House - Tour 2

Fire in Babylondon

Always nice to know your local fire service is close to hand in the event your neighbour's car gets firebombed. Bravo chaps! Thanks for rushing around so quickly to put out the FLAMING CAR, a mere three cars down from our own humble transporter. Sure, there may have been a problem with the electrics, or some other completely benign form of spontaneous combustion. This reporter remains doubtful. Ah well, nothing like a warm welcome to the neighbourhood.

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(All pictures, blurred though they maybe, copyright Billsworth!)

House - The tour

House - Enter sandman

'Don't do it' they said, 'You'll regret it' they said. Ha say I, we did do it and it looks fab! Despite the odd blister and ruptured hamstring, the whole sanding business went off really well. Muchos gracias to Mr.Cree who gave of his valuable sabbatical time to drive the lean mean green machine while I made like a sumo and attacked the edges. The whole thing took us about four hours, and we even managed to get in a first layer of varnish before the sun went down. I applied a second coat the next day with a brush (the flat mop business looks like it should be easier, but those mops don't really take to varnish that well) and am altogether happy with the result. Oh yes, and the bathroom is also finished, and I think the glass tiles in the shower look really sweet. The support bracket for the missing chimney breast is meant to be going in today, so hopefully the whole place won't fall down now, just as it's all coming together. The mellow moca on the hallway walls looks er, mellow, and now there's really just the utility room and plastering the kitchen to do. That said, both of these things seem to be exhausting the Bulgars, as they appear to be avoiding them. Don't stumble at the last hurdle men, the flag is in site etc.

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Return to the Shire

Wiltshire that is, home to ancient piles of rock, large chalk horses and my mother when she were but a childer. Summoned in mid-build, I swept off to this most beautiful of counties with three oldies in tow and one cousin. My Canadian Uncle had been given this trip back to his homeland by his daughter as a happy 80th birthday present. The fact that he'd only turned 79 was neither here nor there, she'd already booked the tickets so he was coming no matter what. To crown off this prodigal return, I was to deliver them all to the doorstep of the cottage where they grew up; the National Heritage postcard you see above in the village of Cherhill. Cherhill is also home to one of four chalk horses scattered about Wiltshire, and Mater was going to walk up and see it, even if it killed my Aunt. Uncle was having none of it, having already OD'd on nostalgia and russet apples back at the cottage, so we left him snoring in the car and trudged through icy winds to see yon horsey. Feeling we hadn't sufficiently had our fill of old things, we also did Avebury and Stonehenge, both of which are deeply underwhelming in every respect. I recommend stopping by the horse and taking a turn around this very dinky village tho, apparently the cottage was first noted in the Doomsday book so it's been around awhile. If you happen to stop by the pub however, don't eat the duck breast in orange and passion fruit sauce. Quite bitter it was, like the person who had to consume it.

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House- Construction time again

Yessiree, it's all coming together. Here we have the newly installed kitchen, complete with freshly painted ceiling. The new bathroom is also in and functional and the shower looks great. Hopefully the request to add a few more tiles behind the sink, won't be greeted with looks of Bulgarian disdain. The en suite looks fab, some artful tiling going down here too which better not be trashed by the installation of the supporting bracket. The spare rooms have been carpeted and painted and the walk in wardrobe is ready for er, wardrobing, now that this nice Bulgarian lady has finished touching it up. We're starting to see the proverbial light, once the hallway has been decorated and I've sanded the reception floors with the assistance of Mr Gooey Cree, we should be semi-ready to move in at the end of next week. No rest for us though, as the roof people then start the Monday after. I cry a little.

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