Digging

Digging has started in preparation for putting our electricity cable underground. Because we have three phase entering the house it looks rather unsightly and so we decided to pay to re-route it. We have to dig the trench and insert the pipe, Western Power then comes to finish the job on Monday.

Mud

Inevitably after the rain comes the mud. It is frustrating trying to get to the skips and the more we barrow out the messier things get. We are glad to get into the shower once we're home.

Rain

We have been lucky with the weather so far this year but today we have rain - everything is grey and very damp. The birds are still singing though and the raindrops catch what little there is of the light.

Going In ...

After a long time removing concrete and tiles from the floor and digging out the earth by hand the time has come to get serious. We now have a digger inside the house!!

Paw Prints

When we were discussing our handmade bricks with the person who is doing our pointing he told us that he had seen a number of places where a cat must have walked over the bricks before the clay had dried. It is hard to think that this happened more than 200 years ago. One print is on the front wall just beside the central window. In the photo above it is three bricks up from the bottom and on the right hand side of the central brick.

My attempts to woo the little stray tabby haven't been very successful so I shall just have to enjoy my special cat stamped bricks instead.

Bricks (and more bricks)

Everywhere we dig on site we find bricks. We wonder if the land was used as a brickworks at some time in the past - it has a seam of pure clay running through and as well as perfect bricks many are strange deformed shapes. These ones though, like many we have found, bear the imprint of someone's thumbs. It is an incredible link with the past.

Sunset

Now that the clocks have gone back our working days are shorter but the bonus is that we get to see the sun set. I realise that the trees are now bare with their leaves finally gone.

Autumn

The days have suddenly become cooler and from our upstairs window the trees can be seen changing colour. A lovely sight despite the damp weather.

Revealed

The house without the scaffolding. We are so pleased with how it looks. The downpipes are going on too, but this work as you'll see isn't finished!! Most of the pointing has now been completed too. All that remains are some structural repairs to the walls and replacement of the remaining damaged bricks.

The scaffolding is down

The scaffolders have been unable to come this week to take down their scaffolding, so teamwork - three builders and two of us remove it from the side and back of the house so the brick repairs and re-pointing can continue.