Progress inside and out

Progress is definitely being made at the cottage, although the above image does not really represent what is happening. Rich has been the main worker at the house, while I am at home on the computer - books about wrapping Christmas presents don’t translate themselves ;) I have however been able to pop over on weekends, when Rich let me have a go with his hammer and chisel. 

Snow was brought in by storm Arwen and we were lucky that nothing appears to be damaged on the house. Notice that the bay window is being held down with bricks as the window surveyor realised that gravity (and a thick coat of muck) was the only thing keeping the canopy it place! The snow also gave the cottage a Christmas card appearance.

Before the cold weather, Rich fixed all the pointing and the spalled bricks at the front of the house (see pervious post, which was however missing an “after” photo). It certainly looks a whole lot better now that all the smeared lumps of concrete have been removed. I managed to paint the shoe scraper, the metals hooks and the sign to protect them from the winter weather. I also gave the plinth an undercoat, hoping that it would dry in time for me to apply the over coat. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and the rain has washed away the undercoat. I think I will just put that down to lessons learned and try again in the spring.

Our friends Simon and Claire came down from Gateshead to see the cottage, and braved freezing indoor temperatures to drink coffee with us in the living room. The old boiler was not working, so we made do with a small fan heater and lots of cheer.

Then it was time for Rich to start the stripping out in preparation for the electrician and plumber coming in. First off was removing the stones around the fire place, which were taking up a huge amount of space. Another surprize that the house held was that what we thought were wooden shelves turned out to be painted marble slabs!

You can see above how much extra space has been created around the chimney breasts.

And another surprize: Once the wallpaper was off and Jordon the plumber had removed the fire and back boiler, this huge original stone fire place was revealed as well as a stone hearth on the floor. I think we are going to have to think hard about how best to use these features.

Rich has also pulled up nearly all of the carpets and is running a “flooring shop” from the massive cupboard in the front bedroom. I am falling in love with the floor boards in this room, although that is opening up the whole carpet/no carpet in a bedroom debate.

Rich found another hearth in the dressing room, where I imagine a bedroom fire may have been.

The wooden stairs look to be in good shape too.

Our friend Zanna popped over with some mulled wine to keep our spirits up. It was interesting sitting in the stripped out living room together, for although it felt somewhat desolate without the wall paper, it suddenly felt a lot bigger once the dark coloured wallpaper had been removed from the walls.

And as if Rich had not been busy enough, he removed the wall units and tiles in the kitchen, where the new boiler is being fitted this week.

Well, I will close this brief round up now, Rich may want to share photos of the many layers of wall paper he has found - they certainly tell a story. But for now I will wish you all a Merry Christmas and promise to keep you posted on the cottage in the New Year.

Catherine xxx