The Builders have arrived..

So the builders have been here for a week now, turning a perfectly habitable house into a dust-covered building site. What have we done?

 

This is John and he works his socks off from 8:30 till 4:30 with barely a break.He is knocking the new doorways through and putting in the new soil pipes for the 2 new bathrooms too, and will be putting up partitions and installing the Suites as and when

 

This is one of my favourites, a channel to carry waste pipe from new front bedroom into cellar. Good thing we are going to re-decorate the hallway. Have you fallen asleep yet?

 

They have had to move the tank out from under the stairs temporarily to enable the new access from the 'yellow room' to make it en-suite.

 

 

This is Ed who works with John. Hes a big bloke and lives in the remotest house in Yorkshire with Wife and 2 small Daughters. Won 'Villages strongest man' 2 years on the trot. He is the only man in Cosh though.

 

Nice pic of Judith knocking a hole in a wall. Please note lack of hi-viz, hat and boots.. Health and safety be damned.

 

Its not all been stress though. It was bank holiday weekend so we thought we'd go for a short walk to Long Preston as the signpost said it would be 2.3 miles so about 5 miles return trip. More like 10 miles. My legs have been aching since we woke up on Monday morning and its now Tuesday evening. We did get to see one of these though. Wheeling up into the mid afternoon sky on the thermals created by the slope of the dales. Also Skylarks and small brown bird i have yet to id.

Judith very excited at wild bilberry which grows all over. The bluebells and wild garlic are also out in force,

 

 

Buzzard (not my pic, thanks Google)

 

Since then we have had a meeting with George our project manager who apologised profusely for cocking up the dimensions of the tank to go in the basement (too wide) meaning the rest of the house has to be dug up to get the new drain in. Oh well, at least we are about to order the new bathrooms, it is a bit of sanit(r)y(ware) in a sea of madness. We are having to scale back a bit on fixtures etc as our budget is now being stretched a bit too thin for comfort .Les the plumber came round today to case the joint before ordering in the new boilers , Yes, plural. Boilers.

Below is a pic (most unflattering, sorry Judith) of the stud work going up in the rear 'green' bedroom. Its going to have the smallest bathroom but will be very modern and hi-tec. Also the least expensive room.

 

This is Ed digging up the rear courtyard for yet more drains. Its taken through the lovely tall domed window that mirrors the ceiling contours. The previous owner had it covered with some huge drapes so that you couldn't see it, not any more. We have removed them. Cant wait to see it all finished, though this seems like a very long way off at present.

 

But the house is looking lovely from the outside, the garden has sprung into life, Raz caught her first vole yesterday and all is calm in happy valley, Until the builders start again tomorrow, that is.

 

 

Off to see the people at Merritts in Skipton tomorrow , am going to ask very bluntly for 20% discount. Wish me luck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 2013

We went for a short walk today as the sun had at last deign'd to make an appearance. Went up to Austwick again to see the wild flowers on the hills. Oxenber woods populate the area bounded by a short walk from Austwick, on to Feizor and then round the hill back to Austwick again. Lots of limestone pavement and its still a bit too early for the full spectacular that will be the bluebell extravaganza that is just around the corner.

 

God I look fat in this picture. And I've been to the gym today.

Its quickly becoming one of my and Judith's favourite spots. Its an easy walk and the pub 'the gamecock inn' is a nice reward for an hours toil up into the dales. There are orchids, wild violets, wood anemones and bluebells out at the moment, and its glorious.

Wild orchids

 

Kids playing in the stream, and yes, we did ask the responsible adult who they were with if it was ok.Its a shame you have to ask, but there it is.

The stream , a bit further towards austwick.

We got back an hour or so ago and the sun was still out so I took some photos of the outside in the setting sun. It rises over these hills to the east , and sets behind the garden by the tree house.

Ive no idea why this bloody awful pic of me has appeared again, but I'll be damned if I can find out how to get rid of it!!

Google need friends at the moment, if anyone from there would like to send me on a bloggers course, I would be most humbly accepting.

Visitors, Clapham and cake!

Well, I know its been nearly a month since our last post, apologies for that, its been a bit busy here in Yorkshireland.
Above is a picture of our new bedroom prior to us decorating, with the aid of our good friends Charlie and Sandy from Kent. Charlie is the one on the left.

 

Its all been filled, sanded and painted, the carpet cleaned and our furniture moved down from the first floor (thanks David from the DIY store) to make our new bedroom prior to the builders arriving on the 20th.

Here is the completed room sans furniture.

This next bit from Judith.

 

 

Just as we were flagging . . . . .  the painting party arrived from Kent.  They worked like Trojans and were paid in cake.

Thank you Sandy and Charlie!  Thanks also for the beautiful barometer and the sander - henceforth to be referred to as the "Hendry Memorial Sander".

We managed some lovely walks too, and dinner with some new Settle friends.  We had a good laugh and learned that the town's hotbed of intrigue is the vets' surgery.  Hilarious.  Alan Bennett is a regular visitor to Settle and it is clear where he gets some of his inspiration from.

We went for a nice walk after the guests had gone, over to Clapham and the nature trail up to Ingleton cave. Clapham is a picture postcard village set by a babbling brook. It has some delightful cafes and a pub with a notice on the bar that warns 'No Dad Dancing'. I think they knew I was coming. We were doing our usual huffing and puffing on the climb up to the caves, pretending to be interested in rhododendrons etc whilst sneakily stopping get our breath back. Then , to my shame, an elderly lady in tweeds with the sweetest Labrador whispers to us ' Don't worry, its easier on the way back'. Women from Yorkshire don't mix their words and seem to have boundless supplies of energy, even in their 90's.

We have also started doing up the shed/summerhouse and got Ginge to come over and put a new window in, to replace the rotting one. We ummed and ahhed about wood vs UPVC but plummed for the UPVC as its not adjoined to the house so the aesthetics are not so important (and it was £200 cheaper)

 

Then it was a few days away in London. Me to see my Girls and Judith to see her parents. Thanks to Brad and Zoe for putting me up, and putting up with me. The food in Zizi's in Epping was lovely.

Equally the Tapas in Walthamstow village was something else, I particularly liked the green bean with Parma ham. It was Kirsty's 25th birthday and I think she has just about recovered from her meal the following night with her mates. Some of those facebook pictures I now wish I hadn't looked at.

On the Friday we went to look at Kirsty and Kyle's new place and had to wear Hi-viz jackets and hard hats as its still being built.

 

I know, too cute for words.

 

And then it was time to be back in Yorkshire and get on the train from Euston. Well worth booking a seat, Its so fast and convenient, and to get to London and back is really easy, Some of the people I have met here in Settle go for day trips.No kidding.

Saturday night we went to see Spiers and Boden at the Victoria Halls in Saltaire, just outside Bradford. Its about 40 minutes from here but well worth the trip to see the Mill alone. Titus Salt was one of those megalomaniac northern mill owners who named absolutely everything after himself, in cluding the local hospital (now luxury flats, naturally) and many of the roads have girls names. I fancy they were named after he had had his evil way with them. Spiers and Boden are 2 lads from Bellowhead, the bizzare folk band whom I love, but haven't seen yet. Judith thought the audience were all on drugs, there was some serious flinging about of ones self at the front of stage during the last few numbers and the encore 'new york girls' (can you dance the polka?) I was nearly up there myself, dancing like a true dad. Not quite a mosh pit, more a posh pit. Great evening had by all.

 

Too much "hey nonny no" for me. J

 

I will try and be a bit more organised in the future and keep the blog going whilst the builders are in (1 week and counting) M