Fire

The woodburner is in - it's not Passivhaus, but we wanted the pleasure of a fire

Starting to finish

The heat recovery ventilation ductwork in the loft

The pace has slowed a little, but we are now working on finishing touches.

These will get 370mm ( 15") of insulation on top

Karen adds colour to the kitchen

Glen installing the big whisk

With a globe light

The award-winning Plumen we got from the Cootes looks perfect!

Karen's corner ready for her desk

The globe-trotting Paddy takes time off to build Karen's birthday present. Thanks, Viv!

Karen finishing the painting tonight - she's still at it.

Martiin sealing the countertop to the backsplash. Kitchen is nearly finished.

One more connection to the MVHR to go.

The last of the floors

We have embarked on the last phase of mess and dust - the floors of the laundry/utility room and downstairs loo. Martin started on the slate in the entry hall and will continue this week to finish it off- the new floors at the back will get the same slate.

Simon's crew return tomorrow to install the vapour barrier and new ceiling boards in the back bedrooms to complete the air sealing of the upstairs ceilings. Mr. Sparks is coming to see if he can seal the woodburner flue to the ceiling membrane - I didn't discuss this with him until he had done the job! Things are looking more normal, but there is still a lot to do.

Stapling the mesh to the joists is both awkward and back-breaking

For those who missed it the first time - the sheep's wool insulation, which is pleasure to work with. Thanks to Chris at Back to Earth

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.