July 2021, Life in all its fullness

We’ve spent most nights this week pulling wallpaper off the walls in 2 rooms. We have found paper up to 5 layers thick, with plaster on top of paper to pull off. We’re now ready for the plasterer to come next week.

Earlier in the week we cleared out the lounge and the big ‘dorm’ room, which slept 3 boys. We have moved them in with Katie and all their toys and clothes are dispersed into plastic drawers in our bedroom, the bathroom and on the landing. We are basically living in one half of the house whilst the other half is being sorted. The picture above is the lounge where one of our builders has been busy destroying the 1970s fireplace, which we plan to replace with either a log burner if possible, otherwise a somewhat plainer fireplace. Living in a building site with lots of young children is somewhat of a challenge, but stair gates have saved the day and given us a safe space for play.

This is the before and after of our cladding. The wood will turn silver over the next couple of years and it will provide contrast to the main part of the house, and prevents us from having a large white frontage, which would look overwhelming.

Tonight was date night and Phil and I have spent it in our newly created ‘lounge’(our bedroom with a sofa and TV added!). We hope to reclaim the lounge in about a month, once electrics and decorating are done, and the pub style carpet has been replaced.

To be honest, despite the busyness I’m quite enjoying the process. I get to watch the builders at work from my kitchen window each day and constantly stand in awe of their productivity. I feel the need to stand less and work more having watched their daily progress.

I’m also enjoying having less rooms to clean! I would never have chosen to live in a big house, because with a big property comes bigger problems and more work; but this is where God called us and we would never choose to be anywhere else.

Next week will be more electrics, more cladding and more construction work on the internals of the extension. The adventure continues….