Builders Bulletin 3

We are off out today to order the new kitchen units, oven, hob, extractor and floor tiles. At the same time we will be ordering the new bathroom kit and 80 sq metres of loft insulation. Most of the ripping out is now completed leaving some serious clearing up to do on Monday when the 2nd skip is delivered. The electrician is selected and starts work on Wednesday to re-wire the tatty bungalow.
In the meantime, the tidy place we are currently living in looks as if it has been let already - we will release this when we have finished the refurbishment of project bungalow and moved back aboard Caxton. Talking of which... we are going to move Caxton up to Crick mid May and leave it in the tender hands of the Barn Owl team to prepare the boat for the Crick Boat Show.

Builders Bulletin 2

Joe is now talking to the third electrician about an estimate to re-wire the project bungalow whilst I am awaiting a viewing from potential rental tenants. The letting agency advertised the tidy bungalow we are living in ('tidy' and us living here with two Labradors is perhaps a bit of a stretch but there you go..) on Tuesday and called me yesterday to arrange this viewing - quick work!
Meanwhile at the tatty bungalow, the first skip has been filled to the brim with detritus; there is now no bathroom, no kitchen, no carpets, no wallpaper, no curtains and no tiles on the walls. The new double glazing has just been measured and ordered and we are about to finalise our layout ideas for the refurbished kitchen and bathroom and get the units etc. ordered. So things are progressing, no hiatus yet.

AWOL

There I was, wallpaper steamer in one hand, scraper in tuther, when I notice a red shadow approaching the glazed front door. As I opened the door the red shadow was just about to knock the door.."Oh, hello, sorry, I am Joan and I live at number 10, sorry to trouble you but would you have a large black Labrador?" As Joan finishes her intro-cum question, Fletcher moses into view "Eh, have you got two Labradors by any chance?" she asks. Yes I replied, looking about me for Floyd. "Sorry but I think your dog is in my kitchen you see, nothing to worry about though." Offering my abject apologies I hare off to the back garden and in best fish wife mode I shout for Floyd who appears through the hedge moments later..
We are off today to buy some sheep fencing to secure our neighbours from a sociable but scrounging Labrador!

What a stink!!

Whilst I went to Essex Joe and the dogs went back to Brinklow and Caxton for the weekend. On entering the boat they were met by an awful smell.... Yes, we had left food in the fridge by mistake and turned everything off. Himself had a lot of unexpected clearing and cleaning to do in order to be able to breath freely, though the dogs didn't seem to mind. All is well now after any number of cleaning/anti-bacterial products have been liberally splashed about.... Note to self - check the fridge dear!

Golden Day

This weekend found me back in Essex to celebrate the Golden Wedding anniversary of Daphne and Bill, I had been one of the bridesmaids at their wedding fifty years ago. Achieving fifty years of marriage is remarkable in today's society, so well done them!

Builders bulletin

We have spent the last three days stripping out the contents of our project bungalow. All the walls have been stripped of their wallpaper, the tiles on the bathroom walls are now no more. The radiators and hot water tank were removed Thursday; a fun job given that the water tank drain valve was jammed shut, the answer, a hammer, a hole punch and handy dustbin to collect the spout of water from the still full tank. It took an age to accomplish but...
The Letting Agents have been round both properties to advise on what tenants will want/need and I have struck a deal on the management fees. So all is progressing as planned. So far, so good.

Kings Dyke

A shortish walk away from the latest 'homestead' is Kings Dyke, pictured here. I escaped the dust and musty carpets of the bungalow we are refurbishing to walk the dogs and found this stretch of footpath/cycleway to explore.

Cambridgeshire fens in their spring attire.

The sky is something to behold isn't it?

Jobbing Builders

Yesterday we started the refurbishment of our tatty bungalow. This week is designated 'wrecking week', clearing out all the tat; musty carpets, forty year old kitchen and bathroom, a couple of dodgy ceilings, a rickety lean-to cum conservatory and the contents of the loft space.

A sample shot of the kitchen, ancient boiler and yes, that IS a radiator above the worktop!

The lean-to, with rotten window frames and non-safety glass. We managed to get the kitchen units out and broken up, the bathroom ceiling down (polystyrene tiles still attached), all carpets and underlay up and two rooms stripped of wallpaper - lack of water stopped play when Joe had to turn off the rising main. He has now gone off to Wickes to buy a new stop tap; the old one didn't want to play ball...

Under the carpet was a copy of the Daily Mirror 15th August 1968!! Sadly, that doesn't seem too long ago, well it isn't is it?

The dogs like it too

Above is a photo taken at Fletton Lake which is only one an a half miles away from the new base and therefore ideal for exercising the two boys. Here an abundance of rough ground provides places to rummage and chase rabbits and the bonus is a lake to swim in. The dogs like it too!

Above the new suburban abode - very comfortable even though it is only temporary. Fletcher follows the sunshine around the plot much as a cat would - the conservatory has proved rather popular with him.

Settled in

Well the move on Thursday went smoothly and we have now got ourselves comfortably ensconced here in our new temporary quarters. Monday we start the work on refurbishing the other property - oh joy... We think it will take about six weeks to complete but we will see.
Joe is going back to Caxton over the coming Easter weekend just to make sure all is well whilst I get to visit family in Essex for a Golden wedding celebration. I was a bridesmaid at that wedding all those years ago - 5o years blimey, we will all be asking where the time went!

Bye, Bye Cottage

We bought this cottage in the spring, though it was semi-derelict then, we have sold in the spring and hopefully the new owners will enjoy living here.

Tomorrow we will be scurrying back and forth with the usual household goods, so no more blogging until tomorrow evening at least.

You wait patiently

Coming back from walking the dogs yesterday and round the bend was this.... I switched off the engine and waited patiently while the oil delivery was made.

Last Day.

The last day at our Cottage and I have taken a few goodbye shots of the back - when I am dressed I will take some goodbye shots of the front - the public are not ready for a batty middle aged woman prancing about half naked in a country lane and I am not yet addled enough to do it; but I guess the time will come...