Another Lifetime to go

29th April 2018

I made an extra trip back to the cottage to do a final coat of paint to the ceilings prior to the second fix electrics on Monday.

I had expected Andy to have finished the plastering around door, but as usual it had not been done. I rattled off a text full of venom, and got on with the painting. He responded with a reason, an apology, and a time he would be here to complete.

As I was rolling paint, I was thinking about how the renovation had gone. I underestimated the time and the cost, but more it was about how builders will not be rushed, and they over order materials. I have enough bags of sand to fill a sand pit. It irritates me to see the waste, full buckets of plaster that spoil and can’t be used. Sheets of plasterboard converted into offcuts that could have been used, but end up outside getting wet and therefore useless.

28th April 2018

Rest day, chance to update my project spreadsheet, and generally do sod all.

I caught up with the latest Badger news and other Barrington business.

Nicola and Colin were woken up at about 2.00am with a commotion in the garden. Colin was armed with a spade, and he apparently chased the badger across the lawn. This is an obsession with them, and also their new next door neighbours. I am amused at the whole thing, because I know there is little that can be done with wild animals, god knows I’ve had problems with moles in the past. I am relieved that I am not plagued with badgers or moles, in the cottage,mainly because of the altitude. They would throw themselves in front of moving cars rather than make that climb.

27th April 2018

I prepared the site for a major plastering session, bags of plaster were at the ready.

Andy came early prepared to do battle, and I was going to be the plumber’s mate.

The big wall was the challenge, with the stairs removed a makeshift scaffold was set up.

The first bucket on plaster was mixed, and all I had to do was to lift it on to the scaffold plank. That was easier said than done. A twenty-five kilo bag weighs twenty-five kilos plus half a bucket of water cumulated in a bucket full of pink shit that really strained my greens. Whilst he got on with spreading the muck around, I tackled the levelling compound that had dried rock solid on the steps in the porch.

26th April 2018

There was plasterboard everywhere, Louis and Andy were on fire, well not Andy so much, more a smoking stick. The adhesive was mixed and everything was stuck, a good day finished with all the remaining walls boarded. The guys had made good on their commitment, but realistically when they can work fast they can, now I will gauge if the same exists with the plastering.

I went round all the walls and ceilings filling in divots and sanding out lumps, there is still a lot to do.

I had a call from the Travis Perkins driver to say he was at the top of the road with a delivery of “boards”. I did have to think about it having ordered them at the beginning of the week, that was a long time in the building trade.

When I got back to Ryan and Louise’s hoping for a quiet evening I was asked to look at a bath tap that had reduced to a trickle. Of course there is no simple job, and this was no exception. The screw holding the tap thingy would not budge, and that needed to be removed before the column could be removed. As I unscrewed the shroud, thick black muck oozed out like some alien slime creature, nasty.

In the end I had to drill out the screw, and with a little fiddling about managed to get the tap working again, so Ryan could have a shower after his football. Of course I will now have to find a replacement part to make good the job.

25th April 2018

The colour transformation continued. Nicola arrived to help, she is a dab hand at decorating, so with rollers rolling off she went.

The neutral colour, and the feature wall of lemon yellow reflected the light, and it was quite emotional to be at this point in the project.

Andy called in sick, with his cracked rib, and the painkillers did not have much effect, I didn’t expect him to “float” in anyway.

I had contacted Louis to try to get more help with the final boarding of the big wall.

He wrote back saying that he and Andy would be there in the morning.

24th April 2018

The task today was to dig out the channel for the LED light. This is positioned in the old fireplace area to provide additional lighting above the new sink. The channel was created by setting two pieces of plasterboard apart so that the lighting extrusion would fit perfectly. We took time to set the panels, but when Andy plastered the panel, he skimmed over everything. I was not concerned because he said he would rake it out. Fast forward to me trying to “rake” this plaster that had dried like a rock. It was a nightmare, it took several hours, and a lot of chipped edges to complete. I was really angry at Andy for cocking it up. If he hadn’t cracked a rib playing rugby I might have had to inflicted the same injury.

23rd April 2018

Just when I thought nothing could go wrong, I had a message from Andy saying he was at the hospital with a suspected cracked rib. That’s what you get playing rugby and coming off second. That means that the completion of the tall wall isn’t going to be done as planned.

That hit me hard, the timing is so tight, so I spiralled into a depression. I managed to apply a thin coat of white emulsion to the ceilings and walls. That was a bloody mess, splashing over everything. I know why decorators wear white overalls now.

Once there was some colour on the ceiling, it changed everything, slowly it started to look like a home.

22nd April 2018

There was devastation from the badgers visit during the night. Colin had built some defences from previous attacks, but they had just moved to another portion of the fence and burrowed under. The bird table had been pushed over one time too many, and was laying in a few pieces. This was going to be my project for the day, so I set about the repair and reconstruction.

There was the obligatory visit to B&Q for supplies of cement and hardcore, so Colin was set to build his version of the Berlin Wall. I suggested searchlights and bells, but that was ignored. My job went a little easier, and by mid afternoon the resurrected bird table was complete.

21st April 2018

This has been a successful week, so I just wanted to rest. I reflected on the progress made, but I was hit with a larger than usual invoice. Guess that’s a trade off I had to endure, everything costs. As I tot up the running totals, I have to believe it is worth it.

There has been a few times when I have question my decision, but I am in this spiral, and one day it will be finished.

20th April 2018

Another trip to Wickes in Trowbridge to purchase another six bags of plaster. The Shogun groaned as I loaded the bags, I have given the vehicle a hard time, but it has been brilliant. I have carried a variety of things from bags of rubble to grandchildren to school, and it feels like a workman’s truck, but without the copy of the Sun on the dashboard. I get the knowing nods from my fellow builders as I groan loudly with each twenty-five kilo sack I load. I haven’t yet mastered the skill of carrying the sack on my shoulder like a sleeping child, I’d rather hold it close to my tummy like an extended belt.

The air was cool, and the mist was hanging in the valley, and I was gasping as I carried the plaster to the cottage. Six times I scaled the dreaded slope, my body has to be getting used to this? Would I ever get a six-pack? I doubt it now, I’m lucky that I haven’t had a heart attack.

Later in the morning I had a delivery of timber for the bathroom floor and skirting boards, at last a job that I can do.

I struggled up the slope with this oversize load, the sun beating down on my already red bounce.

I set up my chop saw to cut the skirting into the different lengths to fit the room. I worked around Andy and Ollie and marked the pieces that I then cut. Each piece was then labelled, and loaded into the truck.

As the day drew to a close, I surveyed the progress. The high wall next to the stairs still needs to be completed. I celebrated by opening a can of black currant flavoured cider, it was disgusting.

Loading my glowing body into the truck, I set off for my weekend retreat.