Antics in the attic!

Well, progress IS being made up there.  One beam has been removed and replaced, and they've decided that the beam that was going to be left in place should be taken out, too, so the workload has doubled but I'm glad they've made that decision.  Fortunately, the room is empty of furniture so they can make as much mess as they like at the moment!

This is the first beam to be removed. It's been propped up by timbers then cut into sections between the props - the easiest way to remove it. 

The sections of beam being thrown out through the window! Not as scary as it sounds - the house is on a tiny track with no passing traffic and only one more house to the side of it, so no-one was in danger.  The sections have been stacked up in a barn opposite the house.

This shows one end of the new (steel) beam that has been bricked in at each end.

 








This shows the other end of the beam, and the acro props holding it up while the cement sets around the bricks.

This shows the section of unsupported (!) roof where the second beam has just been removed.

More timbers stacked at the window reading for throwing out.

This shows a piece of the old beam that has been cut to fit into one of the  sound beams in the room  - the timber was so straight, it was crying out to used.

Well, that is progress so far.  I haven't posted pictures of all the mess on the floor -  preferred to ignore that bit!  The end result of all this will be a huge bedroom with no obstructions and no risk of the ceiling caving in on anyone, so will be more than worth all the effort and expense.  I hope to be posting photos of the finished room at some point over the next couple of months!

Thanks for reading - I bet you're all glad it's not your house!

Help - look at my attic!

Well, work is well in progress as I type.  The first photo shows one end of the beam which goes right through the thick granite wall to the outside wall.  It has to be dug out at both ends. The second and third pictures show  how it  is being held up, by a combination of acro props and thick timbers.  The idea is to cut the beam out in sections and the upright timbers will hold each section up.   I have no idea what will happen next - it seems daft to ask the men  how the roof will stay on until the new beam is put in!  The last picture shows the mess on the floor - glad it's not me doing the work or the clearing up after!  I'm equally glad we emptied the room first!

April already!

Long time, no post!

I don't know where the time has gone but I think it's about three weeks since I last posted, apart from to add the fantastic running totals of our Knit Your Square to Give Your Share group on moneysavingexpert.com.

Much work has been going on in the house and outside. This floor has been laid (apart from one tile that has to be cut round the staircase - Brother-in-law is coming to stay next week and will bring his special cutting tool to cut that last tile; I think we'll turn it into a sort of topping-off ceremony!).  My poor bookcase has been in every room of the house, I think.  We've had to move it yet again because it was in the way of the next project.  It contains about a quarter of my books - eventually, I have been promised a proper library arrangement to house them all but, for now, they crop up in various spare corners just waiting.....I'm longing to get them sorted once and for all.

This is the 400-year old beam that is being removed and replaced this week.  It is splitting dangerously and is currently being held up by acro props and timbers.  The room is in the attic and will eventually be a huge bedroom-en-suite which will easily take a double and two singles, ideal for when the family come to stay.  The windows look tatty at the moment but, with their wide reveals and sills, will look really good when they've been renovated.  In this room, besides the beam needing to be replaced, part of the roof also has to come off - all this is being done from tomorrow.  The attic was only ever used for storage in the days when the house was a working farmhouse. It had a rickety outside staircase as the only access, but we have put in a new staircase and landings - which meant breaking through the ceiling of the floor below and lowering the walls to increase the height of the doors - all very technical but, as one of my brothers-in-law is an architect, not too difficult to achieve!

These are the only windows at the moment but we will be adding a Velux window in the roof to let in more light during the day, and to see the stars during the night!  You can just make out the old water pipes - these are being removed this week as we add to the central-heating system up here.  The electrical wiring has all been installed - it just needs fixing once the rest of the work has been done.

We spent most of yesterday emptying this room of  boxes and spare furniture ready for the roofing work to be started.  For a change, I'm not going to be helping - we have the professionals in for the week.  I shall just keep the cuppas coming! I shall also be refurbishing myself -  I have a visit to the hairdresser planned, then a visit to the dentist and, as I'm not being called upon to assist, probably some retail therapy, too!

A Bit of the Woolly Stuff

I've also managed to fit in some crochet.  I have lots of squares crocheted, most of which need blocking, so photos will be posted when that's done.  For now, here is a photo of the lovely pattern book that Mrs Twins (see link to her fantastic blog in the 'Blogs that I Follow' sidebar) kindly sent to me, along with two balls of the most beautiful yarn in white and a lovely leafy green - it's called  Cygnet Silcaress  and is wonderful to work with. I've teamed it with a pink to make a square for Mrs Twins Blankets for the Elderly project, and something else as a surprise which will be revealed later when it's finished.

I've also made some rabbits for the grandchildren because I can't really send Easter eggs through the post - the ears were all tweaked after the photo but before they hopped across the English Channel - I hope they liked them!

Well, the sun has been shining and things have been going on outside, too. We've heard our first cuckoo, as well as the noisiest woodpecker we've ever heard here.  The swifts are gradually returning from their winter holiday in South Africa - they will stay with us until September when they will have raised their babies and taught them how to fly for their next winter holiday.  The local commune is tarmacking the track that runs through the hamlet and alongside our house but, sadly, they've had to fell two very old trees on our land to allow for widening the road to allow for emergency vehicles - this photo was taken in the rain, from our drive,  and reflects the sadness we felt at losing the trees. On the plus side, they were very old trees and may not have survived many more gale-force winds, and they will become a good source of firewood! You can see that the track is desperate to be upgraded - we have to wheel our wheelie bins along it - come rain or shine - every week. We're hoping that the widening will allow the dustcart to come to us, rather than the other way around!  Luckily, we have two entrances to ur property, so we shouldn't get hemmed  in while the work is being carried out.  The widening and re-surfacing starts on 12th April, and will include re-siting our water supply, too.

So, as you can see, I may not have been on here much lately, but there sure is a lot going on! And now I need another cuppa!  Hope you are all having a wonderful Easter.

Once again, brilliant totals!

Great totals again; thanks to each and every one of you!

Well, long time no post on here from me, apart from the Knit Totals update - life has been exceedingly busy with house renovating, a bit of crochet, and a lot of work, but I will spend time today and tomorrow posting photos of the work on the house so far, and the squares I've been making.

Until then, I hope you are all having good days!

KathyXX

Fantastic totals again!

Have just posted this week's update - thank you all for your great totals! 

For anyone who would like to join us, please click here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1979513. -  it will take you to the current year's thread of the  online charity-knitting group that was founded in March 2008.  We are now in our third year.  Please join - you will receive a warm welcome from this lovely group!

KathyXX

Getting plastered!

Well, the renovating work on this house goes on at a cracking pace - all the plastering in the front hall has now been done; we just need to apply the 'chaux' to the stone walls that we have left exposed. You'll see two niches in one of the stone walls; we'll just clean them up and keep them as they are, rather than cover them up. They will be great with perhaps some candles in them.

This is the longest wall in the hall.  The plaster is here is not the same as in the UK. For a start, it goes on white and stays white when it dries, making it easier to paint. Another difference is that you can choose the drying time.  The one we've used here dries in an hour - you have to plaster fast to use it all up in time!  In this photo, you can see the two niches I mentioned earlier.  They are both very odd shapes but then so is this house!

This photo shows the door into what will one day be the proper sitting room - behind that door is a massive room that needs a lot of attention (and money) spending on it - a major project for another time!  The alcove in the photo is a strange shape but we've just gone with the flow - the walls are thick granite so there's not much that can be done to make it straight.  We've rough-plastered it and have yet to decide what to do with it - I fancy a statue but dear Husband thinks that will be a bit too much for a farmhouse!  Maybe we'll put some shelves in it.

This was a ledge that we couldn't do away with, so dear Husband found a lovely piece of timber which he turned into a shelf, and stained and polished.  The wall below will be left exposed and 'chauxed' - the doorway leads into the kitchen - the room that will be the next project once the hall is finished!




This house really is a work-in-progress - I shall be SO glad when it's finally finished!

The big storm took me out!

The Saturday before the one before  last we had the big Atlantic storm that had been predicted, so we battened down all the hatches and sat - or rather slept - it out.  The wind had been threatening all day and, by 8pm, was in full swing and lasted until around 8am the next morning.  The noise was horrendous but we still managed to get a good night's sleep - we just hoped that the roof would still be there the next day!  Our bedroom is right up in the eaves so we felt very close to nature!

The next morning, I tentatively opened the shutters expecting to see a felled forest of trees on neighbouring farmland but we had escaped lightly.  Only two trees on the farm had completely fallen, and our very elderly willow tree had lost about half its branches - these were blocking the entrance to the barn where we keep our cars so I spent a rainy morning picking them all up so that we could get the cars out.

The neighbouring department - the Vendee - had really taken a hammering. The sea breached the defences catching many poor people off their guard and some, sadly, lost their lives.  I hope they are managing to pick up the pieces.

The storm took out the phone and, by default, my connection to the internet.  By Wednesday, having used a friend's phone to call France Telecom, the phone was restored, but I couldn't get back online.  I phoned Orange, my IP, and several people tried to get my connection back.  The assured me that the line was working so the suggested that I buy a new LAN cable.  The only one I could find was a metre shorter than the old one - this meant moving the entire room around to get the computer closer to the point. The new cable didn't do the trick, so it was suggested I try the line on a different computer.  Luckily, I have a very ancient one so I tested it on that, and that didn't work.  I phoned Orange yet again and they said the Livebox (which connects me to the internet) must be at fault.  They gave me a code and told me to take the old Livebox back to our local Orange shop and ask for an exchange.  I did this within half an hour, came home with the new one and, after a fraught couple of hours (the air was blue, I can tell you!), managed to get back online.  The only problem now was that I kept losing the connection. As promised, Orange called me back the following day to see how I was getting on, and they said the fault must lie with my computer.  As it was fine before the storm, and I had disconnected it when I knew the storm was coming, I wasn't convinced.  In the end, I unplugged all the connections to the Livebox, pressed a few buttons on it, and I have been back in the land of the living ever since.  Having been incommunicado from Sunday to Friday, it felt good to be back!

During all this, dear Husband just carried on plastering. The PC world baffles him somewhat so there wasn't much he could do to help apart from keep the kettle boiling!

He has been working on the front hall