It was a couple of late nights finishing things off before our visitor.

One of the jobs I had it in my head I wanted to finish off was finishing the skirting and architrave in the landing. Completely non-essential but I just wanted to get it done. After more filling and sanding I was able to get a first coat on. It’s nice to see the landing looking more like a liveable space.

Next we focused on the bedroom, sanding and painting the new plaster, and getting most of the skirting and architrave on. Sadly there wasn’t time to fit, sand and paint the woodwork. Finally we tried to empty most of the DIY leftovers from the room, pieces of plasterboard, a spare door and other miscellaneous objects. This has filled up the office, but in time these bits will be used or sold. Some boxes had to remain, as for now there’s nowhere else to put them.

Excitingly the window company, who are making our wooden windows, came to check the measurements for the six windows, the double glass doors, and to measure the stairs for a replacement set. The windows should arrive the end of April, hopefully meaning we can take advantage of the bank holiday weekend to get them in.

While we won’t order the stairs till we’ve finished plastering, we needed a temporary banister to help my nan up and down the stairs. Chris salvaged an old rafter to sand down and install, which also gives us an idea what the stairs will look like with a banister. Sadly the expert said the new stairs won’t be much wider than the old ones, which seems a waste, but building control doesn’t have much room for bespoke designs.

We found a ‘new’ sofa for the lounge, with someone local throwing one out for free. It’s a nice sofa, but needs a clean. However the fabric is a silk mix and professional cleaners won’t touch it, saying it needs dry cleaning, yet the label says don’t dry clean. We’re at a loss as to how to clean it, and even the manufacturers said they didn’t know when we contacted them. We might just need to trial a few things.

Chris also got a mirror at auction. It’s very nice, but in need of some repairs. He wanted it to bring more light into our dark lounge.

Finally, I shifted the last of the soil alongside the drive. With this gone we’ve had a kind offer of a mini-digger from one of our neighbours, so we can flatten out the drive and the garden where the spoil’s been spread.

With our visitor having come and gone without breaking her neck on our building site of a house, we’ve now got two weeks till the next visitors arrive. I’m hoping that gives us time to get the last few bedroom pieces finished, though the nice weather is starting to draw me more out into the garden.