main bedroom have got very damp and the sleeves of some of our clothes and leather boots and a couple of rucksacks have started to grow a nice fur coat!- so 3/4 of mine and petes clothes have had to go down to Pam and Daves. we are still smiling-just!!!!!!

Timberrrr!!!!!!!!!the large chimney came down today:

Philip and Pete took down the roof truses and ceiling joists today, along with all the guttering and soffits and facias, and then it all had to be sorted out so we all spent the afternoon lugging heavy stuff around the site!

We obviously sold the windows far too cheaply on ebay, 6 sold within 6 hours and the rest on saturday and all but 2 were collected this weekend, it took a bit of organising with all these people arriving from all over the place at different times, we think everyone got the right window!!

Tomorrow- the wall are coming down!!!!!!!!!!

GOING, GOING............. but still not gone!!!

Pete has taken out all of the windows today, the felt has all come off the roof and the rest of the tile laths made it to bonfire number 3! All of the conservatory has now been taken away.

I managed to get back up on the roof and finished stripping out all of the old wires- should get some pennies from weighing that in! Enough to make it worth risking my life for!

It did give me a great view of the wasp nest that was above the pantry.

oh! Baby!

UP DOWN,UP DOWN  I was on and off the ceiling joists all afternoon, as Reuben didn't want to go to sleep, so I still have to finish stripping out all the wires-fingers crossed for tommorow!

Pete on the other hand is racing ahead and has just about finished taking all the tile laths from the roof and getting rid of the felt.

The sale of the century continues, the guy who bought the conservetory  came today to take it down and has taken most of it to its new home in Nottingham. And hopefully we will get the windows out tommorow and they can all go on ebay as well and find new families who will love them!!!

MOUNTAIN GOAT?- TRY MOUNTAIN JOKE!

With a little help from me and a lot of help from Philip, Pete got all the tiles off the roof today! 

NIGHT ON THE TILES!






IT COULD BE A LONG NIGHT PETE WAS HOPING TO GET ALL THE TILES OFF IN ONE DAY IN CASE THE WILD WINDS RETURN!


PICTURES TAKEN THIS AFTERNOON FROM THE INSIDE OF THE BUNGALOW, JUDE WAS FASCINATED WITH IT! ESPECIALLY HIS BEDROOM WHICH IS STILL A MESS EVEN WITHOUT ALL OF HIS STUFF!



"When the caravans a rocking..........................."

it means its really windy outside!!!!, it was a long worrying night last night as we got battered by the winds, we felt quite vulnerable, as we had reached the point of no return in the bungalow a good few days ago, and if the caravan was damaged we would be in some what of a muddle!!!!! but everything seems ok this morning!

Most of the ceilings and floors are now out in the bungalow, we are ready for another bonfire and we have filled a skip with old plaster and insulation, a lot of wood has been salvaged and Pete and Dave are  currently in the garden room starting to lay the floor joists. Yesterday we took up the Parquet floor, which came up surprisingly easily, I now have the job of cleaning of the old bitumen from each piece, and its a huge pile -anyone up for a "parquet party"! we are going to use it in the porch of the new house. We have also saved the sink and taps and shower head from the old bathroom to reuse.

The building inspector is due today to discuss the foundations, which Pete hopes to start in a couple of weeks with his new laser measuring tool!!

we have had the payment schedule from Harlows who are making the timber frame, as they are about to start work on it.

We took deliverey of the Rain Water Harvester yesterday, its massive, imagine having to bury a people carrier in your back garden, that is what it's like and there is a chance that the digger arm won't reach the bottom of the hole, so we might have to dig a hole for the digger or finish it by hand!!!!-another little job for me-I AM LIVING THE DREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pete in the rain water harvester, the inner one sits on top of the outside one !!!