I wasn’t sure of I would be able to post a blog this week, and I will keep it brief, as we are currently off-line with no phone, and so no internet service and we are relying on the generosity of some neighbours who allow us to pop in a couple of times a day to tap into their wifi!
It is very frustrating to be disconnected from the online world as we are now so dependent on being able to go online whenever we want – and we like our guests to be able to. We do not know what the issue is. Our service provider, apparently having done some remote diagnostics, tells us that it is our wifi box which they have sent a replacement for. We are not convinced as we have the same problem with 2 wifi boxes that both broke at exactly the same time which we think is unlikely. However, until we change the boxes and see if it makes a difference, they won’t send an engineer.
The frustration continues as the replacement boxes should have been delivered on Saturday although, having tracked the package online (from our neighbours), they weren’t because ‘the recipients were not at home’. We were here all day waiting but, we suspect, they may have telephoned before delivering to confirm we were here and, oddly, got no response. Ggrrrr! An e-mail of clarification has been sent so, we hope, we should receive the new boxes tomorrow that, we suspect, will confirm the problem is on the line itself and we need a technician.
But to the work … Last week’s blog said that the weather forecast was changing frequently so was likely to mean chopping and changing between projects inside and out as the weather allowed.
Thankfully the start of the week remained dry and allowed me to finish the cladding and slate to the north gable end of Grange. Again, we think it looks fantastic if it is large face of yellow at this stage. The colour will change over time and we will stain it eventually.
I managed to finish the Grange gable before the weather turned and I could shift back to the interior of Priory and replacing the floorboards which had rotted. This task, sadly like so many I undertake, has taken quite a bit longer than I had anticipated effectively taking the remainder of the week to get to a point when it can be varnished. As is often the case, there was more to be done than initially believed and, not being a very experienced joiner, I took a lot longer to get the result we want.
These pictures show the various stages of the build.
However, we are really happy with how it looks and, as you can see from the pictures, we have added a new addition and built in some floor lighting to illuminate the slate wall.
Today has also been wet which would have allowed me to varnish the new floorboards however, having re-read the instructions on the varnish tin, I don’t think it is hard-wearing enough to be suitable for floors so I need to get a replacement tomorrow – see how some of these tasks take longer than anticipated!
Sadly, because the weather has been poor, I haven’t made any progress on the Priory fence which will have to happen next week – lots to do and I will try and update during the week – internet access permitting …
Salut.