The new front door at the undercoat stage

The pinkish blob in the left hand window is Andy waving to you! Just humour him and wave back!

New windows plus decorator

The two top windows have had new frames made around the existing casements, as the previous ones were as rotten as week old peaches. The window you can see below the ladder has been made from scratch to replace the french doors that were there previously.
By the way, the word "casement" always makes me think of the poem, "The Highwayman". It actually mentions "casement" four times. That must be a record! To read the whole poem- one of my absolute favourites as a teenager- go to http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-highwayman/
I shall now imagine Bess sitting at our bedroom casement, letting down her long black hair into our courtyard! I'm not sure how the highwayman would get his horse over the wall though!

The stud walls around the stairs have been completed

The kitchen has a ceiling and the walls are taking shape!

Plastered wall, new ceiling and exposed brickwork in the dining room

Rob and Lois, you can both sleep easy now that the decision has finally been taken to leave this patch of brickwork exposed! The builders are going to rake out the loose mortar and find lime mortar to match the existing mortar. They will also replace one or two bricks that are past their best and have been filled with modern concrete. Sorry about the pile of stuff in front of it, but I am sure you get the idea.

Plastered walls and a new ceiling in the living room

You thought that the house renovation (or our enthusiasm for the blog) had died. Not so....

There has been a period of about three weeks with no input from the builders, because of the need to dry out the fabric of the house with dehumidifiers.
That finished the day before we went to Uckfield for Hannah and Dan's wedding, so the builders have been working for a week without any interference from us!
The first thing we noticed was that we couldn't get in, because they had put in our new front door, which opens inwards, as all sensible front doors should. It looks really smart, even at the undercoat stage.
This morning we went after breakfast and were amazed to find plaster on the walls and ceilings where ceilings ought to be. What a change! It's beginning to look like a house we might live in!
I hope you enjoy the photos.