Bathroom wall

When they start plastering what will be the bathroom on the first floor, the old plaster has to be completely removed leaving this gorgeous stone wall - so I've decided to keep this wall in stone so it will be pointed and sealed in due course.

Use your imagination

This is a lovely sunny south facing spot between the old barn and one of the outbuildings.  The crumbling wall at the back will be built up, some nice paving laid and before you know it I'll have a little sun trap for my morning coffee.........now, just need a kitchen to make it!

Thai restaurant?

They've put up the lathes between the new downstairs utility/shower room & the snug and to be honest it looks like a Thai restaurant with the reed dividers.  Soon these will be covered in plaster and so no opportunity for those in the snug to watch those in the bathroom showering (probably no bad thing).  

Lathe & Plaster

The house is moving along nicely & this week they start the lathe & plaster.  Lathe & Plaster was used in the UK before the introduction of plasterboard in the 1930s and as the house is listed, we have to use this old fashioned method - of course it cost more, both in materials and labour, but what can you do!  Three coats are applied - this is the first one.  The plaster is put onto the lathes which are long thin strips of wood made from horse chestnut.  Horse hair is used underneath the lathes as insulation.  It makes such a difference to the room - it really is coming together now.  This is the 1st floor bedroom which is just over 6 feet high, the ground floor has a much higher head height.  Apparently, it takes some effort to get it to stick and it's not uncommon to come in the day after to find chunks of plaster on the floor which then have to be re-done

Planning

The planning application went in about a month ago and Cotswold District Council finally get around to posting it on their website, putting up a notice at the house and telling the neighbours.

For those of you who're interested and/or don't have anything better to do, you can look at the application online at:

http://www2.cotswold.gov.uk/transferforms/registers/planning/mainsearch/a_handler.cfm?step=2&myID=14/02199/FUL

Comments etc have to be in by mid-July (no sarcastic comments please) and the application has already been to the Parish Council (we don't yet know the outcome as the minutes aren't put online and you need to give the Council 24 hours notice that you want to see them)

A future project..........

The garden is (I think) reasonably large - about 1/3 acre and has an old stone wall which divides it into two distant areas.  The one you can see here I'm hoping will become the fruit and vegetable garden in due course (not this year for sure).  There are a couple of old apple trees in the garden so it will be interesting to see if the apples they produce are any good.

There is a small planted area at the bottom of the new veggie garden with some lovely old cottage garden plants in it........but it's getting very congested and overgrown already - there's also a lovely old fig tree with fruit on it sitting behind the old outside fire which was, most likely, used for the forge.

A village with a view

It's a glorious early summer's day and my first site visit for about 6 weeks so I'm excited to see what's happened.  I drive along the road between Longborough & Bourton-on-the-Hill and the view is glorious - English countryside at it's best.  The fields are full of some green crop - no idea what it might be!  The recent rains have made everything lush and green and the hedgerows look lovely

Plumbing & Electrics

The plumbers & electricians have been working hard on the first fix while I've been away - it's been a challenge apparently to drill through the old oak joists, but it's largely all done now and so they can finish the floors and start the lathe & plaster.

The lathes and plaster arrives - this will be used to finish the ceilings and walls of the first and second floors of the original cottage.  These are the original materials that would have been used and we're obliged to replicate that.  Luckily, the 2nd floor of the cottage & the barn addition which will form the kitchen and master suite don't need this and instead can have modern walls (a quarter of the price) which is welcome news.  The lathe & plaster also takes a long time to dry and so we're hoping the weather stays fine, warm & dry over the next few weeks

New Stairs

We decide to take out the nasty steep staircase up to the second floor and put in one with a winder which makes it an easier climb!  The pine staircase is bespoke and looks good - still need to decide whether to varnish or paint it........decisions, decisions, but I'm pleased with the way it looks and the double height space between the first and second floors