Original art!

These fantastic canvases were painted by Miles and Zack today.  The only input I had was the grey outlines and I think they did a fantastic job.  Cannot wait to see them on the wall in their room - maybe by next month?!

January update

Happy New Year!
Not too much has happened over the festive fortnight!  We did manage to work a couple of days but it was very cold and we felt we didn't achieve very much.

The floor is now down in the living room and Graham has fitted the soil pipe for the downstairs loo which now means that the slater can start this week.

I have been re-attaching cupboard doors and fitting a clothes rail in the cupboard in the boys bedroom.  I think it looks straight - the hanger doesn't slide so it must be more or less level!

I have also purchased some lovely fabric for making curtains for the kitchen and cushions.  The fabric is vintage and once upon a time were Hungarian grain sacks!  See Parna and Beyond France for other designs.

The gas supply is being re-connected this week so we should have some heating on within a few weeks - hurray!

Chose this one because of the initials!

For kitchen curtains

Definitely a level rail!

Finished floor in living room

I think the basketball lines add character!

Windows!

Well we are meant to be watertight but the torrential rain over the last couple of days has taken it's toll.  The windows and doors are in but the velux window is leaking.  The electricians have also been in to do the 1st fix electrics so once the wood all dries out we are ready to insulate and plasterboard.  The slater and brickie will get going between Christmas and New Year so hopefully by the beginning of 2013 we will be watertight!

When we went to the house yesterday we had lunch at Deskford Garden Galleries.  It is a lovely tea room with an art gallery and antiques shop.  The furniture was very reasonably priced and I would love to have space for the beautiful linen press I saw. We did buy some lovely ceramic bothies, boats and lighthouses for the house.

Merry Christmas!

The ceramics in the boys bedroom!

Partition wall for the downstairs loo and utility area

All we need in here is the carpet!

More furniture!

I've spent the day between getting ready for Christmas and painting some more furniture!  This tray table was £11 in the sale at Argos.  All the other tray tables I saw online were between £80 and £100 each.  Now my one has been painted I think it looks just as good as them!  I have used Annie Sloan paint first in Old White then Duck Egg on top.

Before

After

Concrete, walls and power!

I can eventually upload some photos of the concrete floor being poured.  I have just spent an hour talking my dad through the process of downloading photos from my mum's phone!!

Last week the concrete floor was poured and this week the timber frame went up.  I could not get up to Cullen to do any work this week as we had around 6/7" of snow at Chapel and the road conditions were terrible.   There was no snow at all in Cullen and the joiners have managed to get the frame up and will be installing the windows and door on Wednesday.   The electricians have also been in and we now have power throughout the house - at last!  We have been working with only one socket for the last year so that will make a huge difference!

My dad borrowed a horsebox from a friend today and we moved out most of the furniture I've been restoring to make room for the 8' Christmas tree that was delivered on Friday!  Once all the furniture had been unpacked we had a lovely lunch at the Cullen Bay Hotel and then the boys saw Santa!

All quiet

Before

After in Annie Sloan Duck Egg and a layer of clear wax

My badge collection from 30 years ago!  It will become a piece of art!

Things have been a bit quiet over the past few weeks.  I have been busy making costumes and being a nun in the Sound of Music so the house has taken a back seat!  While I have been at home I have been treating some furniture for woodworm and refurbishing it.  I am really pleased with the results!

The carpets are ordered and all the appliances are ordered too - just need a kitchen to put them in!  The joiners are starting to build the frame for the kitchen this week so it shouldn't be too long now!

Foundations in

Over the past couple of weeks we have had the builder in digging out the foundations and filling them back up again for the new kitchen.  It is now ready for the joiner to put the frame up which should start in the next few weeks.  They have promised it will be wind and watertight by the end of the month!

Hole dug for foundations 

Drainage and blockwork done ready for timber frame to be built

Dining room floor finished