Day 50


Wow! I cant believe what I type - 50 days of it - no wonder I feel weary! Off to Brun today to deliver Flo back to party towers.

We are expecting tilers, plumbers, electricians today - exciting!

Yup - they're all here...

So, whilst I am driving up and down the M40 - easy run - Flo safely deposited back to get ready for Halloween at Gatecrashers in the City tonight - we have by far the greatest no of peeps here, all working away  and seemingly not getting in each others way. P managed to not make any further complications with the electrics ( I think!)......I order a new tumble dryer as that seems to have risen to the top of the list rather quickly!

He has produced a video today with audio - turn it off if you don't like it - I did!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBP-8hqvidY

I went to Yoga for some peace and quiet - he went to PhotoSoc!

Day 49


I potter around the house, do laundry, bake choc cake to welcome home the C's from their month long tour of Canada.

Flo sleeps for 14 hrs - she's caught up sleep deficit and is ready to go back!

S and D come for weekly site visit...they seem tired and frail....

J and S pop in to say Hi - they have been in Majorca this week catching last rays of summer. They look well!

Flo and I went to Sainsburys to make sure that she has enough food and drink to last her a couple of weeks, and tracked down some Halloween accessories in Tesco, so that she can get back to partying tonight!

We light the fire and sit reading papers etc.....nice....

Day 48


I head off to watch Chelsea loose against Arsenal 3-5.

P and F have lunch at the Aquadrome, visit the oldies, P has photo shoot, and F writes up a review for student mag.

Sometime whilst they were out, builders must have come along as there was a thin layer of wet concrete all over the entire floor of the extension. We knew because P trod in it! Doh! Strange that they didn't tell us that was going to happen!

Day 47


Once upon a time I had a lovely brick driveway - so big you could park many cars off the road to avoid parking fines...now I have this...

..however, this is a good thing as it means we have not only roofers but also TILERS!!
Its a beautiful day for it - hoping for a roof party tonight! Felt is going on as I write.....

A team of 5 beaver away at the roofing all day - suddenly its all taking shape. There are piles if tiles ready to be laid, felt and batons all done now. The tilers knock off early as a) they had got to where they wanted to be, and b) one of them had cut his finger with a Stanley knife - school boy error if you ask me! Maybe a nice sunny Friday afternoon also had a part to play in their early departure. The roofers stay on, doing whatever it is they do!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sWYy8Q96Pw

The veluxes in all their glory, with sensor pads hanging down. not too sure where they are going to go?!

Its Friday afternoon, so who else but Jack the plumber turns up with his lad, to scope the works for Monday.

James brings Flo down with him from Brum, and we have nice fam supper before he and S head off to Gatwick to find out whether Cancun is still there after Hurricane Rina!

So proposed head count for Monday = 3 tilers, 2 plumbers, 1 electrician + any random builders! The traffic wardens will have field day!

A good weeks work all in all, its really taking shape, and I have learnt the power of home made marmalade!!

Day 46


I have to think of something new to say about roofers - quite a challenge! To be fair, the weather hasn't been on their side this week, but they keep at it! Tilers were due today, roofers hadn't quite finished here, and the Tilers hadn't quite finished the job they had before ours.

We did get a delivery first thing of big bags full of tiles....usual flat bed lorry and big crane thing, so we are ready for action - allegedly tomorrow.

The rest of the day they appear to have been tidying up the edges/soffits/bargeboards...

Blah, blah, blah...to a roofer this must seem interesting, to me, a little slow.

However, we do have stacked up and ready for action, velux windows etc...

And so my friends, I am hoping tomorrow to return to action movie status - the weather looks promising...they have taken away the new locks, ready to put in the new front door which is being painted tomorrow - I hope varnished actually, must check!

Went to yoga- back stood up to the rigours, all good!

Finished the day with Victoria Hislop - in Chorley wood to promote her latest book, 'The Thread'. She is entertaining to listen to, provided she isn't reading from any of her books. She has sold millions so well done her, just not my cup of tea!

Day 45


We awake to the sound of pouring rain on the plastic covering to the flat roof.

Before I even finish my breakfast, I meet the electrician Nathan for the first time. (Builders seem to assume everyone should be open for business from 8am!) What a nice young man; he comes from Mornington, nr Melbourne, where the other side of the Ball family all live. We almost have a 'Grand Designs' moment over the electrics! P is driving both him and big Ian round the bend with the electrical design, so I give them both a jar of my home made marmalade to try and cool the situation!

The rain stops and its lovely and bright all day, allowing the roofers to potter away at what they do best - looking busy with no obvious changes!

Jack the plumber turns up to balance the radiators a bit better, managing to get the air out of the stubborn one on the landing. He reminds us that it will all go 'to cock' again when they put in the underfloor heating, but it is fine for now.

4pm and the lengths of white stuff in the front garden seem to be disappearing and are used to shape the windows etc....

Note whiteness appearing...soffits and bargeboard I think are the technical terms, and the uprights appear at the back - to hold up the verandah roof....

and we hear from Ian that the marmalade 'is the business'! Do I assume that he had consumed the whole jar?

I pluck up courage and suggest that P and I sit down to review the electrics plan - once again a quote has come back with +£1000 on it. Why not revert to his beloved 6' fluorescent tubes as they give him the quality of light that he is looking for and such a system would not require 4 diff switches operating as many random circuits to give every poss combo of lighting one could ever want. He is after all going to have his 4 corner lights to give 'ambient' lighting! He disappears to Gillec......

I think we have a solution....Not saying 'clever me', but quite smug! We revert to the tubes!

Watching Hurricane Rina, looks like she will get to Cancun just a little ahead of James....hopefully she will fizzle out before and not spoil his much needed and looked forward to holiday.

Day 44

The builders will be glad when the clocks change this weekend, at the moment they are arriving in darkness!

Head count at 9.30am, 2 roofers, Big Ian and 3 lackeys! We are making the most of the lovely sunny day and going coat/jacket shopping (outdoor shop @Bourne End), walk up at Ashridge and then lunch at Alford Arms in Frithsden.

Job done, lovely new coat, Swedish design, warm and waterproof, happy! Ready for Winter now! Parka's are so 'on trend' this season! Nothing satisfied P's discerning fashion needs!

Then we head over to Frithsden, park at the pub,

and head off up the hill. We walk all along the ridgway, in and across Ashridge golf course, the sun is unbelievable and the wind from the past few days has gone. This has to be the last of the summer. Strangely the trees are still green and the ground incredibly dry.

Back to the pub, for a delicious lunch....

we had food as well...

Tried to visit the nearby Vineyard. Only open Friday - Sunday. Tasted their wine in pub, typical British wine. Coming home the heavens opened. What a lovely day though away from the Works!

We came home to just the roofers....and I have no idea what they have been doing all day! P says detailed work - so detailed that you can barely see that they have done anything!

And here's the video...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MWNEteyn_o Its hard to get excited about accurately cut bits of wood! The forecast for tomorrow looks better - am thinking maybe the velux windows will go in?!

Day 43


Up at very silly o'clock to make sure we have used all the water we need before the plumbers get going. Roofers sat in driveway at 7.15am! Here we go!

So a very busy day with 2 plumbers, 2 roofers and 2 brickies!

As a result we now have a front and back gable effect - finished at the front, half way at the back. A roof of sorts on the lobby so that the boiler flue can escape through it,

and a new fully functioning boiler.

The house has never been so warm! It looks so much more modern that he old one, and they have even got the radiator by the downstairs loo to work after 13 years!

Whilst it has been busy with them running up and down stairs fiddling with radiators, Jamie and Ollie did a good job! They will be back in a few days to lay the underfloor heating and so will balance the radiators then.

P's video shows the amazing progress today, and chief builder Ian and his new moustache, the goatee of Friday has been cut down! Its still not a good look!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukO6Al1Bffc


Jan would have been 54 today, so we raise a glass and wish her a Very Happy Angel Birthday!

Day 42


Lazy day pottering around, getting all laundry etc up to date prior to plumbing fest today.

P scarified the lawn, got masses of dead stuff off, it looks much better.

S brought C round on cycle ride to view the works - nice to see him.

Watched Sunday evening drivel...just right for the week ahead. Bring it on!

Day 41


The chorus of this tune by Bjork sums up this morning....relishing getting up slowly without he builders.....nice!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWD3GRgr02E

What a nice day. S and D came round for works approval tour and coffee. S fancies sitting on the verandah in the sun! P helped with their car insurance quote. SAGA won!

Booked a mini break in Venice for end Feb, and full Luxy trip to Antigua in April. How lucky we are to be able to do these things.

Lovely walk down to the Old Town to post hospital letter into GP's, back up through the woods. No adverse effect....

Went with C and S to see Tinker, Taylor, Soldier , Spy at the Rex. Big faux pas. Hadn't read start time on ticket and assumed 7.30pm. Ooops! It was 7pm! Arrived ready for pre film drink, lobby empty, one of the lovely young girls assured us it hadn't started yet. Phew! Sat down just as it started! Loved the film but did nod off in the middle, which didn't help with the comprehension - how brown everything was in the 70's! A good thing was that I didn't have to fidget, which I normally do in their seats. The pain woman is clearly on the right tracks!  :-)

Day 40


Last day of lent! Maybe it is a turning point too for the East wing! Anyway - they are here and ready for whatever it is they laboriously do. I have decide that most roofs these days are standard A frame things and maybe special roof building is a rarity and hence more tricky?

I will try and get P to do a video - though changes are so slow, it will have less impact than the earlier ones, more like a French film with lots of moody looks, than an action movie!

Friday 17.20 - I thought we were tradesmen clear then plumber man turns up....

Anyway, nothing new to report other than wood being made into a roof. P has taken extensive pics, probs only of any interest to architects and engineers - this roof is worthy of Christopher Wren!

Whilst up loading these pics I discover why plumber man was here...they are changing the boiler over on Monday 8am! Thanks for the notice gentlemen! Good job we are flexible, or at least trying to be, and that we have a log fire! Least its not supposed to be too cold on Monday....

So, the end of another week. I try to recover quietly from back fiddling, having a nap this afternoon interesting with them banging away.... fantastic surprise though, a lovely bunch of flowers arrive...

Thank you James, very much appreciated...back is feeling good, but not counting any chickens just yet!

We ended the day sharing a bottle of 2006 Burgundy - absolutely delicious...thank you Stephan - looking forward to more of the same at WineSoc next week!

Day39


Roofers are here, and adjusting what they did yesterday - oh my word! When quizzed they say they are perfectionists and want to get it just right - I wonder whether that's a euphemism for making a cock up the day before?!

Off to get spine injected to see if that will help relieve the constant back pain...blog will be delayed tonight as I have told P not to let me near anything other than the TV.

Apologies to my fans for no evening update, fine but weary last night on return! Bed by 8pm.

Here's how it looks now...

Day 38


Roofers right outside the bedroom window, thanks to scaffolding , time to get up!

Well, there seems to be little to show for a whole days efforts, banging, drilling etc. Maybe its one of those things where it will all come together very quickly now that its all prepared. Its not nearly as exciting as watching walls grow up. Come back Michael and Ian!

P manages to catch Big Ian to review where we are up to vs plan...he is happy enough and is still looking at finishing first week in Dec. We will look at electrics next week when the roof is up. Plumber Jack comes round and we decide on the optional extra of a combi boiler, which, apparently,will give the new bathroom a higher water pressure and more instant hot water. No point having a huge, sexy shower and only a dribble coming out of it! and only £300 extra - seems peanuts in the scheme of things.

It doesn't look like 9 hrs work does it?! Clearly as an ignorant observer I am not truly appreciative of what's gone on!

I had lovely walk to and from Pilates in the old town this morning, baked xmas cake (looking good), and paint toenails ready for tomorrow - got to feel good on the operating table! Decided on bright pink (Freshy)! Painted nails always make a girl feel better! Back has been absolutely shit today - so am hoping for some sort of miracle tomorrow!

Day 37


I'm not going to lie, I have reached a Grand Designs Moment; one where I would like Kevin and the BBC crew to come along and fast forward to the end! Its true, that we haven't had any major illness, limbs lost, got unexpectedly pregnant, had to live in a caravan through an Arctic winter, but I am truly fed up with builders at silly o'clock every morning, not being able to get at my car, having a skip and a builders loo in the front garden, constant banging outside, making decisions without the knowledge I need to make them...blah, blah, blah!

So I have given myself a firm talking too, after all negative thoughts never got any one anywhere, and am going to have my very own Grand British Bake Off today and fill the freezer with cakes, puddings etc!

Progress!
Not only have I started the Christmas cake, soaking masses of dried fruit in a pint of brandy (don't you love Nigella's recession cookery!), made a fruit cake (P has already carved into this), and a Yule log (another thank you to Nigella). I think it should be renamed 'death by Yule log' with the quantity of bad things in it! I have given myself 9/10, marked down a little as it looked a bit messy! In the freezer ready for xmas - it will be fine with a dusting of icing sugar and a few strategic robins!

And, I framed 2 sets of photos for Cley, from 'birthday week' and 'last of the summer sun' weekend.

Back to the point of this blog....a lot of roofing has gone on - you can see the shape of the main roof now, and brickwork at the verandah end has been done to support the uprights, I think!

Today's edited highlights...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og0U9tBpP4E

Apparently they think that they are 1/3rd of the way through the job.....2nd roof starting tomorrow....we think that they are a bit slow, but v precise, checking and rechecking every measurement, which is a good thing!

Finished the day with a performance of Drill at RMS with C. What an amazing spectacle. I think a lot of young people would benefit from this sort of training, which involves such skill, precision, discipline and they all loved doing it. Wish they had had it at DCHS!

Day 36


Foggy at 7.30am, but that does not stop our intrepid builders - looking forward to seeing the roof go up this week.

Deliveries come and go - insulation for the roof, velux windows...

More deliberations on the nature of the flooring. Decided to run with ceramics without the fancy interlining builder suggested - we can see no need - that floor, once dry, will never move! Phew - that saved £800!

Kevin and Wayne work away all day measuring, sawing, nailing - the stuff roofers do. One bonus - they seem to have their own hot drinks! Its getting v windy, but I guess they are used to that!

The end result isn't too spectacular, but I guess it has to be done slowly to get it right! Nice tidy job, and lots of cut up bits of wood in the main area. I'm looking forward to seeing how it joins on to the house - 2D plans are all very well, but 3D much better!

I cant get my head around the lighting (probably the last major thing to consider), so went onto familiar territory - IKEA! Need to get sorted all the storage in the lobby....easy! Expedit will do the job as ever!

And here's what you have all been waiting for...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZTUIJizxTI

Day 35


Once again, all quiet on the building front.
P out all day at a Royal Photographic Society  Day in the Barn Hall Amersham.
D and S come round for a site survey and approve the works so far!
I go to Majestic for a 'Wine Walk'. Just 12 of us in 2 groups with 4 wine stations - testing some new wines matched with food from an Italian deli in London. V interesting wines and mix of people. Loved the thistle pate!
Lit the log burner and watched Sunday evening tv - all crap - restful though before the week ahead.

Day 34


No builders - bliss!
Lovely sunny autumnal morning - must do some garden tidying before I head off to Birmingham for lunch with Flo and James.She is 19 today...OMG!! How did the baby in the family get to be so old!

Easy drive up to Party Towers - where indeed they had been living up to the name. Lots of lovely young people wandering around in various sates of casualness - onesys etc - think I might like some!

All charming - Flo up and ready (ish) to go - James joins us and we head over to Harborne for a lovely lunch at Zizzi's, pop in to Sainsburys on the way home to fill up her fridge, and we eat some birthday cake and leave her to disco nap before further birthday festivities.

Lovely day - thank you Flo for letting us be part of you being 19!

Day 33


Builders O'Clock finds us still in bed! Lazy/tired!

Anyway, before even breakfast is finished, this arrives...

...the roof...another lovely sunny day......

Ps action report for the day...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFyJA1SL1Jc

So....half day for Michael and little Ian. They finish off the brickwork, and put a plank on the top ready for the roofers on Monday to do their stuff. Very neat finishing off above the window..

Front garden now dominated by pile of roof trusses and a big skip....

After a lengthy meeting with Big Ian on the topic of flooring - 15 mins and his phone went off 4 times ( how annoying!), it appears that if we want laminate flooring, we will have to wait 1 week for every cm of screed depth. It will be 7cm deep - ie the best part of 2 months before the flooring is down. So back to Plan B and it will be tiled throughout. Sorry Nick, the sterile OR look is better than having an extension that we can't use. Chosen floor tiles from B and Q voted by Dawn as too orangey/beige....So we go on the hunt round Chesham....we visit Wickes (horrid) and Topps Tiles (very horrid) in search of the Holy Grail (perfect floor tile).To no avail. I draw a line under it and accept a compromise...P goes into Amersham, convinced that Kevin in Susannah Tiles will have just the job...not at £10 /sq m in my opinion...

They look fine to me...certainly not offensive and will complement the white walls! I have convinced myself!

Forgot to say when I did this post - comedy moment in B and Q when they offered P a discount - only available to the over 60s!

A good weeks work.....WineO'clock now!

Day 32


As expected today has been largely about flooring, but surprisingly also about scaffolding! It seems that the scaffolders could be bothered to turn up today, and this is now the view from my kitchen window...

The orchids are doing their best to mask the metal-work outside, but sadly its not enough!

We do indeed now live on a building site!

Lintels are in and fancy brickwork above them is in place.

We had the 'pleasure' of trawling round Wycombe and Slough to sort out the flooring. Largely as I expected and B and Q have come up with what looks like a workable solution - we will have to consult the Oracle tomorrow - he will draw in his cheeks and add another £1000 to the quote. See how I am now managing my expectations better! I have made shopping a lifelong study, but this experience was right down at the bottom, alleviated only by the very helpful staff in B and Q in both Wycombe and Slough.Good job boys!

And here's what you have been waiting for...Ps daily video..He diced with death patrolling the giddy heights of the scaffolding just so that we could all enjoy the views!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyUzAhqo9FQ

Finished the day with a talk by Sir Steve Redgrave at the R M School in Ricky. What a genuinely nice bloke.Big! Nice to see that he and S have the same taste in Dad shirts, and that Sir Steve's put on a bit of weight since he stopped rowing! It happens to us all!

Day 31


Usual start, they are nothing if not good timekeepers our boys!

Today is all about walls. They need scaffolding to get to the top course of bricks, none appears. Scaffolding man is too busy to deliver?? So they go and get some trestle things from the yard and improvise. They seem a bit cheesed off with this. But walls internal and external go up.

You can see from the clouds that it is still windy, but lovely and sunny, I think the Gods are on our side with the weather!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNINQdhQkhA

In the meantime, we are bombarded by Big Ian with decisions to make...and it seems every decision comes with a price tag of £1000. Now, I was warned by many peeps that this is how builders work, but by 5pm, I was exhausted with it, and we haven't even started on flooring and lighting.....P and I are to have a mid project review meeting tomorrow ...and look at flooring!

Went off to see Jane Eyre at the Rex.....a tale of endless misery, but no tales of building works, and so light relief! A good production, Jane is played brilliantly!

On a lighter note, so many friends are having Crackberry issues, I felt obliged to put in this clip to lighten the blog a bit!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI

Day 30


Off they go again at 7.30am....daylight saving will have to happen soon otherwise they will be building in the dark.

Lots of walls go up, nearly to roof level. Scaffolding doesn't appear, not sure why, so they then start on the inside wall, and stuff insulation in between. So what with all the insulation and the underfloor heating, it will not be cold in there!

Speeded up ridiculously as he had the camera on all day today...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs0fgcRr_Xc

Lots of decisions made, doors internal and external, glass for window, velux windows (normal or electric), bifold doors...(3 or 4), and now we have to move on to lighting....

Garden produce coming out of our ears, so they all take home a goodie bag of Hudgell pears and tomatoes!

Polish Michael has his first taste of peppermint tea! I tell him its an English delicacy - he politely says he likes it.... lets see if he asks for it a 2nd time!

And, most importantly, James found out at lunchtime that he passed his Preliminary Anaesthetics exams !!
What a relief all round, just got the finals to nail now! Relaxed feeling all round Hudgell Towers tonight!!
A Good Day!

Day 29


Weather still dry, but very windy!

We have little Ian, Michael and Dave here laying bricks from 7.30am to 5pm. Dave has been doing it for 40 years  They are amazingly proficient - working brilliantly as a team. Walls appear from nowhere.

Big Ian pops in to collect his first payment - that makes him happy. And then he starts asking what doors, plumbing etc..... Plumbing sorted, got the quote down a bit by doing away with vanity units, IKEA will do the job. We are left with the door conundrum. Should it match the existing front door, garage or windows. Waiting for James to come back from his Anaesthetics Exam (fingers very crossed ). He will know whats right!

The camera was blown over by the wind, P suspected it was broken (again) but luckily its fine, so filming continued....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9OiuunCiSM

With all this going on...StressSoc so thought I'd continue with The Island. Well I'm sorry Victoria, but I have had enough, and actually I really don't care what happens..sad because I was interested in Spinalonga, but will do research elsewhere to see what happened. Stuart - you win!

PS: Dawn pops in on way home to offer tomatoes, coals to Newcastle but I accept for B and J next door, and pass on pears to her! She solves the door problem, what a star!

Day 28


Wow! The end of the first month - it seems to have whizzed by!

No builders - tidy around, D and S for coffee and catch up.

Then off  to Waddesdon manor for a cheese and wine tasting with C and S. Very interesting, run by a nice young man who manages the shop there. I find that you can volunteer to help in the shop as a NT person! At last I think I have found a volunteering role that would be interesting! My CV will be going off tomorrow!

Day 27


Yup it definitely is Saturday, but we have builders here by 7.30am! They are trying to crack on whilst the weather is still good. We have a new friend Wayne, little Ian and Michael. There is a lot of shovelling of earth around the perimeter of the building, for drains and the side side pathway.

We head off to Leighton Buzzard for the Baptism of the beautiful Elsie Grace, our Great Niece. Really happy occasion.....Laura and Ben are amazing parents and Elsie is a delight!

Back home, builders have gone and we have a lot of piles of bricks arranged tidily round the site, presumably ready for action on Monday, and a lot more drains!

Better late than never, here is P's video of the proceedings!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRsxI8-Fl6o