You know when you have one of those weeks where you just don’t know where the time has gone? This has been one of those weeks for us. It has passed in a blur of seemingly constant decorating and tiny little tasks relating to our dream house renovations.
Decorations
As we patiently wait for the plaster to dry, we knew that we had a lot to do before we could depart on our trip to the US next week. We had the full hall, stairs and landing to strip, prep and paint and this was the week to get that project nailed. Now it may not be the biggest of areas to decorate, but boy did it take some effort. Our nemesis of painted lining paper returned and the stripping of this evil stuff took us over 2 days to complete.
It was soul destroying work, as the top layer of wallpaper came off like a dream, only to reveal the multi-layers of paint, paper and adhesive. Sometimes we were really lucky and we got it all off in one go, but more often than not, the stripping only brought off the top layer, to reveal the stubborn layers below! Only those that have tried this activity will know our pain.
After 2 days of stripping, we could start to transform the bare plaster walls by adding 2 layers of mist (watered down paint to seal the bare plaster) and 2 layers of emulsion. The transformation of this area was unbelievable- we often find ourselves staring at the space and seeing the potential of what we are trying to in the house.
The latter part of the week was spent misting the entire downstairs freshly plastered walls and ceilings. We suddenly realised once it came to painting exactly how much work we had done downstairs. There is so much fresh plaster to cover! As we transform the walls from bare plaster to a misty white, the whole area transforms and we can really start to see what a beautiful space we have created. We still don’t have any lights or electricity downstairs, but the addition of the white paint facilitates the natural light to pour into the space. Even on a wet, dour February day, the sun lights up our downstairs living space. We just cannot wait to get the rest of the work completed and get moved in.
Bathroom and Plumber update
The ongoing saga of sourcing a plumber to refurbish our bathroom and water heating system continues. We met with a couple of smaller, independent plumbers that we have had recommended to us by various people. The one earlier in the week, we are still waiting for a quote from…so watch this space. We met with another on Saturday morning that we really liked and he seemingly had availability to fit us in at the end of March which would be more than ideal. He knows that we only have a few days before we head to the US, so has promised us a quote by Tuesday. We are quite hopeful of this and we are keeping our fingers crossed, as if we can get this to drop in place it would be a major step forward in the overall project.
Choices overload
We have started to realise that the world has gone quite mad and is building unnecessary stress into our everyday lives without us even noticing. Let me illustrate this through the medium of floor coverings!
We have wrangled all week with final decisions about our floor covering for downstairs. We know that we wanted an oak effect flooring that was hard wearing and durable for our rural cottage- we had a similar product in our Cheshire home that lasted for years and we loved. However, 15 years on, this is no longer a simple decision. There are now a number of companies that offer the exact product that we want. They each have a range of at least 25 shades of oak flooring alone. Each shade is available in 2 finishes- smooth or textured. They are available in 3 widths of planks. They can be laid in a number of different ways- planks, 45 degrees, herringbone, parquet, large parquet, etc. I am not even going to consider the different edging options in my calculations.
If we look at the mathematical permutations for our oak flooring, we have to consider:
4 products x 25 shades x 2 finishes x 3 widths x 5 patterns = 3000 potential choices!!!!
This level of choice is insane- and only makes the decision making process more difficult. What are we doing to ourselves? Life was so much easier when you only had to choose between light, medium or dark oak! On a similar vein- don’t get me started on cereal choices in supermarkets! Rant over….
FYI we finally opted for Amtico, Featured Oak, barn finish, wide plank, standard pattern lay! (1/3000 choices)
Run, run, run
This week we both decided that we needed to do a little extra to keep us fit and healthy. We know that we do not have the budget for a gym membership in our early retirement plans, but we do have the greatest free gym on our doorstep- miles and miles of beautiful and quiet country lands and trails.
So our running habit has begun in earnest. We are being really sensible and just trying to build the habit of regular running by not trying to run too far too soon, but trying to run regularly. This currently consists of a 15 minute run as many mornings as we can, from the house, up the hill and back again. Something that is relatively simple to do and yet is already making us feel so much better. Getting out in the mornings, feeling the cold, fresh air fill our lungs, feeling a bit of discomfort is all food for the soul. We will see how it goes…
Youtube 1000 subscribers and 4000 hrs
We finally made it, hitting the first great milestone of our YouTube project…and way sooner that we had ever thought possible. To think that there are a 1000 people out there that are interested in our journey and are willing to watch over 4000 hours of our creations is mind blowing. When we started this project with our first video, we can remember sitting and waiting to see if anyone would be interested in our story. Less than 6 months on and we have hit this milestone.
We receive so many lovely comments from people who watch our videos which really do make us feel so happy with what we are choosing to do with our lives. We are loving the creative process, having never really being particularly creative people in the past. We are also getting a little bit more used to talking on camera, but it is still a challenge to avoid the feelings of cringeworthyiness, but life is about stretching our comfort zones and YouTube is certainly doing that!
Family time
We have had a lovely time this weekend with the kids. Georgia and Mol have moved back up north from Cardiff and are now living directly opposite Luke and Charlotte on the same road in Manchester- not at all weird in any way!
It is so amazing to have the family much closer together, and so good to spend time together again. We had a brilliant afternoon watching Luke play rugby whist the girls dealt with the removal team. We then just had the loveliest of nights at Luke’s house, chatting, drinking, eating pizza and just spending time together. A great end to a week of hard work.
So that's it for another week. We have so much to do before we disappear off to the States, but it is an exciting time and we are truly grateful for the opportunities that we have.
Have a brilliant week,
Richard & Jackie
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