HI HO! HI HO! It`s off to work we go!!

Hooray!  All systems go this week and they have already sorted floor levels in the main part of the house and knocked through the wall between the kitchen and the "I don`t quite know what it is" room.  They had quite a struggle with the trenches for the drains as the soil seems to be clay and stone.....not easy.  The weather has been in the mid 20s and long may it last.  Very excited now.  Come on you lot - join up.  Let`s have more fans.  Good old Caroline and Al  x  This colour combination is Gord`s idea.  I think I prefer the greens.....

Trenches for drains in the kitchen

All systems go now

Beautiful morning!

Gorgeous up there this morning!  And listen to the work going on in the background  -  Hooray!

Help! The whole structure is now resting on two pieces of wood!

Lots of knocking through today and trenches for drainage....A blazing hot day too...

Storing up the bricks etc.

Loads of stone and bricks coming out!

Floor Levels

Friday will be the first full day of work but we are away until the following Wednesday.....They are starting on floors and levels and then we (we?) are going to knock out the end wall in the sitting room and level all that out too.  At last we are under way and hopefully things will get a little more interesting.  All Gord wants is to relax in his library (the gallery bit above the main room) with a good book!!!  Some time to wait I`m afraid.

Gord at his technical Best!

Watch that measure!

The two main men  - Dave the builder on the left and Steve the architect on the right - work starts (no really it does!) on Friday.....but I may not be there until next Wednesday when I expect it will be nearly finished!!!

More Measuring

Mooving Along!

Saying Hello to Adrian Walton`s cows on the way to the barns!

When Will it ever start?

I now have a date of "middle of this week"!!  Let`s hope that it all kicks off on Wednesday or Thursday - watch this spot (hee hee).  In the meantime, measuring out the land (5 acres or 2 point something hectares) took some brain power but with Dick and Gordon involved we were not allowed to say "this`ll do".  Oh no!  everything had to be exact and with only my mobile calculator (which, at first, did not appear to have a division button on it) it proved quite tricky.  We started off with about double what we have eventually decided is the right amount.  There are now stakes where our new boundary will be and we will be planting a conservation hedge very soon.

Still trying to work out the maths!

Jack`s ready to go!

Dick and Gordon are still doing the maths but Jack is ready to go!

wild man of the woods

Gord is going to buy a chain saw!!  Is this a good idea?  There is a lot of clearing out to do in the woodland next to the barns - Jack has promised to give him some lessons - Phew!

Hectares/Acres/Metres/sqare feet - who knows?

Measuring out the 5 acres at the back of the barns - two brains were (eventually) better than one! But it took some working out......

progress - or not?

So, the work should have started today but we have to wait until the 19th....so not much to report except that the kitchen area and main living area will be the first to have floors and then the whole place will be reroofed (is that a word?) which is the only stipulation the planners put on the project.  So hopefully there will be some more video and pictures soon.  The architect and builder were up there today chatting away about what they were going to be doing and I should have been filming really - must get geared up to this blog lark!