It feels a little like Christmas, walking in and finding a load more work completed by the contractors. We now have a fully working heating system, with radiators in every room. One or two small issues arose during installation including the covering over of a few electrics, and a radiator where my future piano is meant to go, but overall it’s been a pretty smooth process. With the moving day now set for the end of May there’s a urgency to get everything done, as anything not completed in time will be something we’ll living with once we move in.

Scaffolding also went up last week, ready for the solar panel installation, meaning Chris was able to pop up and sit our chimney caps on before the jackdaws started nesting.

In the spirit of getting the house liveable we decided to finish off the ceiling panelling. Although 99% completed, what was left was the really awkward higher areas and corners. Myself and Chris set to work, but it soon became too frustrating for Chris, who went off to work on electrics while I carried on plugging away. I managed to get both bedrooms done, aside from the corners where we will need to buy a special trim. Chris isn’t particularly pleased with the result at the moment, but I think once it’s sanded and painted it will look as good as new.

Looking for a more satisfying job, Chris headed outside to install our outdoor lights. We managed to get quite traditional-looking lights to suit the outside of the house. Continuing with the outside theme he also started installing an outdoor plug socket and put in the plumbing for an outdoor tap.

Inside Chris recycled some of our old wood to act as wooden lintles in the two kitchen doorways, to add additional support to the wall’s interior and the ends of joists.

Having looked into the cost of hiring machines to polish the concrete in the kitchen/ diner and found it to be too expensive, we decided to get a quote from a professional. To say the concrete polisher was unimpressed with our attempt at concrete pouring was probably an understatement. Due to the rough finish he quoted a whopping £2,500 for the job. Due to the cost we don’t know if the idea might now be a no-go. We’ll perhaps try to grind the floor a little flatter ourselves and then ask for another quote, but it may be that we end up going for wood or tiles.

Arms dead from working on the ceiling I spent a little time rebuilding the stone around the steel lintle, using the leftover mortar to cover a few more wires.

Up on the roof, the contractors finished installing the solar panels. It’s exciting to see them in place. I’ve wanted solar panels for years, but Chris, with his sensible head, insisted it wasn’t economically viable in a house we weren’t staying in long-term. All we need is an electrician to connect them up, and we’ll be producing our own electricity.

Of course it’s not all good news. The sinkhole in the garden seems to have become even larger, with the hole we filled to the top, now looking almost empty…

Still, with only weeks to go before we move in, big holes in the ground will have to wait. Afterall, there’s no bathroom, no kitchen and no electric yet… Looking forward to a return to the 18th century on moving day.