Work

No bees, no honey; no work, no money. (Proverbs).  But I prefer this one which is most applicable to raising families but it also applies a little to what I've been doing in France this past month....
"The best work never was and never will be done for money". John Ruskin.

My main aim was to finish the bathroom in time for Bev arriving and to sand the beams in the main bedroom so that all the dust will be gone (she hates work dust).  I thought two weeks would easily see it all finished.  I managed it, but it certainly wasn't easy.

Here's a quick run through the jobs in the bathroom alone (not neccessarily in order...remove old toilet. Find a place for all the rubbish. Fabricate studding to house the toilet frame. Re-position the studding to the right place (I was not pleased about having to do this). insulate everything behind the studding wall.  Insulate and box pipes to the shower.  Plumb toilet and cut flush pipes to size.  Make sense of the instructions.  Electric cabling for the lights.  Chase chanels for electrics.  Filling, sanding and painting throughout.  Boarding, tiling, grouting toilet area.  Fit mirror.  Fit lights. Cut and glue timber for shelf.  Stain beams, shelf, skirting, door, velux. Varnishing shelf.  Cut skirting.  Cut and fit door frame.  Cut and re-hang door. Permanent fitting of the toilet. Fixing the velux leak.  Flexi-fill all edges.  Lay and grout floor tiles. Fix new robe hangers to the door. Fit toilet roll holder. Fit the shower door hand rail the right way up.

When I look at the photo, I wonder where all the work is.  It doesn't look a big job at all.

The remaining two weeks were spent creating a coffee table, book shelf unit, hearth, tiling and grouting the patio door area, hanging blinds, more filling, staining and painting in bedrooms and kitchen, chopping branches down with a chainsaw, moving electrical switches, fixing ceiling fan, laying 19' of drainage, grind out access for the down-pipes, cutting grass, digging and leveling a patio area, sanding, staining and fitting kitchen window shelf areas, painting a dormer and moving my wood store.

That just about covers the work.

Jon,Serene and Austin paid us a surprise visit tonight which is why this post is late.  We've had a lovely evening.

Last night was a good night too.  Italian is so much more than pasta and pizza.

How it used to look (toilet removed)...

Dormers painted at the back, little oak tree pruned and patio area dug out...

Window shelves in place,  between beams filled and two rows of back-splash tiles ready to go on...

My book shelves...and just a little bit of the coffee table in view..

Made from one of the old 'A' frames...

Can't really fit all of the photographs on, but it's enough.

Still no comments available I see...oh dear!