Curious Cows

The cows are now getting braver and have come closer to inspect the building work.

They seem generally impressed with the wall and paused to admire the progress Gary and Matt have made on the new steps.

It has temporarily stopped raining but the pool is still full of water.

However, the rain has been good for the flowers in the pasture land.

In the last 2 days Bob has been busy constructing the roof for the conservatory.

Hopefully next week the scaffolding will be taken down at the front of the stables soon so we can see them in all their glory.







A Busy Thursday

Today has been a busy day for builders.

Bob has been fitting the conservatory windows and figuring out how to design the roof.



He has also been fitting the windows at the end of the living room.

Outside there has been much debate about how to join the deck outside the pool house to the main garden so Gary, Matt and Chris have started building some steps.

The fence built last week is still standing - which is good as the cows arrived on 7th May.

Of course, no day would be complete without some digging - this time a trench for cables to connect the two houses.



The flood

The rain continued through the last week of April and the first week of May.

So conditions were pretty miserable for those working outside but at least we know the pool holds water!

Inside the stables, where things were drier, the plastering was continuing a pace.

The skylights have been inserted into the roof which makes a huge difference inside.

Slowly the slates are going on the roof in between downpours.



The cows are allowed into the neighbouring pasture land on 1st May so the need to replace the fence between our land and theirs became a priority.

Gary, Matt and Chris have built a beautiful retaining wall using the stone excavated from the pool.

Mike continues to find things to dig (drains) and deliveries to accept.





April Downpours

Towards the middle of April, the heavens opened.

Which made work on the site hard going, especially for Chris on the roof.





They were able to pour concrete in to form the base of the pool.

Inside the stables, things were a bit drier.

The concerete was poured over the underfloor heating to finish the floors downstairs.





In at the deep end

The following week Mike continued creating the pool.

So that by the end of the week you could start to imagine what it might look like.

The conservatory for the stables was taking shape.

The staircase has been fitted....

...which allows us to see how the new bedrooms are taking shape.

Downstairs the living room has been plastered.

By the end of the week the pipes were down for the underfloor heating.

Digging the Pool

In the 2nd week in April, Mike started to dig out the pool.

Whilst Gary and Matt continued doing the exterior stone work on the stables.



Site Inspections

Several people have recently been to inspect the site.

The Roddy family visited at the end of March....

..... followed by the Teasdales in early April.

Josh and Max were keen to check the equipment was all in working order.

Finally the Richardson contingent arrived to inspect progress on the roof.

Putting the roof on

Most of the work is going on inside the stables at the moment - the electrician and the plumber have done the first fix. Work is still progressing on the outside though.

The gable at the end of the stable is now finished and looks really good.

Work has started on the roof of the stable.

And progress is steady.

Mike is digging out the swimming pool, but he has taken on some new apprentices.



Week beginning 20th March

This week work has mainly been focused on the stone work on the front of the stables.

The progress is slow and steady and the finished result looks excellent.

By the end of the week the stone on the front of the stables was complete.

But once the mercury hit 18 degrees, Gary & Matt took their clothes off!

Even I overcame my fear of ladders to "inspect the work"!

Despite these distractions, the walls for the conservatory have been completed.

Some of the windows are in and the rest should arrive later this week.