One week to go!

Hi there folks!
Sorry, there are no photos this time either. If I get myself really organised there may be some after the weekend, but don't hold your breath! We spent a very pleasant evening up at the house last night. The fridge upstairs works; I know this because the Foster's was lovely and cold when I drank it last night - I'd like to say it was the first drink in the new place, but that happened at the weekend, when we were cleaning! We sat upstairs, and had a drink, looked at the view, showed one of Keith's colleagues (and his wife and daughter) around, and then decided to have tea there as well. What did we have for tea? Well, given that there is no means of heating any food upstairs, and that there is no gas or electricity downstairs, we had to make do with.....a Chinese from down the road. That was quite interesting, eating omelette, chips and peas with our fingers! Keith did find some lobster skewers which we used - also interesting!

I got to see the LED bulbs in our bedroom - they don't give out much light at all, unless you are stood right underneath them. I looked at my lights - in my sewing room - and WOW! The place looked like a show home! I'm really looking forward to getting in there. Nathan knocked /cut through a doorway from the dining room into the music room, and today they should be blocking up the old doorway. Yesterday he painted the side of the house, as the scaffolding has to come down today so that the gas can be reconnected. He also moved a load of stuff out of the music room (old living room), including the two settees. He did have a little bit of an accident with one of them and a wall, but it's a good job he's doing building work now, as he can repair it!

What was especially great yesterday, was that I got to play the piano again! For the first time in 6-7 months. I had to play standing up, as the piano stool is in my sewing room (whoops! - I first put bedroom there!), and I could just about remember some of 'Bright Eyes'. Luckily, I looked in a box that was nearby, and found some music books, so got one out and played. Again, that was not particularly easy, as there is no electricity in the downstairs rooms (there are additional sockets in the hallway that have extension leads attached to them, so that there is power for the washing machine and tumble dryer, and other tools), and I couldn't get to the curtains to open them to let any light in; still, it was a great feeling!

Seffy came and sat on my lap last night upstairs, settled down and had a bit of a snooze - and Joey later came up to sit on my lap (once Seffy had gone). Both of them couldn't be stroked enough, and both of them were dribble cats!

Anyway, today I am off to Woodlands with the school today - today is Activities Day. I have to get some school work done tomorrow, and also get a quilt top made - and maybe even basted - I've done the blocks already. This is another baby quilt - no, I'm not about to become a grandmother - do you really think that I would have been able to keep that from you? No, this quilt needs to be finished for the start of the school holidays - and that's all I'm going to say.

Bye for now, I'll try to update the blog again soon!

It's getting closer!

Well, hello there chaps and chapesses!
This will be a short posting, because I'm at school, trying to get books marked, trying to find books that pupils claim that I have lost, and I want to get home at some point tonight.

So, you want to know about the progress, and you are also wondering why I am writing this at school. Well - I shall tell you, but in reverse order. I'm writing this at school, because BT, in their infinite wisdom in this age of technology stopped our broadband. To be fair, we had asked for it to be stopped on the date, but - and this is a bit BUT we then changed the date, and were told that it was all fine. The message that we changed the date didn't get through to all the people it needed to get through to. So, we have no broadband at home now, and have had to resort to dial up, which is a real pain - it takes forever, and I think that the computer is complaining about it too - either that, or the computer is on its way out. The broadband was off before I had finished marking the speaking tests, which was difficult. As I'm at school now, I don't have the photos so that I can add pictures.

Progress: well, I think it's all getting a bit much for Keith who has been suffering from a tummy bug for the past 5 days. But I'm taking it all in my stride now! On Saturday we chose the carpets, laminate and vinyl for some of the rooms. That will be fitted a week today (and continuing during the week). More scaffolding came down on Saturday, and the upstairs is finished now (with the exception of the carpets). There is still some work to do on the middle floor, but my sewing room is complete, and so (I think) is Nathan's room, and also Mat's room with the exception of the wall lights. Oh, and we need wall lights in our bedroom yet. We should be able to get the man round to fit the Sky dish, now that the scaffolding has gone. I've found the lights Mum! They were in the spare room behind the wardrobe - some joker had put them there. I've moved them back into my sewing room, and shall be checking on them in a bit. I intend to leave school at around 6pm this evening - the building work that has gone on here at school means that my room is not as light now, which is a shame. Oh, and the back of the house has been painted as well.

Anyway, that's it for the moment. I'll try to get some pictures in to school, so that I can show you all the progress - because I know that that is what you are really interested in seeing!

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

Renovations

Here is the latest update, with lots of photos too - I may have to start using a different email address to continue with my blogs - it's that, or find somewhere else to start a blog. The house is making progress - as you can see:

Keith and I went up to the house on Thursday, and then again yesterday, to have a look at what has been done. A bit more bricking up has gone on, on the left hand side of the house. You can also see that the metal beam has gone up along the centre of the roof. We went up at about 6pm on Thursday, and there was a lot of banging going on - you could hear it echoing round. We've seen people working up there until about 7pm, and I've seen them there at 7.45am - when I've been on my way to work. There is still a hole in the back fence, and we used it yesterday to go into the back garden. There is no way to get up into the house from the garden at the moment though. The story inside the house is totally different; the photo above looks like progress has been made - so now for the shocking pictures!

This photo on the right was taken from the top of the stairs. The white square on the right hand side was the loft hatch. The doorway underneath it to the right is the office, the doorway to the left of that is our bedroom, and the doorway where the ladder is, is Mathew's room - which will become a corridor, and my sewing room. So, you can see that we have no ceilings at all!

The photo on the left shows the view when coming up the stairs. There are quite a few wires coming down all over the place. There is temporary flooring upstairs, so you can walk across it. The next photo shows Keith in our new bedroom:

he is looking at the room (so you can't see it) - of course, you do need a bit of imagination for it all, as the house looks a bit like a shell at the moment. Downstairs hasn't really been touched (with the exception of the demolition of the porch and the bay window in the dining room, and the creation of the study - which you can't get into at all at the moment - except through the hole that has been left for the window! The photo shows where some of the rafters have been put in - just behind Keith, and to the right of him, above the ladder, is the remainder of the old roof. That has changed since the photo was taken - yesterday we saw that a bit more of the roof had gone - it is now residing in Mathew's old room. It was just as well that I took things out of the filing cabinet on Thursday (the filing cabinet is in Mathew's old room), as we couldn't get to it at all yesterday - the wood and felt was in the way. Joey quite enjoyed having somewhere to explore - I'm just glad that we hasn't shown an aptitude for climbing ladders!

This photo on the right was taken from Mathew's room, when we were able to get in there. For those of you acquainted with the house, this hole in the ceiling is above the sink in his room. Keith had done his usual trick of climbing about on the ladder outside, and wandering around the scaffolding.

I did get a bit snap happy on Thursday; it's one of the benefits of a digital camera - being able to take numerous photos and not having to have the film developed. Some of the photos I took to record the progress (or otherwise), and others I took as I thought that they would be good for patchwork designs - thoughts, ideas to use to create something in patchwork related to the changes in the house.

The cats seem to be taking the changes in their stride. Joey quite likes exploring the place, and we saw him recently in the Baptist Church car park; I suspect that he had come out of the back garden. It could be that he was looking for us, as he has accompanied us as far as the car park on previous occasions when we've returned from the house. At least with them staying in the house, they are getting used to all the changes. Seffy joined us out the back of the house yesterday, in the extended dining room, and was rubbing up against the breeze blocks. I suspect it wasn't just because she needed a bit of a scratch, but also because she was making it her own - leaving a bit of a mark on it! Seffy seems to be in her element exploring - as the next few photos show:

the one on the far left shows where the wall has been dismantled - we need a beam going down through the floor, but the problem is that in the current position, going down to the ground floor will place it in the stairs. A hole has been made through the floorboards, and the second photo shows Seffy having a look at this hole. She isn't one to shy away from exploring all possible nooks and crannies, and this time was no exception. I did have to take careful note to make sure that she came back out again:

Well, that's about it for now. We are now on holiday for the next two weeks, so it gives Keith time to play golf, and me time to get some more quilting done. I shall also be preparing for my A2 French exam, and probably spend some time doing some school work as well. I've got quite a few books at school that need attention and marking. I'm going to spend the rest of today getting on with some quilting, so I can take the quilt down to my neice - Maisie Grace when we go down to the island in 10 days time. Be good - and please don't hesitate in passing along the address of this blog to others you think might be interested in the progress of the house!

All trussed up and no place to go

Okay - points to those who recognise the music reference here! The title isn't strictly accurate; I was going to use another title, but that is going to have to wait until a bit later.

The trusses arrived yesterday, along with the crane, and due to not sleeping well and pain in my shoulder going down into my arm, I decided to spend the day at home yesterday - which meant that I got to watch all the exciting things going on at the house. I think that the problem with my shoulder, stems from having a year 10 pupil (male) fall against me in the corridor after assembly on Monday, because it didn't start hurting until about 10.30am - the corridors at school are narrow, and with all the building work going on at school, there is a limit to where pupils can exit and enter the buildings to get to their lessons. So, the corridors were crowded, there was pushing and shoving going on, and as a result, a pupil fell against me, and bruised my left arm. However, it's the right side that is aching - the same side that always aches. Never mind that for now - I'm trying to keep going so that I forget about the discomfort.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome someone to the family - her name is Maisie Grace, and she's my niece! The daughter of Charlotte and Shaun (Charlotte, my stepsister), was born on Wednesday morning, at 11.05am, weighing in at 5lb 11oz - congratulations to the proud parents, the new grandparents, and welcome to Maisie! Of course, there is a quilt in progress for her!

On to the job in hand - updating you with the details of the house. I might try exploring another website later, to upload more photos - to give you a slide show of them, as I took lots yesterday. I was that excited by it all, and Keith had given me orders to give him a full account when he got home yesterday, that I took 90 photos and 5 or 6 movie clips. I was excited when I saw the crane go past the house, and then when I saw the trusses go past the house, when you could see through the roof, when the roof was no more - it was all just too exciting! (I know, I'm sad - but hey - I haven't been able to see much of the school being built, and I am finding the whole process really interesting - both school and house). I made notes of the times as well, what was going on, and some of the photos look exactly the same - it's just that parts of them show the trusses going past the house - and so on.

The photo on the right shows the crane at the back of the house manoeuvring into position. If you enlarge the picture (click on it, and it should enlarge), you can see the trusses going past the house - the gap between our house and the white house on the left. The crane is the red thing, and you can see where the roof is coming off on the right hand side.

The crane arrived at 8.56am, and the roof trusses at 9.01am (I did tell you that I found it all quite exciting, and have become really quite 'sad' - a bit of an anorak in describing it all, taking notes and so on!)

Here you can see the trusses on the lorry - don't they look big! Mind you, they have to be - they are the side of our bedroom and our living room. Also on the lorry is more wood, to be used for attaching trusses up, putting them in the primary positions, so that they are attached and not falling over. Also on the lorry are our velux roof windows.

I took most of the photos from the flat - standing on the balcony. The photo on the right was taken from the car park. I was thinking about sitting in the car park for most of the day, but during the period in which I was sat down there, not alot happened, and it was quite chilly as well. This photo shows the crane well. Nathan was in the church car park from 7am, making sure that no-one parked there, so that the crane and lorry could come in without any problems.

Here on the left, you can see no roof - the roof has come off, so I suppose you can't see the roof. Anyway, you know what I mean. You can also see the outer and inner walls on the left hand side - the men were removing the inner wall during the morning. You have to bear in mind that there are no ceilings upstairs either - there are only the walls in place. It looks like the power line pole is leaning a bit - I'm sure that has nothing to do with Joey scratching it and sharpening his claws on it!

The photo on the right shows the crane in an extended position - it started extending at 9.32am, and this picture shows Graham (our builder) getting a ride on the crane so that he can stand on top of the trusses, to fit the chain onto the trusses, to lift them off the truck. In this photo you can also see that the roof has gone entirely from the right hand side. This photo was taken at about 9.55am, at which time the trusses were moved off the lorry and onto the the car park.

Of course, I know that what you really want to see is how big the crane got - and so the photo on the left shows you. I sat in the clat all day, on a comfortable chair, just watching the events. This photo shows the first truss being listed - that was at 12.09pm. It took a bit of time getting the truss into exactly the right place, but by 1pm that chains were off. At 1.12pm I observed the crane swaying a huge amount - the winds started getting stronger, and it made the job more difficult, but by 6.30pm it was all done. There was a bit of a problem, three of the trusses on the right hand side were put in the wrong way round to start with - it took 45 minutes to get the trusses unattached, moved and then re-attached.

The final photo for today was taken later - at around 6.40pm. If you enlarge the photo, you can see Keith standing up on the roof. All the trusses that had to be made specially have been fitted, and some tarpaulin fitted over the open roof. The winds continued, and got worse during the night.

At around 3am this morning, Mathew phoned - he'd just woken up, up at the house, and saw that there was water coming in to the kitchen. He came back to the flat a little later. The winds continued to give us a restless night. This morning, Keith went to get some bread and some hot cross buns, and looked in on the house as well - the water that had come into the kitchen wasn't so bad. There have been chaps up at the house today, but they can't do very much due to the wind. Keith has heard that there were a couple of other mishaps yesterday - such as one of the beams (or was it a truss?), going down into the bath, as a result of the wind. We have heard that they will continue the work over the weekend, which is just as well. Apparently, we're going to be receiving our eviction notice soon - we have about 2 months of the lease left, and we really need the house to be finished. Next update - when there is something to update you with!

During the Storm

I'm not really one to be easily scared. The wind last night woke me up due to the clanging metal - I woke whenever there was a loud gust of wind. So, I didn't really sleep very well, but I didn't think that the storm had been that bad. I drove to school this morning, and it was strange seeing how high the water was in Bideford - it reached the top of the arches of the old bridge.

Coming home this evening has been a bit of a different matter. I knew that there was a bit of wind - but the rain was stronger, and the wind didn't seem so strong. That all changed as I drove along the link road - before the turn-off to Westward Ho! - the back road, I could feel that the wind had picked up. I had BBC Radio Devon on, and heard that the new Barnstaple down stream bridge had been closed due to the high winds. As I drove down the hill, I saw the massive waves. I got into the flat and decided that I had to take a photo:

We have heard that the wind is going to continue, and there has been a severe (?) flood warning issued for the North Devon coast including Westward Ho!, due to the high winds together with the spring tides.

At this moment in time, I would rather be up in the house than here in the flat. I can see very grey skies behind the house at the moment - and I know that we can't be living up at the house at the moment - the ceilings have come down upstairs, and there is no carpet in our room, or in Nathan's room. Therefore, Nathan is coming to live in the flat for the moment. I have spent a little bit of time clearing the spare bedroom so that Nathan has somewhere to stay.

The biggest problem here at the moment is the high winds. It is really quite scary here at the moment, the high winds are shaking the flat - I have seen the windows vibrating, and even the green roof of the flat shaking. You can feel the flat shaking - whilst sitting on the sofa the wind can be felt shaking the whole place. I really don't like it - I didn't like it when it happened back in December, and I like it even less now. I would much rather be in our house, but Keith tells me it is worse up there.

I suppose I shouldn't complain - we do live in one of the most beautiful parts of the country. It's funny - I remember strong winds and gales when sailing - remember Dartmouth Dad?, and then when I was on the Sir Winston Churchill, we left Alderney in force 8 winds. It all seemed fairly safe then - you expect boats to be moving about on the water, pitching and rolling and the wind whistling in the rigging, but not on dry land.

I shall now post the blog and finish my beer - and try to keep myself warm and calm.