And these are our NEIGHbours!
Friday, 29 August 2014
Thursday, 28 August 2014
We're Back!
Phew! After a fabulous holiday in America it has taken me a few days to get back to this Blog, largely because we don't yet have internet access at the end of the garden where we're now living. I'm writing this at night in the house emptied of nearly all furniture with just the computer left!
This is what we came back to see ...
Before and After
In the past four days since landing back from New York we have crammed in the following (and battled jet-lag!): packed up nearly all remaining belongings in boxes; dismantled all beds, desks and wardrobes; transferred basic necessities and clothes up to the caravan; completed furnishing the garden room, including TV (except with no reception yet, just what's recorded); run armoured cable up the garden to provide power to the garden room and caravan; welcomed Penny for five days - staying at Sue & Dave's - to help look after the girls while we are busy; Adrian has returned to work; we've had two removals men take two van loads of our stuff to a Worthing storage facility (dodging the rain showers); I played with a music ensemble for a nun's 50th Anniversary Jubilee Mass at the Covent in Arundel (booked ages ago so wanted to honour); taken the Audi for its MOT (passed); waded through inches of muddy chalk, dodging slugs and snails, to traipse up and down the garden between the house and the caravan. We're still using the house kitchen and bathroom, carrying trays of dinners up to the garden room each mealtime, in all weathers! Might just be easier to make a clean break and start using the caravan facilities for everything? Reluctant to leave our proper shower and loo!
Had a break today, taking the girls to the cinema (How to Train Your Dragon 2 - lovely film!), leaving the builders to correct the walls they'd built to the wrong measurements (grrrrr). Tomorrow I'm working at the Rectory all day, leaving the builders to it. (They are way behind schedule - should have finished before we got back from the States - and must be done by the weekend before Alan starts next week on the next stage.) I've suggested Penny takes the girls out for the day to avoid all the mud and racket. The garden room is a lovely cosy place to be, but a bit claustrophobic for all day.
Before I finish for today, I just want to mention the comical farce we have each evening of getting two reluctant cats back into the garden room for the night, who would much rather be out exploring in the dark, but we don't yet have their cat flap fitted into the garden room so they would end up staying out all night. (They're very mollycoddled and are kept in at night to avoid fights or getting run over.) After initially agreeing to let the girls take the cats to the caravan at bedtime, before transferring them to the garden room (cats, not girls) we soon realised this was going to be impossible. It usually takes two or three attempts to lure the cats into the garden room with food when it gets dark (or when the cement mixer's in action), woops, too slow - one's got out, spend five minutes chasing it round the garden, accidentally let the first one out putting the second one back in. All subsequent access to the room that evening (eg to iron shirts, watch TV) has to avoid letting them out again. Ridiculous!
Will add more photos tomorrow. I especially want to share pictures of the homely garden room.
This is what we came back to see ...
Before and After
In the past four days since landing back from New York we have crammed in the following (and battled jet-lag!): packed up nearly all remaining belongings in boxes; dismantled all beds, desks and wardrobes; transferred basic necessities and clothes up to the caravan; completed furnishing the garden room, including TV (except with no reception yet, just what's recorded); run armoured cable up the garden to provide power to the garden room and caravan; welcomed Penny for five days - staying at Sue & Dave's - to help look after the girls while we are busy; Adrian has returned to work; we've had two removals men take two van loads of our stuff to a Worthing storage facility (dodging the rain showers); I played with a music ensemble for a nun's 50th Anniversary Jubilee Mass at the Covent in Arundel (booked ages ago so wanted to honour); taken the Audi for its MOT (passed); waded through inches of muddy chalk, dodging slugs and snails, to traipse up and down the garden between the house and the caravan. We're still using the house kitchen and bathroom, carrying trays of dinners up to the garden room each mealtime, in all weathers! Might just be easier to make a clean break and start using the caravan facilities for everything? Reluctant to leave our proper shower and loo!
Had a break today, taking the girls to the cinema (How to Train Your Dragon 2 - lovely film!), leaving the builders to correct the walls they'd built to the wrong measurements (grrrrr). Tomorrow I'm working at the Rectory all day, leaving the builders to it. (They are way behind schedule - should have finished before we got back from the States - and must be done by the weekend before Alan starts next week on the next stage.) I've suggested Penny takes the girls out for the day to avoid all the mud and racket. The garden room is a lovely cosy place to be, but a bit claustrophobic for all day.
Before I finish for today, I just want to mention the comical farce we have each evening of getting two reluctant cats back into the garden room for the night, who would much rather be out exploring in the dark, but we don't yet have their cat flap fitted into the garden room so they would end up staying out all night. (They're very mollycoddled and are kept in at night to avoid fights or getting run over.) After initially agreeing to let the girls take the cats to the caravan at bedtime, before transferring them to the garden room (cats, not girls) we soon realised this was going to be impossible. It usually takes two or three attempts to lure the cats into the garden room with food when it gets dark (or when the cement mixer's in action), woops, too slow - one's got out, spend five minutes chasing it round the garden, accidentally let the first one out putting the second one back in. All subsequent access to the room that evening (eg to iron shirts, watch TV) has to avoid letting them out again. Ridiculous!
Will add more photos tomorrow. I especially want to share pictures of the homely garden room.
Sunday, 10 August 2014
Taking a Break
We are away on holiday for a couple of weeks having a super time with Cousin Jan in Maine, joined by Pete, Jo, Ollie & Abbie.
I was intending to do one final blog before we left home, posting up-to-date photos, but ran out of time. Since then have been too busy or jet-lagged, and technologically challenged, to coordinate writing and downloading pictures on a different device to normal.
So, no pictures this time but can add the following from Week One of builders:
Our garage turned out to have absbestos and needed careful removal of nasty stuff, requiring cats & children to stay indoors. Sad for cats as was their last day to play in the garden before going in a cattery for 2 1/2 weeks. The work was frustratingly abandoned after one of the workmen cut through an electric cable (thankfully is OK!).
Adrian had to meet Groundworks Sean at 8.30pm Weds eve ( the earliest Adrian could get home from work) to discuss the tasks to be done while we are away. Details like positions of drains & soakaways, marking out, and ground levels needed to be confirmed. The Building Control inspector had been booked for the following morning, to approve and advise, but didn't show up until the afternoon, juast two hours before we had to leave for the airport and after Sean had had to go (evidently simultaneously finishing another job). As we girls were finishing packing/faffing Adrian was working his way through a long list of questions with the Inspector, and then - once at Gatwick - spent an hour in Costa while our flight was delayed, sending a lengthy detailed email to Sean with a summary of all the Inspector's decisions.
Getting on the plane was with a great sense of great relief at finally starting our holiday, but tinged with nervousness at leaving an unattended build behind! (And our little cats in a cattery for the first time 😓.) Watch this space ...
I was intending to do one final blog before we left home, posting up-to-date photos, but ran out of time. Since then have been too busy or jet-lagged, and technologically challenged, to coordinate writing and downloading pictures on a different device to normal.
So, no pictures this time but can add the following from Week One of builders:
Our garage turned out to have absbestos and needed careful removal of nasty stuff, requiring cats & children to stay indoors. Sad for cats as was their last day to play in the garden before going in a cattery for 2 1/2 weeks. The work was frustratingly abandoned after one of the workmen cut through an electric cable (thankfully is OK!).
Adrian had to meet Groundworks Sean at 8.30pm Weds eve ( the earliest Adrian could get home from work) to discuss the tasks to be done while we are away. Details like positions of drains & soakaways, marking out, and ground levels needed to be confirmed. The Building Control inspector had been booked for the following morning, to approve and advise, but didn't show up until the afternoon, juast two hours before we had to leave for the airport and after Sean had had to go (evidently simultaneously finishing another job). As we girls were finishing packing/faffing Adrian was working his way through a long list of questions with the Inspector, and then - once at Gatwick - spent an hour in Costa while our flight was delayed, sending a lengthy detailed email to Sean with a summary of all the Inspector's decisions.
Getting on the plane was with a great sense of great relief at finally starting our holiday, but tinged with nervousness at leaving an unattended build behind! (And our little cats in a cattery for the first time 😓.) Watch this space ...
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