Glastonbury & Grand Designs

Hi All,

We can’t believe its’s been 6 weeks or so since we did our blog last…..we know you all think that we have all the time in the world but we really don’t have that much spare time as we are so focused on the house renovation, we just don’t know where the day goes sometimes.  It’s a full-time job at the moment and really is a case of house, eat, sleep & repeat as there’s so much to sort out. I am helping the builders out as much as possible wherever I can to save time which also helps to reduce costs which is great.  It’s a bit of a catch 22 situation really as because we are living here on site in the motorhome we are here 24/7 so we don’t seem to switch off from it as I am up ready for the builders at 7.30am and on hand until 5pm everyday to help out and answer any questions they have, of which there are quite a few!!  It’s quite addictive though as even when they have gone for the day we continue tinkering around.  

The central heating engineer and electrician have been here doing their first fix so that meant a lot of questions as although we have drawings etc there’s so much to consider, so it’s been a case of where do you want this……at what height…..have you thought about this option…..and what about that…..etc…etc and so it goes on!!!  Julie has been keeping busy in the garden and also doing lots in the background sourcing things like radiators & outside lighting etc and most importantly keeping a note of what’s what on her super-duper spreadsheet (she loves a spreadsheet…!!)  We are so glad that while waiting for the project to get underway and builders appointed we did lots of background work and sourcing as we knew exactly what we wanted e.g. bathroom stuff, log burners, tiles, doors, kitchen, windows and so the list goes on.   Although it was quite frustrating waiting for the project to get underway if we hadn’t spent time doing that at the beginning it would be quite stressful as the builders are now asking for stuff like the bath and shower tray for example so they know where to put pipework etc so our hard work has paid off as we can just say yep got that will either get it delivered or go and collect it from storage or the supplier.

When we left you last we were heading off to Glastonbury.  The month before the weather had been absolutely glorious here and we had been blessed with sunshine and it had been very dry but the week before Glastonbury it had been quite wet and although the forecast was OK the damage had already been done and the site had got quite churned up even before everyone arrived with all the set up vehicles and workers on site.  The site itself is absolutely huge and covers 1,200 acres surrounded by 8.5 miles of perimeter fencing and is just mind blowing……they build themed areas complete with buildings and props that are just there for the festival and are then removed afterwards.  The first thing was to get the motorhome off the front garden which we knew was going to be tricky as it had been heavy rain the day before and also because the house had been wrapped with scaffold the day before which restricted how far we could reverse back to then manoeuvre the van out……thank god we had the mini digger here as otherwise we wouldn’t have got out as I had to use it to pull the van out.  

And that was before we even got to Glastonbury!!

Due to the weather we’d had an email from Glastonbury asking us not to arrive until after 6pm on Tuesday so the camping fields could dry out a bit more.  We pulled up to the back of the queue at 6.30pm and then it was stop start for 9 hours but at least we had the home comforts of the motorhome and Julie cooked a couple of pizzas for us and Paul & Twiggy and cracked open a bottle of wine so it wasn’t a problem at all.  We finally reached our camping field at 3.30am and drove onto the grassed area with no problem and just went straight to bed but a few minutes later we heard the pitter patter of rain on the roof….we were so lucky as we were the last vans to get in under our own steam as we were woken up a few hours later at 8am to the sound of tractors pulling vans in, that went on for the rest of the day!!

We headed off with Paul & Twiggy to have a wander round…..when we say wander it’s just huge and to walk round in one day is just exhausting so it was great to have Wednesday and Thursday to do that before the festival actually kicked off fully on the Friday.  We found some smaller bands playing and just started to soak up the atmosphere and do a bit of people watching, especially the poor souls dragging their gear on a variety of trolleys miles through the claggy mud.  We started to see more and more abandoned trolleys and the odd random wheel but they carried on regardless and in some cases making several trips, the first of course with their alcohol and the second with their clothes if they could be bothered to do a second trip….now that’s pretty hardcore dedication……by the way if you ever consider going then the best thing by far is a wheel barrow!! 

Check out guys and their trolleys in the background

Just look how big the site is behind us

The Beats Hotel, Part of Block 9 and the Unfair Ground

Arcadia at night - a huge robotic spider with huge flames bursting out of the top

It was so nice to be glamping in the motorhome on grass and with a nice shower and of course a toilet!!  We started to get our bearings and the weather was really quite nice and it wasn’t too muddy and we even said that we’d be able to wear our walking boots by Saturday….oh how wrong we were as Friday night the heavens opened during the night and by Saturday afternoon it was pretty muddy to say the least and it some places just slurry but Glastonbury wouldn’t be Glastonbury without the mud and as we always say it’s all part of the adventure.  Apparently it was the muddiest Glastonbury ever and we survived to tell the tale so at least if we go again it can’t get any worse….can it?

Our boots drying in the sun

The Pyramid stage in the sunshine

What a difference a day makes...

But we are still smiling....

We had a great time watching Adele, ZZ Top, Art Garfunkel, The Muse, Madness, James, Gregory Porter, Years and Years, Jess Glynne, ELO, Laura Mvula, Newton Faulkner, Squeeze and so the list goes on.  It was a great experience so thanks to Paul and Twiggy for showing us the ropes including the infamous toilets which to be fair weren’t too bad once we got the hang of them and we had our little friend “Vicktor” with us….top tip if you ever go, take a pot of Vick and smear a little bit under your nose before going into the toilet…worked a treat. Twiggy and Julie even tried a She-pee out which they said was quite an experience by all accounts and the closest they’ll ever be to being a man!! We will definitely be back at some point.  We had to be back here on Monday morning for a site meeting and as it started drizzling with rain we decided to leave Sunday evening which meant missing Cold Play but we couldn’t risk being stuck in the camping field or in traffic so we cut our losses and after a quick manoeuvre with our snow chains and a tug from a tractor we were out no problem.  We got the van back in position on the garden OK too, again with the help of our snow chains, they were brilliant in the mud.

Julie and Twiggy in the "Long Drop" toilets....

When we got back from Glastonbury we were told that progress on the house would speed up as we had a new site foreman, Rich, coming to run the job full-time (the previous one was splitting his time between here and another site which wasn’t ideal) who we were told would be able to push the job on and to be fair he has been great and has got more men and materials here so we are much happier but we still have to keep an eye on everything and nothing is ever simple.  The specially manufactured roof trusses for the garage that we had been waiting weeks to arrive turned up but were 300mm too small so they said they’d build them from scratch instead of waiting for another set but when the wood was delivered to build them it was the wrong size and then roof slates that were delivered were the wrong ones and not the ones we chose - we called that day Black Friday!!!  All got sorted within a few days but it’s just frustrating at times.  It really is just like Grand Designs, Kevin McLeod would love it here and be very proud!  We are just so glad that we are not having to juggle it round working as that would be near on impossible.

The new opening in end of the the house is all done but not finished as yet as they are waiting for other bits to be done e.g. the roof above the new lounge to be replaced and the fascias and soffits to be replaced etc.

The roof on the back of the house has had new timbers where needed and been insulated, battened and slated and they have fitted the new fascias, soffits and guttering which look great.   This week they will move onto the front including the the two dormers so that should be done very soon.  The back looks great, we can’t wait to see the front all done, it’s really exciting seeing major things getting finished.

Back Roof

This is the panoramic view from the front of the house from up on the scaffold

The garage is now up and we are just waiting for the roof to be slated and the garage door to arrive. I have temporarily plumbed in the washing machine in there using a hosepipe so that is good news for Julie as she does love her washing machine!  It’s funny how things become a little easier day by day as just having the garage space helps out although the builders straight away filled it up with bags of plaster and renderlite!

They have started making good and plasterboarding upstairs and getting the bathroom sorted ready for plastering etc so hopefully it won’t be long before that comes together as all the new wiring is in too and the plumbing.  Downstairs we have decided to keep a feature wall in the dining room so have stripped off the lathe and plaster from the wall and taken it back to the original stone and will seal it and add a couple of down lighters to show off it’s natural beauty, it’s funny how you have these ideas as you go along.

The original stone wall in the Dining Room

The next major thing is the arrival of the upstairs windows this week and the outside render will be done fairly soon too so it’s all coming together gradually.

The house wrapped in scaffold and render removed

Whilst the scaffold is up we have had the liners for the log burners installed and have the log burners is place which have now been covered up to protect them when the plastering is done.  We had a new TV aerial put up too on the chimney as the last one removed itself in storm Katie all those months ago.

One of the new log burners

Julie has been working really hard in the garden pruning back overgrown shrubs, and thinning out areas and it's starting to look really good.  We have been upcyclying the wooden pallets that the roof slates were delivered on and also making use of the off cuts of slate that get chucked off the scaffold and have started making a pathway through the shrubs which looks really good...well we think so...

There's been quite a lot of garden waste and general wood to burn so yet another big bonfire but this time used to our advantage as we cooked our jacket spuds and chocolate banana for dessert on it....

We are loving life here, some days we do manage to escape for either a kite surf, walk or just to chill on the beach and enjoyed the mini heatwave this week. We are now starting to see light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully our next blog will show even more progress and pictures.

Anyway that’s about it for now.

J&J

Builders, Bricks & Beaches.....

 Hi All,

So it’s all finally started to happen here in Sunny Georgeham with the builders full-on,  the house really does now resemble a building site and we are now living full-time in the motorhome/site office out on the front lawn.  It’s been a busy few weeks but we are enjoying every minute, me especially as I just can’t resist getting my hands dirty helping out at every opportunity and picking up new skills and of course keeping an ever watchful eye out to make sure things get done how we want and of course jumping on the mini digger at any opportunity.....I guess old habits die hard!!

It’s a massive learning curve just like when we went travelling as every day brings new challenges and rewards.  After all it is a major project and something we’ve never done before and it really is like "Grand Designs" that you watch on the TV with on-site meetings with the architect, liaising with the builders and making never ending important decisions to be made, i.e where do you want this doorway to go, are you happy with the colour of these bricks, is that opening in the right place and so it goes on and on.  We have worked really hard and are pretty well organised as we have everything sorted and ready for when we need it e.g. log burners, kitchen & appliances, bathroom stuff, windows & doors and even all the floor and wall tiles so it's all quite exciting. 

On paper and architects plans/drawings everything looks simple of course but in reality nothing is ever that simple and as usual we always seem to have hurdles that we have to overcome which we discovered on day one, we couldn’t believe our luck and thought OMG that’s the contingency blown straight away, so what was it??  The digger driver(not me) was starting to dig the footings for the garage and with the second scoop of the bucket hit something hard…..he gently scraped the soil away and uncovered a square manhole cover and said that it was our drains.  We know the house like the back of our hand now after months of planning and surveys so we knew that the drainage was nowhere near there and ran across the opposite side of the house into the septic tank…we both looked at each other and said I bet it’s a well, the guys lifted the manhole cover and sure enough it was a stone well about 15 feet deep with water at the bottom, it would have been the main water supply to the house back in the day as the house was built back in 1914 well before the mains supply came along.  It was a work of art inside with it’s round stone walls but it couldn’t have been in a worse place, right in one corner of the garage footings so of course a major spanner in the works.  

We immediately spoke to the architect and arranged for the building inspector to come and see it as ultimately it’s their decision on how to deal with it and we of course didn’t want it to a) delay works or b) cost the earth to rectify.  I had a look on the internet at various different sites and forums and came across a similar situation that a couple found themselves in when building their conservatory.  The solution was to just over shoot the footings by a metre each way on that corner and cast a re-enforced concrete cap over the top.  The building inspector turned up the next day and was having a look and mumbling to himself when I suggested to him that maybe we should "over shoot the footings and cap it off", he looked at me and said yep that will be fine…..briliiant news, and also not much extra work or cost involved so even better.  I am so glad I sat and had a read up on the internet as I am not sure what he would have suggested.  So that first hurdle was overcome and we could breathe a sigh of relief.  It's a shame really as if it had been a few feet to the left we could have kept it and made a real feature of it and fitted a pump to extract the water for use in the garden and washing cars etc but don't worry as Julie has ideas now for another one.....read on to find out more....

The lovely well, you can see my reflection taking the photo in the water below

The footings dug out with the over shoot to the left and the door covering the well

We have a storage unit in Barnstaple with everything we possess in it which costs us quite a bit each month so we are keen to get the garage built first so that we can then get stuff out i.e. my garage stuff and tools and then we can down size the unit to reduce the cost.....well that's the story I have sold Julie who counts the pennies and she's fallen for it, obviously it's nothing to do with me having my man cave before anything else.....mum's the word.....

The lads started in the house knocking the openings through to create one big lounge with french doors at the end.  The end wall is a modern extension so constructed of breeze block so no problem.

Making the opening for the French Doors

The opening ready for the brick quoins to be added

The new opening from the lounge into the kitchen

The the wall in the middle is the original stone and 18 inches thick so a different story completely. Once the lathe and plaster was stripped off the exposed wall was absolutely beautiful, a shame really to take it down but the room needs to be knocked through.  We are keeping the stone as it's just too nice to dispose off so I will make use of it around the edge of the patio area and Julie's idea is that she wants me to build her a nice new well as a feature and bird feeding station which will be nice.

The accros in place ready for the removal of the wall

The other side

It took about 3 days solid for the lads to get the wall out and cleared, I had the job of manhandling every stone and stacking them in the garden for re-use.

We had a visit from Daniel & Katie, we met Daniel down at Camber kitesurfing a few years ago and have kept in touch ever since.  They picked a fantastic week to come down as the weather was absolutely stunning with wall to wall warm scorchio sunshine every day.  It was great to take time out with them and get away from the house.  We had a brilliant day at Putsborough Sands and spent all day messing about on the SUP's and just chatting and chilling finished off with a little BBQ watching the sun go down.  We couldn't believe how flat calm and clear the sea was, it was like a mill pond so great for exploring a complete contrast to the big surf waves that normally roll in.

Daniel had a touch of sunburn on his thighs on the last day, hence his face in this picture!!

The following week Saunton Sands hosted a D-Day celebration weekend so we went along for a look, it was great with lots going on. The americans trained on this beach during the second world war practising their techniques for the Normandy invasions so they put on a show displaying how they got through the anti-tank obstacles, barbed wire fences and mines etc. They even flew in and landed  some L4 Cubs and Austers on the beach, it was fabulous to see them land and taxi along the beach and spend a  few hours there before taking off again.

Back on site the concrete arrived for the garage footings and capping off of the well and then another load of concrete for the garage floor and they have made a start on the block work and also started on the opening for the new back door.

The well ready to be capped off with concrete

Getting stuck in.....

Crushed stone & bricks up to damp proof course

Final pour of concrete ready for block work 

Work in progress

Back door opening

The steels also arrived to support the wall where we removed the stone so they have also been put in place and we can remove the accros.

I have started to build the retaining wall around the patio with some of the lovely old stone, it's a lovely bit of gear as my Dad would say...I think he'd be very proud of me getting stuck in as he was always so hands on and taught me so much and always said to me as long as I could use my hands I'd get along OK and how right he was.

So what has Julie been doing (besides sunning herself in the garden....), well she has been very busy in the garden weeding and clearing out between the array of shrubs in between shopping and housework in the van and helping out where she can but she also has her little job down the farm next door checking on the horses and will shortly be picking raspberries there.  As if I didn't have enough to keep me busy she kindly volunteered me as handy man so I have done a few jobs  down there too which I don't mind at all and Julie had a tidy up in the yard area.

Replacing a broken end straining post in the raspberry field 

Having a sort out in the stable yard area

What an improvement

Our next adventure is just around the corner as we are off to Glastonbury next week with Paul & Twiggy so some time away from site....something completely different that we have never done before and are looking forward to, it's one to tick off our bucket list....we are taking our lovely motorhome so will have lots of luxury unlike some others under canvass!!  On the subject of the motorhome, it really is worth it's weight in gold as not only did we spend a year living in it in all climates during our travels but now it is our home once again and we couldn't do what we are doing without it.

Gotta go...it's time to shut the site office and crack open a beer.

Catch up soon.

J&J

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