Saturday 3 October 2009

The lights and the beams


Before


And now: We are lit up!

Temporary electrics have been put in and now the half barn is all electricked up. Can even plug something into a socket without having to run extension leads all over the place. And I know that it is not a palace, but this is where we are going to be living while the house is getting sorted. But not until next year. We still have to put chaux (lime plaster) in between the river stones from which the walls of the house are made, and we still have to save up the money for the tiles on the floor and the log fire. But: we have light! Yahoooo!

Sorry I haven't posted up a blog this week but the pace has been frenetic here. Last weekend I took hold of myself and made a daily task sheet of 'things to do', and wow! I have done a humungous lot of work on the redevelopment of my web site, as well as loads of other things this week. My halo is positively glowing, or that's what I think anyway! Just proves that organising one's self and setting some daily goals is very productive. Trouble is, that the blog has become a victim of my timetable, mostly because it takes ages to write, and other writing has taken precendence these last few days.

However, the builders have made grand progress this week, and here is Jean-Pierre on the left, and Jean-Louis on the right and these are the carpenters who are doing the roofing.


And this is what they have been doing:



Soon these beams, and the house beneath it, will not see the sky until the roof needs replacing or rebuilding again. Hopefully not our life time!

And the courtyard, looking to the right:


And the courtyard, looking to the left, with Gus posing in the middle:


All of this lot is going up onto the roof. It would seem that we might just get a roof on our house sometime soon!

Things I have learnt this week: that if one organises oneself then it is amazing how much gets done, plus the ecstatic feeling of having done so much puts one on so much of a 'high' that one forgets to get the 'end of the week' tiredness. Unless they have a newcomer who thinks it an outrage to be left in his kennel in the Hutto (Hut Office) while the rest of the team goes off together to the bedroom caravan.

This so enrages the newcomer that he shouts out his outrage on and off all night long. Not last night though. Hubs got fed up too, and launched a verbal tirade of outrage back at the newcomer, which so surprised the newcomer that he thought he had better go to sleep and stop causing a ruckus. Trouble was that Hubs woke himself up, and if he is awake, then he seems to like me to be awake as well so he can have someone to talk to. Bless. Not to worry, though, newcomer got some sleep, so at least one of us did. The other three didn't. Because if Hubs is awake, then I am awake, and if we are awake, then Bools doesn't have much chance of sleeping either. But, as I say, newcomer, did!

So: we have light in the half barn, and the roof is coming along at a pace. Although October, we are still in summer gear although there is a distinct autumnal feel to the air tonight. Nevertheless, it still feels like we are in summer.

OK, so time to be off. Have some sleep to catch up on, and hopefully our newcomer, Gus, feels the same.


4 comments:

DUTA said...

It seems you've been making progress. Kudos to you and your hubby. Jean-Pierre and Jean-Louis look like two nice guys who'll do a good job.

I must say I have pity on the "newcomer" who feels discriminated. You should do something about it.

Anyway, you describe things with much talent and spirit of observation.

Land of shimp said...

One of the most fascinating things about your home is seeing the old structure being married to the shiny, new materials. There's something very heartening in that, history and wear being incorporated into the new and serviceable.

I was just thinking how wonderful it will be for you to have this blog, this record of progress, when you are living in the completed home. Just a few clicks and you'll always be able to remember the stages that went into making your home.

It is a great feeling when the list is made, and the tasks on it handily accomplished. There's a feeling of being up to the business of simply getting things done, which at times in life can feel quite daunting. It's great when the feeling is reversed, isn't it?

Vera said...

I would agree with you about our newcomer/ Gus, Duta. He arrived at an awkward time, but if we had not given him a home then he would have been put into a dog rescue centre. He has already had four owners through no fault of his own, which is a shame because if he keeps on getting passed on to other people he will start becoming psychologically damaged. So we will persevere with him, but he needs to fit in here, hence his kennel in the office at the moment. That is all we can do for him for now, but this will change in the next few months when we move into the half barn.

Vera said...

Indeed you are right, Land of Shimp, it is a great feeling tying the old and the new together and trying to make the pairing look right. I think we are managing it.

I started the blog as diary for us really. Like you said, it will be good to look back in the future to what we have achieved. But since Labartere is hopefully going to become a Holistic Retreat in the future, the history of how we did it will hopefully inspire others. Not necessarily to renovate an old house and become self sufficient, but to perhaps inspire them to pay attention to their present lifestyles and to take opportunities which come there way no matter how daunting the taking up of that opportunity is.