Twenty Nine
After our efforts on the electrics, we’re looking forward to a much easier week with polystyrene insulation… Although it’s messy stuff, it is at least lightweight. It is duly delivered (in 8’ x 4’ sheets) on Tuesday morning by a bloke who can’t get his lorry up the lane, so he and I carry it all to the front door. Then I carry it all to the shed. Not a good idea in a strong wind…
On Tuesday night Guy arrives and we are ready to start. We are clean, neat, tidy and ready in our overalls. Yes, mine are a little paint spattered.
We’re not quite so clean and tidy by the time we’ve finished – but you can have a damned fine snowstorm with the stuff! Blunkett is now banished from the cabin as she gets bits stuck to her wet nose and looks like a dalmation…
On Wednesday we order trestles and planks from the local hire shop so that we can reach the roof safely – in the evening we do the back room ceiling…
And on Thursday night we do the front room ceiling…. We can’t touch the walls in here until the electrics have been given the thumbs up from Wyn, who VERY kindly agrees to come on Saturday to check them out.
We clear up the snowstorm in the cabin – and a mountain of concrete dust comes up. So that’s about half a bin liner of polystyrene bits, weighing about half a pound, and a small bag full of dust, weighing about 6 pounds. However much we sweep, it just doesn’t stop coming up, so we’re going to slap a coat of floor paint on it – that’ll show it who’s boss!
One of the girls at work is having a wood burning stove installed in her new extension, and mentions that Jim the Stove is incredibly busy, so they’re looking at the end of February for fitting… we think we should pay him a visit and make sure we’re ok with the insulation, get the fireboard we need (in place of plasterboard where the fire is going to go) and have a brief preliminary look at stoves to see what we might want. Jim is, as usual, brilliant and knows exactly what’s needed – we chat about slate hearths and pipes and insulation and output and it’s all fantastically exciting.
So of course we order a stove… we even get trade prices on the fitting as this is our fifth stove from Jim…. It’s going to be GORGEOUS! And we have a date for it to be installed – 3rd March! That’s 7 weeks tomorrow…
All we have to get done is put extra battens in, finish the insulation, plasterboard, plaster, paint, fit the floorboards, sand the floor and varnish it… gulp. We think we’ll see Derek the Dab for help with the plasterboard… he’ll do it in a third of the time it’ll take us, and that stuff is HEAVY….
We get home in good time to be there when Wyn the Wire arrives with Mrs Wyn, and our handiwork is duly inspected – it’s OK! Hooray!! Wyn says we’ve taken more care than some electricians and, yes, it is a bloody awful job which is why he got us to do it… This is excellent news (not that it’s a bloody awful job – that’s hardly news, more that it’s ok) because it means that we can carry on and insulate the rest of the panels then crack on with the plasterboarding. We think we’ll see Derek the Dab for help with the plasterboard - he’ll do it in a third of the time it’ll take us, and that stuff is HEAVY….
On Sunday, just as we’re thinking we should see Derek, he turns up – he’s been fishing and has brought me a trout. He likes catching them, but can’t stand eating them, which is great for me! He agrees to help us out with the plasterboarding next weekend as long as his shoulder is ok – he’s having a tattoo done on Friday and it’ll depend on whether he’s stiff or not! Anna comes to admire the shed (and makes suitably admiring noises) before we swap Christmas presents. We’re late for 2007, not early for 2008!
Achieved: We have the ceilings polystyrened, and most of the walls done. Hooray! And our electrics got the thumbs up. Hooray again!
Hours worked: Not that many, but lots of Planning.
Purchases: Er, just the stove.
Pressies: Guy brought me organic gin. Sensible chap.
Tattoo of the week: Derek’s, being done on Friday. Since you’ve asked, it’s a dragon…
Wildlife update: I spent a lot of Sunday evening watching the badger food being eaten. By a very beautiful dog fox. And then had to put out more food for the badger. As Guy says – that’s two sittings each night, then… So now we can add ‘fox’ to our increasing list of wildlife in the garden. Anyone know what foxes like to eat? He seemed to be keen on the fruit cake and pastry bits, but not the peanuts. Soon he will be a Fat Fox.
Plan for the week: Fit battens where battens are needed to fix plasterboard to. Finish polystyrene in walls, paint floor to stop that damned dust, finish shoving last bits of electrics through walls, hope Derek’s shoulder is ok…
On Tuesday night Guy arrives and we are ready to start. We are clean, neat, tidy and ready in our overalls. Yes, mine are a little paint spattered.
We’re not quite so clean and tidy by the time we’ve finished – but you can have a damned fine snowstorm with the stuff! Blunkett is now banished from the cabin as she gets bits stuck to her wet nose and looks like a dalmation…
On Wednesday we order trestles and planks from the local hire shop so that we can reach the roof safely – in the evening we do the back room ceiling…
And on Thursday night we do the front room ceiling…. We can’t touch the walls in here until the electrics have been given the thumbs up from Wyn, who VERY kindly agrees to come on Saturday to check them out.
We clear up the snowstorm in the cabin – and a mountain of concrete dust comes up. So that’s about half a bin liner of polystyrene bits, weighing about half a pound, and a small bag full of dust, weighing about 6 pounds. However much we sweep, it just doesn’t stop coming up, so we’re going to slap a coat of floor paint on it – that’ll show it who’s boss!
One of the girls at work is having a wood burning stove installed in her new extension, and mentions that Jim the Stove is incredibly busy, so they’re looking at the end of February for fitting… we think we should pay him a visit and make sure we’re ok with the insulation, get the fireboard we need (in place of plasterboard where the fire is going to go) and have a brief preliminary look at stoves to see what we might want. Jim is, as usual, brilliant and knows exactly what’s needed – we chat about slate hearths and pipes and insulation and output and it’s all fantastically exciting.
So of course we order a stove… we even get trade prices on the fitting as this is our fifth stove from Jim…. It’s going to be GORGEOUS! And we have a date for it to be installed – 3rd March! That’s 7 weeks tomorrow…
All we have to get done is put extra battens in, finish the insulation, plasterboard, plaster, paint, fit the floorboards, sand the floor and varnish it… gulp. We think we’ll see Derek the Dab for help with the plasterboard… he’ll do it in a third of the time it’ll take us, and that stuff is HEAVY….
We get home in good time to be there when Wyn the Wire arrives with Mrs Wyn, and our handiwork is duly inspected – it’s OK! Hooray!! Wyn says we’ve taken more care than some electricians and, yes, it is a bloody awful job which is why he got us to do it… This is excellent news (not that it’s a bloody awful job – that’s hardly news, more that it’s ok) because it means that we can carry on and insulate the rest of the panels then crack on with the plasterboarding. We think we’ll see Derek the Dab for help with the plasterboard - he’ll do it in a third of the time it’ll take us, and that stuff is HEAVY….
On Sunday, just as we’re thinking we should see Derek, he turns up – he’s been fishing and has brought me a trout. He likes catching them, but can’t stand eating them, which is great for me! He agrees to help us out with the plasterboarding next weekend as long as his shoulder is ok – he’s having a tattoo done on Friday and it’ll depend on whether he’s stiff or not! Anna comes to admire the shed (and makes suitably admiring noises) before we swap Christmas presents. We’re late for 2007, not early for 2008!
Achieved: We have the ceilings polystyrened, and most of the walls done. Hooray! And our electrics got the thumbs up. Hooray again!
Hours worked: Not that many, but lots of Planning.
Purchases: Er, just the stove.
Pressies: Guy brought me organic gin. Sensible chap.
Tattoo of the week: Derek’s, being done on Friday. Since you’ve asked, it’s a dragon…
Wildlife update: I spent a lot of Sunday evening watching the badger food being eaten. By a very beautiful dog fox. And then had to put out more food for the badger. As Guy says – that’s two sittings each night, then… So now we can add ‘fox’ to our increasing list of wildlife in the garden. Anyone know what foxes like to eat? He seemed to be keen on the fruit cake and pastry bits, but not the peanuts. Soon he will be a Fat Fox.
Plan for the week: Fit battens where battens are needed to fix plasterboard to. Finish polystyrene in walls, paint floor to stop that damned dust, finish shoving last bits of electrics through walls, hope Derek’s shoulder is ok…
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