Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Look what we did
Our massive investment in this ramshackle house began in September 2005.After months of decline, UK house prices began to rise again in September 2005.
Coincidence? I don't think so.
Future graphs will include:
- 'Personal Bankruptcies in the South-East, 2006';
- 'Incidence of women found clubbed to death with Aga brochures';
- 'Frost-bite in the pre-teen years'
Monday, January 30, 2006
At last!
Now that she has a proper floor, Beatrice can get on with every childs' dream - a little light cleaning.Notice too the very thick and highly insulating silver stuff. The temperature inside is begining to diverge from the temperature outside, at long last.
Looking a little better..
Wearing the house equivalent of a face-pack and curlers, but at least not looking like randomly stacked steel and bricks any more.Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Hello?
"Hello? .... Granny Sue? ... I'm fine ... Yeah, I'm in my new room right now ... no, it's crap ..."A veteran recalls
"I remember the cold, always cold; I remember the sense of futility: that we'd lost our way, and didn't know what we were doing or why we were there; but most of all, I remember the mud: mud everywhere, slippery and stinking."Many had thought the extension would be over by Christmas. They were wrong.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Breakthrough
Hurrah! The new bit is finally joined to the old.Now Beatrice can just walk into her new bedroom.
However, if she does, she will fall through the floor, and break her neck.
The stupid child.
Inside-out
This is the last remaining piece of the 'old' house, now entirely inside.It is now possible to suddenly appear outside what was an upstairs window whilst someone is on the toilet, with hilarious consequences.
Friday, January 13, 2006
There's something very British...
The only thing missing is the end of the toilet roll being folded to a point. I always think that's a nice touch.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Say goodbye to unpleasant toilet smells.
And say goodbye to the walls, the ceiling and large parts of the roof. Yes, the bright bit at the top is the sky. If you squint, you can even see the roof of the house next door.Fresh air is so much more economical than all of those nasty deodorizors, and of course it discourages those who were previously liable to settle in with a good book for hours. Now we just dump-and-go.
Where'd it go?
Standing in the kitchen, looking upstairs to where the landing - and indeed the roof - used to be.Five minutes after this, it began to rain.
Still, it could be worse. We could owe the blurred bloke on the roof a whole load of money for doing this. Er...
Monday, January 09, 2006
Beatrice's new room
After being shown her new room, Beatrice has put in a formal request to move into it immediately.Apparently, it feels much warmer than the room she's currently in, and is a lot cleaner as well.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Oh Air Miles..
Elephant man/house
The work progresses towards completion, and dons an elephant-man mask.
"I am not a monster. I am an extension. I am entering into a dialogue with the existing building. I am respecting the local vernacular"
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Reduced facilities
I fear that the days of gourmet meals are probably over, or at least temporarily suspended.
And the oven door is open since this is currently the only form of heating we have.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
The kindness of friends..
It's hard to care much about the mud and the lack of central heating when your friends invite you to "look after" their house - and all the lovely facilities therein - while they're away.
The only time we leave this hot-tub is to pop back to what we now consider to be our old house to feed the old chickens.
Ivor & Annie, we love you.
What do you plan for the garden?
The builder recently asked us what we plan to do with the garden.
Hmmmm.... Bit less mud? More live plants? Fewer steel girders? Not so many toilets?
After careful consideration, we have concluded the following: we have absolutely no idea.
(Although the chickens will, of course, be retained)
