Fireplaces almost there now.

There has been a lot of work going over the past 2 weeks but not a lot to show for it. The fireplaces have come on lots this week so I thought I should update you all. Remember the old fireplace.

The stove was removed and sold on eBay. We chipped away plaster and found the old arch and that was shown in an earlier blog. I lifted the marble insets and this is how it looked.

The bricks were blackened and chipped so needed to be replaced. The front room was the same so the centre wall was removed and propped to stop the breasts falling.....I know sounds a bit rude!

This is looking from the front room, you can see why we considered having a double fronted stove.

They now look like this and are ready for the york stone hearths to be put in.

Stoves are ordered and we're looking forward to seeing them in place.

The hedge from hell

The hedge has been a something we have been putting off for a while now. It was about 12 tall and over 20 feet tall in places where trees were growing in it.

This is an old picture but it shows the hedge height.  My dad offered to come over and help with the job as various people have been overheard complaining about the state of the hedge.

So boy's toys at the ready (chainsaw and hedge trimmer). I started to hack at the branches with the loppers to start with and then the hedge trimmer, larger branches required the chainsaw. With most of the branches falling onto the path we had to make sure we didn't fell anything as people walked past......and it must be the busiest path in Northwich. As I hacked my dad dragged the branches into the garden.

The garden was almost full of branches after 2 days of cutting. Then Dave, one of the neighbours, said "throw some over to fill the gaps in my hedge" so we did. Thanks Dave, you saved us quite a bit of work.

After 3 days we have got it under control from the gate to the bridge, still more to go though. And this is all that is left of the branches: