House Numbers
We've got new numbers for the house:
One on the side wall:
And one at the bottom of the front steps:
These can be quite expensive to buy, rather than do that I thought I'd make some. So off the local Trago to purchase some numbers. . . .
Playroom toy storage
The problem:
Toys everywhere!! 
I've looked around at storage solutions in the shops and nothing seems to be quite right. Too small, wrong shape, wrong size and mostly far too expensive. So Jo has ordered one of these:
I got this pic a couple of years back online somewhere and can't remember - if anyone recognises it please let me know.
Function
The unit needs to be large enough to store all the kids toys. Under the base we'll need some large pull out 'bins' in which to throw stuff that's lying around. The top section needs shelves and drawers to organise books, drawing stuff etc neatly. It also needs to fit into 2 spaces - the current playroom and also the new one which will be in the house extension once that's finished.
New front door
A purchase from our local salvage yard.
Needs a lot of work to get it in good condition. First all paint needs to be stripped by hand (don't wont to risk the joints by dippping). Then some sanding before scarfing in lots of new bits. Then it will be onto paint. I'm going to spray the door, as it is going to take lots of coats, probably in this order: primer (sanding/filling), primer (sanding), undercoat, undercoat, 3 top coats. I'm going to try and get a really good finish with a high shine on it which is going to take lots of coats and sanding.
We struck hardware gold in Trago Mills last weekend and bought all the fittings for the door at great prices. I'll post more pics as this one progresses.
Cupboard Gone
We have a small room on the first floor between the two main bedroooms. Eventually this will become part of the landing and stairs to the attic will be in this area.
At the moment there is a cupboard in the way:
Not anymore:
Also revealed was more lovely wall covering:
Summer rain – garage gone.
So another week, more rain, beginning to feel like groundhog day. As all the jobs are outside at the moment it make's it very difficult to make any progress on the house.
This week we had some more visits from timber frame companies - looks like we have 3 or 4 possible suppliers on that front. Groundworks people are taking a bit longer to get back to us though . . . .
In the couple of days we had that weren't raining I got a change to clear a bit more lawn and also knock down the back of the garage.
Couple of hours with a sledge hammer 
Very therapeutic!
Veg intentions
It's the good life - or maybe not. No chickens and pigs in this garden -at least not yet. We do however intend to grow some fruit and veg. In order to do that you need somewhere to grow them. Having done some background reading it seems that using raised beds is a bit more straightforward than having a plot. So beds it is, which calls for some more wood construction - always welcome 
First job is to drive some stakes into the ground, get them level and then screw some boards to the sides. All the wood is pressure treated.
Once that's done on all four sides it's time for more digging 
to fill each bed with earth:
Next is to lay some membrane around all the edges and to cover with woodchips:
I've covered a couple of the beds with more membrane as we won't get the chance to plant this year and want to keep the weeds out. Here's also some more views back to the shed:
New CU & Meter
We've just had the electric board (or whatever they're called these days) out to change our meter for a shiny new one. The request was actually to move the meter to a new location - a turn through 90 degrees and onto the wall above the back door. This will mean that we're able to remove the old wall it was on. We've also had a new, much larger, consumer unit installed. This is not in use yet. It wasn't easy to find a CU with enough slots for all the rings we are going to need - 18 in all. It seems that most stop at 12 or 14-way which isn't enough for our future requirements. This unit came from TLC and seems to be a well made metal unit.
The first pic shows the new bits. In the second you can see the old location of the meter as well as the spaghetti which will need to be removed when the time comes.
Compost
The plan is to have vegetable beds by the shed. Therefore we'll also need somewhere for all the garden waste/cuttings etc to go. Fortunately :0 I left a space for this behind/next to the shed.
Apologies for quality of the pics but you get the idea. Made from some old roof beams, wire mesh and left over log lap cladding;
Spaghetti Junction
Being an old house the electrics are not particularly pretty. In fact they're a complete mess and with need to be totally replaced at some stage.
The first step is to remove some of the consumer units that are dotted around the place!! I think there are 4 at the moment, ideally these will be consolidated into one. In the pics below you can see some of the mess. You'll also notice some faded squares of wall where a meter has just been removed. This was the meter for night storage heaters which we're no longer using.
This last picture shows the mounting position of the new meter and consumer unit. The position of this is above the current backdoor. Eventually this will be blocked up and a cupboard created to house the meter and also coats etc:
Finished Shed
Now that it's finally stopped raining I've managed to get outside and finish the shed.
I had to stain all of this log lap - I don't recommend it, a very tedious job
With roof finished, log lap nailed on and sealant applied the shed is finished:
