Stripping and more gardening

The walls are covered in woodchip wallpaper and if anyone has tried to remove it they will know it's a nightmare.  The cottage has very high ceilings, over 3 metres high so Gill has been up the ladder with the steamer and a scraper.

I spent the day in the garden raking grass and giving parts of the grass a second cut, we definitely need a bigger mower. I had 2 robins following me around, quite friendly little chaps, every time I emptied the grass box they sat on the mower.

Tiles and grass

We have spent the past couple of days taking up the flooring and we got a glimpse of tiles under the horrible sticky green vinyl floor.....hoping for some original victorian tiles but alas only more vinyl tiles....the only Victorian thing going on was the child labour...thanks Gem.

The tiles were never ending

I had a go at the grass today, it's more like a field than a lawn. It took me over a hour just to mow half of it. It looks so much better now, I will attempt to finish it tomorrow.  The dog in the photo is Nila our Bedlington Terrier, he loves the big garden.

The Garden

The bluebells are out at the bottom of the garden by the river bank. We have planted 2 apple trees some raspberry canes (although we have noticed there are wild raspberries just across the lock) and a gooseberry bush donated by my sister.

The blossom is on the apple and pear trees but all gone from the plums and damsons. Hoping for a good crop this year.

Pictures of the bluebells, the new apple tree and the orchard.

Empty at last

The house is now just a shell after a lot of hard work and many trips to the dump. It's not easy when there is no road access. The worst was a chest freezer that had food in it....bearing in mind the electric had been switched off for over 6 months. A ratchet strap kept it closed as we moved it...best money ever spent that strap. Another bonfire followed and baked potatoes in the embers were lovely. The plans are almost complete now and I will post them soon. Here is the kitchen, this will be the stairwell later.

More quotes than Oscar Wilde

It's time to start getting quotes for the renovation work.  Three quotes each for:
Damp
Underpinning
Rewiring
Replumbing
Windows
Structural works
My son saw the house for the first time, he's not impressed yet.
So far 2 quotes for damp: £450 & £1050, I can see this will be an education.

Gutting the place

The cottage has been empty throughout the winter and doesn't smell too sweet. It's hard to

believe that people used to live in those conditions. We started ripping out the wardrobes and the carpets upstairs. Throwing the stuff out of the window was quite satisfying. What to do with the pile of rubbish? Bonfire!

Day 1

After 4 months we have finally got the keys to the house. To get this far we have had to jump through many hoops including.
A timber survey - Weevils found in the roof space.
Damp survey - A DPC required.
Drains test - Repairs required to 2 manholes.
Flood report - 1 in 1000 year event (Thanks Steve and Irene our new neighbours)
Structural report - Recommended a ground test.
Ground test - Requires local underpinning to the extension.
All in all not bad for 150 year old house.