It’s been a busy start to the year, with Chris off skiing, and me having two house guests, in the form of Chris’s brother’s dog Ned and my friend Becky.

With an extra doggy guest arriving, we wanted to protect the stairs from damage by staining them. I did two coats, with a sand before and between. They are definitely much more protected now, if a little slippy for doggy paws. I also added the lime plaster coat on top of the rough plaster along the edge of the stairs. While I had the mix out I also plugged some gaps in the kitchen walls.

Having flipped our bedroom door to open the other way, I was now staring at the green side most nights, so as I’d done with the bathroom door I using paint stripper to take it back to the wood. Unfortunately, the paint stripper couldn’t quite get through all the paint layers, so I ended up hand sanding as well. But I’m happy with the end result.

Before Chris headed off on holiday he decided to polish out some accidental stain marks on the concrete kitchen floor. They’d happened when he’d spilt wood stain from the worktop on the floor. Luckily they polished out fine.

In the utility I cut the final pieces of wood for the skirting. I need to stain them and then I can attach them. I also cut the final piece of architrave for the back of the worktop.

Chris bought me some bird boxes for my birthday, and I finally got round the attaching them to the shed. It’ll be lovely if I get some house martins in my house martin boxes, but the more generalist bird box is probably more likely to get a guest. I’d also like to put a swallow nest box in the shed itself.

Becky had previously made us a plant hanger, and another had been bought for us by Chris’s cousin for Christmas. Chris requested that Becky make us a third to complete the set, which she obligingly did.

It feels like lots of bitty jobs at the moment, but that’ because we’re building towards some bigger ones. Still the house has stayed warm and comfortable in a cold and snowy week, showing how far it’s come since we started the renovations.