So we’ve been having a few weeks of living in our house rather than doing things with it. But it was just a breather before what is hopefully the final push. And in the last week we’ve seen a few big changes, mostly outside. But before we get to that a few piccies of the changes inside, courtesy of Sean from SRG Tiling. He has made a start on the remaining tiling downstairs – and is just waiting for the boxing and plumbing to be redone in the downstairs loo before coming back and finishing off. The utility room, downstairs loo and front door step all look fabulous. He’s a talented boy!

I’ve always felt that the house gets more modern as you move from the front to the back. The Study (aka ‘Room of Shame’) is pretty much untouched so is really representative the original house. So the tiling at the front reflects the tiling that was in the old house, especially in the old kitchen.

And the other major change has been outside at the back. The garden hasn’t been touched for over a year. And for much of that it was masquerading as a builder’s yard. So it was in desperate need of some TLC. So its been back to Martin and his team from MJ Field Gardening Services. First off was clearing the folorn-looking ‘garden’, starting with the very top – which we had always wanted as a wildlife garden.

Next they moved on to our lawn – although it is a bit of a stretch to call it a lawn.

And then, one long, tough Friday later…

And then by the time i came home, we had a beautiful garden. We have been a bit of a fan of the view from our lounge for a while (we’ve hidden it well though – I doubt anybody has picked up on it…) but it truly looks amazing now.

You know that thing we’ve harped on about for months? The one big thing that we have been waiting for? The thing that would make all the difference? You know.

It…

The thing…

Well its done. The floor is finished. Mike has just left – 6pm on a Sunday bless him – and off to the hospital to get his pain sorted out after his “dentist” appears to have botched the removal of two teeth leaving him in considerable pain all week. We didn’t force him to stay honest! But he has done an amazing job and it looks fabulous. 

So it started with a big clearance effort last weekend

Then on Monday the latex started. Smelled really vile but essential to get the whole expanse level. The one good thing Mike told us was that it smelled so bad that cats steered well clear of it. That’s lucky!!

Tuesday saw more latex and more smell. But no more cat paw prints.

And by Wednesday the first lot of latex was dry enough to take furniture, so the remainder of the floor could be covered. One and a half tonnes of latex across the whole floor. Today was also dentist day – and the beginning of Mike’s suffering.

Then on Thursday, with Mike fully pain-killered up, the exciting stuff starts.

Friday – big expanses start to be finished

Mike comes back on Saturday to get it finished

And then still in pain, and despite us telling him to go the emergency doctors, Mike returns on Sunday to complete the job. Just another example of the fabulous people we have had help us throughout this project.

So that is the floor done. And just to show what a difference it makes – look at these two pictures taken at different times over the last week:

So, not a lot to report on the house – although the entire downstairs has been cleared – its floor-fitting week!!! And we’ve given the go ahead to the gardener to re-turf the lawn and clear the jungle at the top. So exciting times looming… But we have a few more photos from last week’s fantastic day in Rochester of Becky’s graduation. These are from Becky’s camera and taken from her Facebook page. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

We have a really important post due later this week – and no its not about the floors – but in the meantime a couple of developments – we have finally got furniture for the bedrooms. We’ve actually had it a while, but Oak Furnitureland only seem to deliver their larger pieces to the ground floor, despite promises to the contrary. Maddie and I, osteoarthritis and bad back notwithstanding, got most of the wardrobes upstairs ourselves when the delivery men proved unable or unwilling, and then last weekend Chris and Charlotte helped us move the final piece onto the flat  roof  and in through the bedroom window. So the caravan room and our bedroom are now fully furnished. And every little bit is a step closer to finishing

And we’ve had our first long term visitors come to stay – one of the main reasons we did the house in the first place was to have room for guests. So we have had Maddie’s mum, Joyce and her friend Scott from Canada (or Canadia) to stay. Joyce met Scott doing the Coast to Coast walk twelve years ago  and he has been over to the UK several times to walk since. He finished the Cotswold way last week and came over to Yateley after that. Its been absolutely fantastic having them both to stay – we’re just coming to the end of a touristy weekend in London and Oxford.