We have drains! The digger drivers did a fantastic job digging a ditch along the side of the house, installing a new pipe and refilling it with gravel. The pipe now pops up on our boundary and has been constantly running. We can’t be sure yet if this will solve all our drainage problems, so we’ll have to wait till the next downpour, but finger’s crossed it’s all done.

Once the ditch was filled there was even some spare gravel, which they kindly spread out on our drive, so it looks less of a mess. The sink hole was also largely filled in, so we’ll see if that remains full or not.

As well as the drainage we asked if they could pull out two of the large tree stumps in the front garden, so we can eventually widen the drive. We didn’t realise how massive the stumps were. I wanted to use them for a stumpery, but they’re too massive for that, so they’ll be cut up into firewood. Now we just need to dig through the remaining debris and seperate the stone from the soil and move it all out of the way. Wish we still had a digger.

The new pieces of wood in the bathroom and bedroom ceilings had some more coats of paint added and some caulk around the edges. I’m very pleased with the bathroom, but not so much with the bedroom. I might use some wood filler to neaten it up.

After having abandoned the wooden coving in the bathroom as the geometry was hurting my head, I realised Chris was also avoiding it for the same reasons. So finally I got back to it. I had to take down a few of my earlier attempts to start again, and some of the joins are terrible, but I got there. I then filled gaps with filler to make up for the wonky walls. I just need to sand it all down and repaint, and hopefully no one will ever look too closely at it.

On the landing I finally replaced a missing ceiling board and caulked the gaps ready to paint. Chris also removed the tiny door to nowhere above the stairs.

Meanwhile Chris has been living like a goblin in the attic, taping plastic sheeting, laying ventilation pipes and putting down insulation. Finally, there’s just a little insulation to lay, perfect timing with the first winter frost having just hit us. Just a few windows and doors to replace and the house will finally be draft-free.