first Christmas at BCB and the start of the basement campaign

So this weekend was our first ever proper family meal at BCB.
My two sisters and husbands came down to stay for a meal Saturady night at the cottage, around our new table. We had our first Christmas tree, and decorations!!...Such are the benefits of a year of major progress.
...oh and we had a wonderful night (we won't mention why my sister stuffed oranges down her jumper at 1am!!)

Sunday (after we had cleared up the mess) ...Lloyd arrived, to help with the start of the battle of the  Basement....

First we pulled up the old floorboards...
Here are the only remaining original lath&plaster in the house, we would love to have saved it, but too difficult (we saved some of the larger pieces for posterity)

Took out all the joists (they'r pretty much all shot), we will have replace them all I think.
A nice shot of the fireplace in mid air !!

We spent the rest of the time clearing out, then digging out the channel to let the water run out freely.

The astute among you will notice the crappy old garden wheelbarrow... within 30mins of starting the job, we got a flat tyre in the big American style (awesome) wheelbarrow we would normally have used...you have no idea  how much harder it made the job.

As the light faded (and it got a lot colder) Lloyd focused on getting the door closed up, and I took the lime render off a few walls....then retired to the inglenook room, and spent the night by the fire, drinking Brain SA, and singing Pulp and Beautiful South songs..:)

Monday morning, we (after recovering from similar hangovers)...took up half of the cobbles, took, out more of the trench, and took off more of the lime render...and tidied up before leaving.

If your interested in such things (as I am)...take a look at the number of layers of lime render/wash that have been applied to the walls of this wonderfull old house...  up close, I counted at least 20

Next week I (no Lloyd dammit)... will lay in the perforated pipe into the trench, cover with gravel. Take out the rest of the cobbles and clean up ready to start re-liming, and replacing the oak.

finally... i took a picture of the cobbles before I complete taking them up next week...a lovely pattern, that I need to replicate when I relay them into NHL5 .

Lower hallway

with the new back door in place, time to work on the lower hallway...
As it was...

The entrance to the cellar is onthe right (cant see it in this picture)

and now...

Jan has decorated the area with her decorations

Blinkin' cold

Sunny and cold this Saturday, but wet overnight, and poured down on Sunday morning, then the skies cleared and a lovely blue sky for the afternoon...The weather is a wonder here, you really notice the changes in the light, which are sometimes dramatic. When I arrived ( a lovely clear Saturday morning), there was a strange mist just hanging to the Northerly slopes of the valleys. We are used to the morning mist that lays in the Towy river valley below, but this was something I havent seen before...always something new to appreciate.

Never got above 11c in the house...even with the fire going...I need a bigger Fire !!

Did a number of small jobs ...

• Fitted the weather bar to the base of the new back door
• Another coat of limewash on the Library chimney wall (another 2 or 3 should do it)...se photo below.
• Cleared the area around the outside entrance to the Cellar.. I will need to get a wheelbarrow to this entrance when the major cellar project begins, after Christmas.
• Jan put the first coat of paint on the new dining table (Paint effects are a mystery to me !)
• Jan also put the first coat of paint (grey again!!) on the back door.
• Delivered the new chairs we found in the local second hand junk shop..

Library Chimney wall....2 coats of limewash..still drying.

Photos of the cellar...before I start the major project
The hole in the library floor (this will be a trapdoor when finished).

trenches for the perforated pipe...to drain the water

The joists are shot in that corner, so an Acro Prop is required for now.

A beautiful Winter weekend...and lots done too !!

Last weekend in November was stunningly sunny, warm(ish), with little wind. Perfect for the job of the weekend...fitting our new backdoor.
Buily by our wonderfull carpenter Neil. The door looks stunning.
We arrived early on Saturday morning, to pull out the old door and frame. Chisel out the old lime around the door opening, and lay in the new door step, made from a rescued piece of slate. (also needed to bury the electric cables or the Shed and the well)

Before....

During....

....spot the old cobbles under the cement slab outside the back door....one day we will expose and renovate these !!!

Neil arrived mid-morning and started fitting the new door.....

Meanwhile I finished off a job ive been at for a few weeks. We are having a family Chirstmas dinner this year (the first !!!)...so I've been making a dining table from the old floorborards that have been employed as my wheelbarrow ramps up&down our outside steps..for the last few years. Suitably worn and aged, they look great when sanded down as a table top (9ft x 3ft). So I finished the top this weekend and (with help) moved it into the house, (weighed a tonne!!). Jan will find a suitable paint/varnish/wax finish for it. For now it is sat on two tresstles, until I can make the base.
I must say that I really like it...going to be a great addition to the house, and a place for entertaining, eating, laughing,  playing games...even dancing if I know my sisters !!!

Hope you like our 1950's kitchen cabinet...another find !!...and sooo practical


More progress, Jan completed the first(rough) course of lime between the oak timbers in the lower hall, which will look great after another (smooth) coat and limewash.

Also took a delivery of fire-wood for the winter, and stacked it in the Inglenoook....ready for Christmas :)
How an Inglenook should look at the beginning of Winter................

Finally, with light fading, and time to head home on a Sunday...I started dubbing in the wall around the new back door....always have to use up that last half bucket of Lime !!!!

Closing up the cellar (for now)

The first job to be Workshop-assisted is the start of the lower hallway work, and preparation for the new backdoor, and of course work on the Library.
The lower hallway had the old entrance to the Cellar. In the future the entrance would be via a hatch in the Library floor, and eventually a step down from the planned extension(which would require knocking through the end wall...a huge job)

Anyway the first job was to close up the cellar doorway from the lower hallway. So I took some of the better oak joists i've been saving, trimmed, shaved and cut them into size to make a frame to block up the doorway. Then battoned and bisquit-boarded the spaces between...ready for Jan to lime between the oak.

Also put some temporary flooring across the floor-gap in the library...safety first !! (let not mention the time i fell through that hole!!!)

Meanwhile Jan has been preparing the chimney wall in the Library, dubbing in gaps, and preparing for the first few coats of limewash.

A tree down in the storm

A very windy few days in October, managed to blow down a tree in the yard area. So an opportunity to use my chainsaw, and cut up wood for later in the Winter.
First issue...I seem to have a fundamental problem with starting (petrol) Chainsaws.
My old one is so frustrating, especially as it has no access to the air filter and spark plug, so abandoned that (for spares)
Despite Jan's attrmept to push me towards an Electric chainsaw. When I use our electric hedge trimmer, I usually cutting the cord once in every job....an electric Chainsaw would be a nightmare for me.
So I gave up and bought a new Chainsaw, one which had a good review...I quote " starts every time, never morte than 2 pulls".
Guess what !!!!
It started ok first time, got the tree down, then stalled, and I couldnt get it started again...Lots of swearing at this stage!!!!.
At least this model had easy access to the spark plug...took off the HT lead, checked the plug for flooding, all fine...when I tried to put the HT lead back on the metal connection inside had sheared off ...a very flimsy(crappy) design.
So, what do I do...send it back witht the warranty, only to get the same design back (and never remove the HT lead/plug), or fix it with a new HT lead (from the Mini)...VERY Frustrating !!!!

Anyway, I manged to get it working with a temporary fix, took down the tree, and another large branch overhanging the Stream, chopped it all up, and stacked to dry in the Inglenook...

Workshop up and running !

The last few months have been focused on getting the workshop up and running before the winter.
A long job as it required :

• Level out a sloping area (dig out and build walls) - 2 weekends work!
• In-fill the base with rubble, an opportunity to break up more of the foundations of the old extension and bury it !, hard labour and three weekends work.
• Get a mini-mix to lay the concrete slab (I wasnt doing that whole area with a mixer)
• Get the Workshop built by the supplier Williams Sheds (3 weeks) delivered and installed (a weekend)
• Then empty the house of all the tools, wood, workbenches, ladders, lime, sawdust !!!!
• Paint it, Install electrics, lighting, guttering, security etc.
• Build workbenches on three walls, including a recessed area for the Chopsaw.(picture #3)
• Finally build Stone steps up to the side door.

I enjoyed tidying up my tools and now we are ready to go !!!!