And the winner is: my mum!

Three weeks to go, and the pace seems to be increasing. We have got Joey used to going upstairs to the top now, but he's either really making his mark on it, or he is feeling a little uncertain of himself. It seems that he has had some difficulty in finding the litter tray. It doesn't help that there is sawdust on the floor - I'm sure it leads him to think that the whole place is a litter tray.

The kitchen is now filled with all the stuff that was in the dining room. The upstairs has now been skimmed, and is mostly clean, but Joey shows us just how clean the place is!:

I've just seen that I uploaded photos to my computer last week, and I haven't added any of those to my blog yet. And also - with reference to the title - it was Judy Banks (who said she didn't want the fame) who got the answer to the last blog. It was that the stairs were on the other side of the hallway.

So, what other progress has there been? Well, Keith and Nathan managed to get the wood burner upstairs, after Keith had taken off the ceramic surround, the door, and lots of other bits that he was able to get off. The plinth has also been built for the wood burner, so it is all coming on at great pace!

The middle floor has come on great pace as well. It has changed quite a lot in the past week. Last week, the upstairs bathroom disappeard, to a certain extent; this week, it is more or less back, and Mathew and I can see what our rooms will be like. Yesterday - or was it Wednesday (I got back late from London on Wednesday, and didn't get back from school until 10.15pm last night, due to a barbecue and disco for the French exchange), the windows in several rooms were put in - including my sewing room!
The photo on the right shows the windows. Last week the builders also enlarged the dining room, to what will be its final size, and knocked down the outside wall to the current downstairs toilet. The doorways into the house, that is the dining room door and the downstairs toilet door have been nailed shut, so people can't get into the house. Like I've said to Keith several times before though, good luch to anyone who does get in. The place looks such a tip, it's so messy, grubby, grimy and dusty, I can't see many people risking detection by getting themselves covered. Also, it is that difficult to find anything in the house, and difficult to get anywhere to get anything out of the house - in fact - you can't even walk through the hallway easily.
The photo on the left shows the large windows in our new bedroom, and also the view from the room. The middle window opens out, from the top and the bottom, and gives a sort of little patio area, but a patio in the bedroom. It all looks very good indeed!
The photo on the right shows the house from the front, with the tiling as well. The roof is coming on well, and there have been some favourable comments from passers by as well - about how lucky the people who are going to live there are; htere is quite a lot of speculation about the place. Lots of people surmise that we are going to sell it after it is complete. Of course
- that is not our intention at all. What would be the point in spending the money in having it
done up?

And this photo shows my sewing room. I'm not certain that it is going to be big enough, but hey, I suppose I can always expand into the spare room and the dining room, should I need to!!
Speaking of the dining room, I know that you want to see what has happened to it! So here it is:
Evidently, there is still a bit of work to be done on this bit, but as they are making good progress, I'm sure that it will be sorted before we get back in the house. We hope that there will be a bit more painting done within the next week. I have now started my exam marking; today there was a problem with the software which won't be sorted until Tuesday. Apparently, several people had already phoned today about the same problem. Nothing is ever easy is it?

The only problem we are facing now is being able to afford the house. I heard some bad news this week. Apparently, the 'Senior Leadership Team' have decided that the previous set of changes to pay are not enough. The current proposal is to not have a head of Languages and a Head of ICT anymore, but instead, as they have formed the 'Communications' team, there will be a head of Communications and a second in team.

So, what is the problem with this I hear you ask? Well, having had my management allowance cut £2500 already - as of January 2009 (it has been protected until that time), the proposal is that the 2nd in team will take another paycut of an additional £1000. The Head of team will have a pay rise.

How does this affect me? Well, I can't see the Head Teacher giving me the Head of Communications, - the reason would be because I don't seem to be coping, because I've had quite a bit of time off this year - YES, of course I have you daft woman, I'VE HAD SHINGLES!! It is obvious that she's never suffered with shingles or back problems, because if she had done, she'd be showing a lot more sympathy. And it's alright for her - she can get her husband in to do cover work - who, because he's her husband would seem to be beyond reproach, but is useless for teaching French. And that's not it - the Director of Sport, the Head - and her husband, got to go on a trip to Ethiopia during term time - 5 days to visit the school we have a link with through an initiative called 'Dreams and Teams', and apparently the governors agreed to an extra five days so they could go sightseeing!! Talk about nepotism.

Anyway - I'm - we are (Keith and I) fighting this all the way - I'll have taken a pay cut of £3000, and yet, because there is now no head of French (another saving of £1600 at least), I get to do even more work. There is no such thing as work life balance at Great Torrington Community School. Work life balance - by my reckoning - means balancing the amount of work you do at home with the amount of work you do in school - so you put in as much effort at home as you do in school.

Keith keeps telling me that she wants to go out with a bang, and that she hasn't got long left - but it still all seems far too long. How many people would take a pay cut to do the same amount of work, never mind doing more work? So, I'm trying to publicise the twisted thinking that goes on - is it any wonder that new entrants to the profession don't stay very long? And what is more - how come I get complaints about me, because I'm doing my job properly and I'm not the teacher that a class were promised to have? All because I wouldn't tolerate homework not being done, and set detentions for not doing it. And complaints are made because I'm ill - I told the class I had shingles; and I also had to conduct speaking exams which doesn't seem to be taken into account at all. All because their children are not making the progress they should make, because they are not putting the effort in, because I'm not the teacher they were told they would have.

And how is it, that no-one made complaints about the teacher they liked when she was on maternity leave for 6 months - at the end of one term and the start of a new year? I know that having a family is considered a different matter entirely, but why should that be? People decide to start a family, they don't decide to become ill? It just seems that if you have suffered with health problems it is held against you, whereas starting a family (rather than taking one on) is all quite alright.

Anyway - that is really enough of me ranting - it is just a rant - well, sort of anyway. It just seems to me that there is one rule for one group of people, and a different rule for the rest of us.

It's all moving!

Well, it's been a bit of a while since my last post. There has been a lot going on here, today is May Day in Torrington, so I've had the day off. I've also been suffering some sciatica, and so have had a couple of days off. I've handed in my French coursework today, and so am taking a bit of time to update the blog. I shall also be updating the quilting blog, showing me and Maisie - my niece - and her quilt, and Maisie with Grandad Banks, and with her mum as well.

Anyway - to the point in hand. The house is looking a bit of a mess all round:

These photos are now a bit outdated, as there have been many other changes. It's a lovely day here today, which is good because it means that the roofers have been able to get on with some work! I've been up there today to speak to the electrician about the lights, and they are going to get us some catalogues so we can have a look at what we want.

So - the changes! The first game we're going to play is - spot the difference! I'm not going to make it easy and give you two pictures to compare side by side - but you will find a BIG clue in this posting! Answers to the changes that you see should be posted in the comments section (and not on a stamped addressed envelope) - and your prize will be starring in the title of the next posting! So make sure that you get your answers in quickly - when there is more that one corect answer, I shall pick a winner at random! I hope to have some more pictures by the weekend, that is if you are not overwhelmed by the changes you see today!

The next photo shows how vast the changes are! You can see the different wallpapers - the left hand side was our bedroom, and the right hand side was the office. I think the radiator that is there has now gone. The ladder on the left of the picture is in a different place now, and it really is quite something going up and down the ladder to get to the top floor - it doesn't imbue me with a sense of safety. However, the builders have said that they may get the stairs to the top floor in by the end of the week.

The photo on the right shows Keith looking out of our big upstairs window, and if you click on the picture, it should become even bigger, and you may even be able to see what sort of view we will get. Yes, I know that I've already shown you the view that we will have, but that was from the scaffolding, and these pictures will be from inside the house, so they are really accurate! You can see that the floor is down, and the plaster board is going up too!

The photo on the left shows the view from the window - it shows what Keith is looking at in the photo above. The green area is Northam Burrows - so yes, I'll be able to see the golf course, and once we get our really high-powered binoculars mounted on a tripod, I'll be able to see where Keith is on the golf course! He tells me that he can see the roof of the house when he's out playing.

So - I've already said that the electricians are in - they are getting wires in all over the place, cutting holes for spotlights, plugs, light switches and television points. The last photo for today shows our bedroom in the top of the house with some of the sockets and wall light switches. You can just about see the holes in the roof (in the middle flat bit), which is where the spotlights will go. The lighter bits on the left and right show the situation of the velux windows.

So, that is it for today - I'll put another update on the blog this weekend - as long as I don't get caught up in anything else. Oh - and before I go - do have a look at my quilting blog - if only to see Grandad Banks! - www.christine-quiltingatwestdene.blogspot.com