Stairs are in!

At last the stairs have arrived.  So far it has taken them four days to install and there is still another two days to finish.  We're delighted with them - lots of attention to detail. 

Hooray - we have stairs for the first time in four months!

Rob's design and Ross's execution - a great combo

Note the little dark inlay of wood on each tread - we think it is walnut

Ian arrived this afternoon with a pile of seasoned oak for our (soon to be purchased) woodburning stove. What a great house rewarming present.

 I spent five hours today cleaning the sitting room - on our return from London last night we were horrified to find a layer of fine sawdust covering everything.  However we will forgive Ross as he's done such a great job on the stairs. Karen

The stair has arrived

At least some of it. It looks great in the space and the walnut ( I think it is) strip on the tread is just right. We still need to resolve the height of the guardrail on the landing, but otherwise it is looking good! Credit to Young and Norgate for their full committment to this project. http://www.youngandnorgate.com/

Porch is on...

but like many things is not finished. We are partially taking a few days to relax a bit and celebrate what we have accomplished so far. Our first dinner party (not counting the family gathering before Christmas) is tomorrow and will contribute to the feeling that we really live here now.

The projecting part will be glazed in to create a sun (and wind) room. The lawn is another story.

It's a few days after the solstice, but you can still see the warming sun reaches almost to the kitchen door

We've come a long way

The planning application image

The colour is not far off the planning application after all

We're back!

Nearly two years to the day since we first moved in, we have moved back in, and a few days later the boys arrived with their girlfriends for an early Christmas weekend. We have properly christened the kitchen and dining room now.

With the scaffolding down you can see the view from our bedroom

Karen applies the hard oil finish to our beautiful ash floor.

As soon as the oil hardened, we moved in. Karen is a happy girl!

Lyn came for tea, but was persuaded to stay for gumbo.

Christmas lunch practice run - the boys and girls cooked a delicious meal for us and their grandmother.

The stair is coming on Wednesday, but Karen decorated the temporary rail anyway.

The Christmas tree makes it look like a family home.

It's starting to look like home

With the oak engineered floor being meticulously installed by Martin, it's getting better by the day.

We're nearing the winter solstice, and you can see how the low sun reaches nearly to the kitchen door. I love it!

By night - we need lots of curtains now.

The Christmas rush

We are flat out getting ready to move back and welcome the boys and their girlfriends in two weeks - like one of those reality TV shows. I failed to report on my visit to Young and Norgate, who are making the stair. Ross Norgate went to school with Ali, and is now part of a quality cabinetmaking firm in Budleigh Salterton. They are having fun, I think, with my very personal stair design.

This is the half-size MDFcad drawing ot the stair

Newel meets massively oversized tread and riser - I love it!

The kitchen is nearly functional now. Terry came to glue down the stainless steel after doing some experiments with pots of boiling water to make sure it would work, and Eddie got the hob going. Karen was disappointed that you can't see the flames in the photo- but it now produces heat.

Our bathroom is also functional, but what about that grey waste pipe, Eddie? Don't you think white would look better?

Let's hope that's enough adhesive

A select bunch of weights

Yes, it's working

On Tuesday, I joined Simon and Sean to help get the brise soleil up. They put the sills on in lashing rain, and when Simon called the scaffolder to say we were finished, he unexpectedly said he would come the next morning to get it, so we all set to applying the sealant around the upstairs window so we wouldn't be doing it off ladders. Scaffold down and it looks more like the drawings.

Final colour and that's it

We went for the best compromise we could find, but it's still not exactly what we wanted. When the house is finished and covered in clematis and roses it will be more subdued. Thanks, Cyndie, for the suggestion of blue window reveals - but we're not in Mexico.

We had a busy weekend- Karen spent all of today sanding and polishing the stainless steel counter tops. They had forty years of service in their previous life in a University kitchen, so they needed some TLC. We will install them on Tuesday come hell or high water, so we can get the kitchen working. Boys and girlfriends are coming in three weeks, so we need to get a move on. Ordering oak floor for sitting/dining room tomorrow - installation on Saturday!

Spaghetti under the floor

Our shower room - we like the cork floor.