Summer? What summer!

The “long hot summer” turned into a long wet summer – very wet! I have a new mantra now; when it’s raining stair rods (as it has so often this summer) I console myself with the thought that “the waterfalls are beautiful” – and of course the more rain we have the more beautiful they are. At times this year they have been spectacular and that lifts my spirits!

We returned to Brythonfa at the beginning of July and immediately set to work on building a dry lining for the north gable wall in what was to become our bedroom. This would also provide extra support for the new, heavier ceiling joists we were installing.

While David began on the timber framing in the bedroom, I knocked out the rest of the fireplace in the main living room, opening up the original hearth and chimney. I’ve discovered a new destructive side to my nature and thoroughly enjoyed ripping out the old bricks and timber to make way for the new!

Still working on our bedroom, we decided to knock through into the little bedroom to create more space and gain the extra window. As we removed the lath and plaster wall, a hidden door emerged, which had been boarded up and papered over for years. David then built a new stud wall over the head of the stairs to enclose the space, and built in a wardrobe to provide some hanging space.

That done we were ready to put in new ceiling joists. The first joist went in on 24 July, and the first ceiling panel – directly over where the bed would be – went up on 5 August, which Ian helped David to do, since the boards were too heavy for me.

With a new ceiling in place we could now finish dry lining the wall, so the next step was to put in the insulation between the wooden framework. After shopping around we chose insulation made from recycled plastic bottles, which proved a good choice. It’s very easy to work with – no gloves or masks required - and provides as good a level of insulation as the more familiar mineral types. It is green in other ways too – a very pretty mint green, though no-one will know when it’s hidden inside the wall! The gable end wall was plaster-boarded on 10 August – again with Ian’s help.

During this time, weather permitting, I had been waging war on the brambles which were threatening to take over the garden. The smaller of the two green houses was completely covered, inside and out, and I had to snip my way in inch by inch to free it! I have loved the voyage of discovery as the skeleton of the original garden emerges from the brambles: paths and steps which were hidden by the undergrowth, and plants which were suffocating. Sadly most of the roses have reverted to briars, but some of the azaleas have responded to pruning and are coming back to life. In July I was delighted to find a camellia blooming at the very top of the garden.

David now turned his attention outdoors, where our priority was to replace the rotten rustic trellis at the side of the house with a solid fence and gate to keep our dogs away from the public footpath – they are Belgian Shepherd dogs, big and black, and can be a bit intimidating when they are looking down at you from the top of the wall! At the moment the wood looks very orange, but it will weather to a pale silvery grey which should look good against the grey stone of the house.

At the same time, I had lessons in the use of power tools, which I had never used before, and set myself the task of building us a bed platform (futon style) from the pallet on which Jewsons delivered our plasterboard panels. So I sawed and hammered and drilled, and was very proud of the end product. We bought a memory foam mattress to put on it (the only way we could get a king-size mattress up the stairs!)

We finally moved into the house on Friday 21 August. It still is far from complete – indeed a visit a week later from the council confirmed that it was still classed as uninhabitable in terms of council tax so we are exempt for another 6 months at least! But we had a comfortable bed in a bedroom we could shut off from the rest of the building work; we had a workable kitchen – sink with cold water, fridge, microwave and camping gas double burner; we had a working loo and a washbasin in the bathroom, and we boiled a kettle for hot water. For baths we still tripped up the road to Mum’s or Ian and Nina’s!

We moved the caravan off the Waters Meet site and parked it at the top of the garden. It was pressed into service a week later when Judi and David came for August Bank holiday weekend and used it as an en suite guest annexe!

That same weekend we were invited to the evening party to celebrate the wedding of our immediate neighbours, Alan and Sonia, which was a lovely gesture that touched us, and gave us a chance to meet our other neighbours in a relaxed and sociable atmosphere. Everyone has been so friendly and has made us feel very welcome here.

As we have done work on the house I have collected lots of samples of beautiful original wallpapers, some as early as Victorian and Edwardian, which I have carefully peeled apart and put into an album. We also found initials carved into one of the ceiling joists – identified as JB John Brazell the builder of the house. A neighbour has put us in touch with Naomi Thomas, the great granddaughter of John Brazell and we’ve exchanged letters and photos. It is she who has provided the historical information about the house and family. We are preparing a time capsule to insert into one of the new stud walls, to contain a brief history of the house and its occupants, and coins dated 2009.