We are at a stage of the renovation where it seems the house is full of little fiddly jobs. The type of jobs that take all day but you can’t even really tell you’ve done them. Frustrating jobs. On top of this we made the mistake of going on holiday without getting magical elves to continue the renovations while we’re away.

However, despite a general exhaustion and sense of slow-down, there has been one project I’ve been particularly pleased to get done. After all the help we received with the front garden I felt I needed to keep going to clear the rest of the ivy.

Pulling up ivy is back-breaking work but luckily I’d used a tool called a tree-popper a few years ago and realised this might make my life a little easier. These heavy metal tools help lever the roots out of the ground, making it much easier to get rid of rooted woody plants. Even more luckily the company that sell them offered a rental services, and shipped them to me after my request. This made it possible to clear the rest of the roots on my own.

As well as roots I located the old carpet our neighbour said had been laid down to surpress weeds, and below that the old brick garden path. Chris was keen to dig up the path, but I quite like it so we agreed to leave it for now and dig it up later if it turns out not to be needed.

With most of this section of the garden now cleared we went shopping for structural plants, such as shrubs and grasses, trying to follow the rule of repeating patterns to give it some order.

The only thing we kept from the old plants, which were largely ivy and bramble, was a set of wild climbing roses, which must be self-seeded. I’m hoping I can train them over something to give them some structure.

We also planted out a number of roses and a ginko tree that have been looking very sorry for themselves in pots. Hopefully they’ll revive. Finally I scattered some wildflower seeds I got as a present from my brother, over the end wall, so hopefully some colour will be seen from the road, even if the rest is still in progress next summer.

One of the fiddly and annoying jobs I started was installing the architrave and skirting in the bathroom. For my first attempt I’m fairly happy, though I gave up on the beading around the top of the room as I was making a mess of it. This is perhaps a job better suited to Chris, with his more mathematical mind.

Elsewhere I did the watery coats and first colour coats on the areas I previously plastered, including the utility and shower wall. While I do like the orange I chose for the utility room, it looks frustratingly like bare plaster in the photos.

Chris, in the meantime, had a frustrating day tackling the two odd corners and the central steel in the kitchen. While only small areas needing plasterboarding, their odd shapes, or the complicated manner in which the board needed to be attached, left him huffing and puffing in frustration.

And finally I painted on some wood stain testers to the back of our unpainted skirting. Personally I preferred the colours either end of the scale, the darker cedar or the lighter light oak, but all other votes were for the mid-tone of the oak. I’ve bowed to the popular vote but on their heads be it.

As well as feeling that we’ve slowed to a crawl due to the nature of the jobs, we’re also coming under increasing pressure from the weather. Not only do half the windows still need replacing, there are three doors with holes in letting in the cold, and an uninsulated attic still to deal with. The good news is despite all this our new house is still warmer than our previous home in winter, the bad news is our heating bill is only going to get more frightening. Lots to do to keep warm, and lots more to do to make this place pretty for Christmas!