No time at home today - worked a full day at the Rectory - so very little packing progress. Took one more car load of boxes to the Rectory but that's about it on the house front. The girls and I are off to Glasgow tomorrow for four days, but no doubt Adrian will work like a whirlwind whilst we are away.
Feeling increasingly nervous that the groundworks start on Monday yet we go on holiday three days later for 2 1/2 weeks. There are bound to be queries and uncertainties about the drawings/plans. Let's hope the builder thinks of them before we go away!
No blogging for a few days. Will be busy watching Commonwealth sports and soaking up the Glaswegian atmosphere with my family up there!
Wednesday, 30 July 2014
Tuesday, 29 July 2014
Boxes, boxes everywhere
A day of more packing. The girls' bedroom is now almost clear.
They've spent time making their caravan beds more 'homely', ready for our return from America.
I've had to modify my 'unlimited TV' rule to mean anything from the Commonwealth Games for some of the time! I love the fact that the girls can watch netball, lawn bowls, gymnastics, mountain biking, swimming, table tennis and so much more. Can't wait to be up there soon and watching on the big screens!
I've taken another car full of boxes to the Rectory. And we've now moved the dining table up to the Garden Room - although Adrian has since badly stubbed his toe on one of the remaining chairs left in the kitchen. Hopefully not broken, but horribly bruised and sore. Had to put my First Aid skills in action to mop up all the blood, apply frozen peas and then strap his toes together!
Tomorrow I'm at work all day, followed by our four day Glasgow trip (packed cases today), so progress on the house will be on hold for a while. Will be nice to have a break! Dobby & Pickle are definitely bemused by all the boxes and comings and goings, but are gradually exploring the caravan and Garden Room which will be their home too for the next eight (+?!?) months.
I've taken another car full of boxes to the Rectory. And we've now moved the dining table up to the Garden Room - although Adrian has since badly stubbed his toe on one of the remaining chairs left in the kitchen. Hopefully not broken, but horribly bruised and sore. Had to put my First Aid skills in action to mop up all the blood, apply frozen peas and then strap his toes together!
Tomorrow I'm at work all day, followed by our four day Glasgow trip (packed cases today), so progress on the house will be on hold for a while. Will be nice to have a break! Dobby & Pickle are definitely bemused by all the boxes and comings and goings, but are gradually exploring the caravan and Garden Room which will be their home too for the next eight (+?!?) months.
Monday, 28 July 2014
Sawdust
A busy morning with the girls continuing to pack/sort all the stuff in their bedroom - a HUGE amount sorted for car boot selling which is very satisfying. Feel guilty about not taking it down the charity shop, like I would normally do, but we'll need the money! Both girls have started moving stuff into the caravan ready for our transfer, and have a whole cupboard each for their favourite books. Hannah has also found a little corner for her treasured 'Snitch', and a beautiful magpie feather found at the weekend.
I've today made a deal with the girls who are bored with the tedium of packing up the whole house: the usual restrictions on 'screen time' are temporarily postponed, meaning that they can play/watch what they want, when they want, as long as they respond instantly to any request for help, at any time! Seems to be working so far ...
I managed another car full of boxes for the Rectory today. Must be burning a few calories just doing this! Have also booked a removals lorry and crew to take all the heavy stuff (beds, sofas, mattresses etc) to storage in Worthing on our return from America. Adrian was going to manage all this by himself, thinking it would cost thousands of pounds to hire professionals, but when I phoned to enquire it was only a couple of hundred pounds, so definitely worth doing. Will be much easier. Especially with jet lag. (Have also booked our air port car parking today. http://www.cophallparkinggatwick.co.uk/ One more holiday thing ticked off the list.)
Even with so much to do, the family still needs feeding so this afternoon included a trip to Sainsbury's for our weekly shop. The girls were reluctant to come, until they realised that they could choose all the cereals, biscuits, crisps etc etc plus sweets for the long train journey up to Glasgow on Thursday. We also had to buy some holiday clothes for Emma after realising she didn't have any shorts or vest tops for hot weather in the US - I'm assuming Maine and New Jersey will be hot and sweaty in August?! Probably Glasgow not so much?!
I meant to mention before how much sawdust our washing machine has had to cope with over the past few months. It gets everywhere! Adrian has been covered in the stuff every weekend, crafting the beautiful Garden Room completely from scratch, and still chopping wood for the final bespoke window frames. Will it never end? Love the smell of it, though!
I've today made a deal with the girls who are bored with the tedium of packing up the whole house: the usual restrictions on 'screen time' are temporarily postponed, meaning that they can play/watch what they want, when they want, as long as they respond instantly to any request for help, at any time! Seems to be working so far ...
I managed another car full of boxes for the Rectory today. Must be burning a few calories just doing this! Have also booked a removals lorry and crew to take all the heavy stuff (beds, sofas, mattresses etc) to storage in Worthing on our return from America. Adrian was going to manage all this by himself, thinking it would cost thousands of pounds to hire professionals, but when I phoned to enquire it was only a couple of hundred pounds, so definitely worth doing. Will be much easier. Especially with jet lag. (Have also booked our air port car parking today. http://www.cophallparkinggatwick.co.uk/ One more holiday thing ticked off the list.)
Even with so much to do, the family still needs feeding so this afternoon included a trip to Sainsbury's for our weekly shop. The girls were reluctant to come, until they realised that they could choose all the cereals, biscuits, crisps etc etc plus sweets for the long train journey up to Glasgow on Thursday. We also had to buy some holiday clothes for Emma after realising she didn't have any shorts or vest tops for hot weather in the US - I'm assuming Maine and New Jersey will be hot and sweaty in August?! Probably Glasgow not so much?!
I meant to mention before how much sawdust our washing machine has had to cope with over the past few months. It gets everywhere! Adrian has been covered in the stuff every weekend, crafting the beautiful Garden Room completely from scratch, and still chopping wood for the final bespoke window frames. Will it never end? Love the smell of it, though!
Sunday, 27 July 2014
What a productive weekend!
What a productive weekend! I don't know where Adrian gets his energy from? Especially in all this heat:
Constructed lockable doors on the shed end of the new garden room, insulated the roof, installed shelving, emptied the garage (partly into the new garden room store, partly into the Rectory garage - two carfulls), emptied and dismantled the greenhouse, and temporarily moved the frame to an unused part of the garden. Helped by me, of course, apart from the 2 1/2 hours I spent volunteering at the village pool for this weekend's private hire party. The girls have been busy packing up the games cupboard in their bedroom - and playing lots of them ... so lovely to have them being nice to each other!
Still loads of sorting/packing to be getting on with, but the end is in sight ...
We have given the girls permission to draw on the lounge walls in these final few weeks - they love feeling a bit naughty! And the wall paper is truly hideous!
Came across Hannah's christening 'Time Capsule' to be opened on her 18th birthday ... only six years to go!
Constructed lockable doors on the shed end of the new garden room, insulated the roof, installed shelving, emptied the garage (partly into the new garden room store, partly into the Rectory garage - two carfulls), emptied and dismantled the greenhouse, and temporarily moved the frame to an unused part of the garden. Helped by me, of course, apart from the 2 1/2 hours I spent volunteering at the village pool for this weekend's private hire party. The girls have been busy packing up the games cupboard in their bedroom - and playing lots of them ... so lovely to have them being nice to each other!
We have given the girls permission to draw on the lounge walls in these final few weeks - they love feeling a bit naughty! And the wall paper is truly hideous!
Came across Hannah's christening 'Time Capsule' to be opened on her 18th birthday ... only six years to go!
Saturday, 26 July 2014
Countdown to The Big Build
The Greaney Family is finally in Countdown Mode to evacuate our home - Bridleways - ready for the building to start, hopefully (after yet more delays) in a week. The Plan is to turn our rundown 1950s bungalow (bought 14 months ago) into a spacious four-bedroomed house by taking off the roof, adding a second floor, and extending out the back. Sounds simple when you say it like that!
This blog will be my diary of the experience, from the point of view of a stay-at-home mum (combined with being the village vicar's secretary - except our parish currently has no vicar - and general volunteering village busy body). Hannah (age 12) and Emma (age 9) are bravely setting off on this adventure too.
Planning permission was granted seven months ago, since when Adrian has spent countless hours researching materials and suppliers, and perfecting the internal design. After choosing our widely respected and experienced local builder we recently made the decision to hire someone else to do the initial groundwork, and a specialist SIPS panel company to construct the walls, before Alan takes over to take the project forward.
The Grand Designs favourite caravan-at-the-bottom-of-the-garden is in now in place. (That was a manoeuvre and a half, through a very steep field of horses backing onto our garden, dismantling our ivy-riddled panel fence, temporarily switching off the horse owner's electric fence, winding back the field owner's barbed wire, squeezing between two carefully measured big trees, and positioning the van carefully level on prepared ground (covered in weed control matting). Oh, and repositioning the trampoline. All with the help of kind (and curious!) friends. After switching back on the electric fence, and repairing the barbed wire, Adrian has temporarily blocked the gap with pallets until we manage to install a post-and-rail fence, in keeping with many other village boundaries. A mare and foal are due to be moved into the field this weekend which will make lovely neighbours! It's really nice to have a view now from the house right through into the field - makes the garden seem even bigger.
Planning permission was granted seven months ago, since when Adrian has spent countless hours researching materials and suppliers, and perfecting the internal design. After choosing our widely respected and experienced local builder we recently made the decision to hire someone else to do the initial groundwork, and a specialist SIPS panel company to construct the walls, before Alan takes over to take the project forward.
The Grand Designs favourite caravan-at-the-bottom-of-the-garden is in now in place. (That was a manoeuvre and a half, through a very steep field of horses backing onto our garden, dismantling our ivy-riddled panel fence, temporarily switching off the horse owner's electric fence, winding back the field owner's barbed wire, squeezing between two carefully measured big trees, and positioning the van carefully level on prepared ground (covered in weed control matting). Oh, and repositioning the trampoline. All with the help of kind (and curious!) friends. After switching back on the electric fence, and repairing the barbed wire, Adrian has temporarily blocked the gap with pallets until we manage to install a post-and-rail fence, in keeping with many other village boundaries. A mare and foal are due to be moved into the field this weekend which will make lovely neighbours! It's really nice to have a view now from the house right through into the field - makes the garden seem even bigger.
Instead of blogging I should, right now, be continuing with packing ... the entire contents of the house need to go into storage before the end of August when the roof comes off! The pressure is on, as I am taking the girls up to Glasgow next week for the Commonwealth Games (staying with cousin Margaret) and then two days later we all fly to America for 2 1/2 weeks staying with family in Maine and New Jersey. The final move into the caravan takes place on our return (24 August). The ground works start just before we go to the US - a bit scary knowing we won't be on hand to check each day, but hopefully the plans will be clear enough! And we will ask for an emailed update from our builder every day. (When we booked our holiday we thought the build would have started in April, and be well underway by now, but things have slipped a bit and we just have to go with the flow.)
So, in packing up the house (storing various items in either the caravan, the beautiful newly built Garden Room - which will be our daytime space - the rectory where I work, or a paid nearby storage facility) I also have to be mindful of keeping back everything we need for our holiday. Note to self: don't pack the passports!
This blog has been a long one. Future posts will be more concise! I just want to keep a record of the experience for myself and share progress with family and friends. Wish us luck!
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