You’d think I’d be bored of building drystone walls, but if anything I wish we had more to build. When the new fence went in our neighbour’s gardener, who put in the fence, piled up some stones along the boundary to cover the gap at the base. We didn’t want a full wall here, as we have the fence, but I tidied things up by building a very small wall to fill the gap.

Our neighbour had kindly said we could come and take some cuttings from her garden for wall loving plants. Returning with an armful of greenery I split them out and planted some directly in the wall, and potted some up in a seed tray in case they didn’t survive their first summer in the wall. Idris, of course, spotted the newly planted seed tray and decided it seemed a comfy bed… Hopefully some of the plants survive and start to clamber over the wall, adding some colour and additional stability.

For a ‘quick’ evening job, I started to fill round some of the new windows at the back of the house. I’d previously done the two kitchen windows because they were letting in water, but the rest had fallen to the bottom of the list. With two more filled, there’s just two more to go… Until we install the new new windows at the front of the house that is.

I’d been wanting to put in the kickboards for ages, largely because Idris’s fur accumulates under the cupboards. Mostly the process went fairly smoothly, aside from the longest strip on the wall cupboards. These cupboards weren’t removed when we sanded the floor, meaning the floor directly in front of them is a little more lumpy, where we had to go around the legs. Not an issue in general, until you have to cut a kickboard to fit snuggly beneath them.

I was pleased with the curved corner pieces that went along with the kickboard, as they give the cupboards a gentler feel.

Chris’s big job was installing the stable door, which wasn’t particularly straightforward, given the doorway is very wobbly.

I’d wanted a stable door so I can open the top on sunny days and let in the breeze, but it had been Chris who wanted the windows. As the kitchen is already so light I didn’t think we needed to extra glass, but it does actually brighten up a relatively dark corner.

Once installed, Chris had to head off so I finished up by putting in the glazing and giving the external side it’s first coat of yellow paint.

The sunshine this week has made it easy to get a few outside jobs done. One job Chris keeps reminding me of is weeding, which is pretty low down on exciting activities, but perhaps a bit more sunshine will tempt me outside with a trowel… Unless I can find somewhere else to build a wall…