Molly leaves a calling card

Had a first visit by 6 of our good friends today - shame it was on probably the coldest, wettest day we've experienced at the barn to date.  Before a whistlestop tour of the barn and the 'extensive' grounds, Molly (one of the dogs) decided to leave her small deposit in our lounge-to-be!

That cleared up, and after a brief viewing, we retired to the village pub where we had a lovely meal in front of an (almost alight) open log fire.

Spending some of my Christmas vouchers

Received some vouchers from our boys for Christmas entitling us to a few days of assistance at the barn - so cashed one in on Sunday as the boys dug out the remains of the rusty old fence and iron posts from across the middle of the plot.

It was hard work; shame I couldn't help due to an muscle injury to my arm (probably due to excessive strain whilst helping David move to his new 3rd floor apartment a week earlier).

The plot looks better with each bit of work.  Now the new fence is up around the perimeter and the old one out, we have a clear view of our garden.  We can also now easily access the field part from the courtyard area, which will help the builder.

Next jobs?  While we are waiting for the survey, we could tackle the ivy on the gable end, and the trees within the front hedgerow.  Might also dig some exploratory holes inside the barn to check the depth of the stone walls, what kind of soil we're on, and whether the roots from the neighbour's willow go under the barn.

A Merry Christmas ...

... to all our readers (which is 22 since we installed the counter a few days ago that you now see at the top of the front page).

The last post

Fencing's finished.  Barbed wire and all.  Even looks right.  Had to retension the first bit and dig out a few humps in the ground, but it's done and now we have a secure perimeter and a clear view of our plot.

The sun shone on us again today, but with a stronger breeze it was bitterly cold.  Rewarded ourselves with a first visit to the pub across the road, where we sat next to the radiator and had hot soup and lamb shank (that's one less sheep in the field then).

No more barn work before Christmas now.  Might go there with the family during the hols to take out the old fence across our plot.  Then we have invited our friends to show them round and we'll pay another visit to the pub.

Take your pick

It was a beautiful winter's day at the barn today.  Snow on the ground as we arrived, maybe an inch, a blue sky and bright sunshine.  There were footprints in the snow between our two gates - maybe a fox.  Hope he hasn't had the geese, we want one of those for our Christmas table.

We had a few hours left on the hire of the post rammer, so knocked in our remaining fence posts before we returned it to the farm hardware shop.  Got there as it was closing, but with enough time to buy a new tool.  Couldn't decide what to get; the owner suggested I take my pick, so we now own a pickaxe.  Came in handy for digging the holes for the post struts this afternoon, and once they were in we started fixing the pig netting.  Had trouble getting it tight, though.  Might check the web tonight.

Didn't finish the netting, so we're going back tomorrow.  Had a chat with our cottage neighbour and met their lovely cat.  Also spoke to our paddock neighbour, who came across to see how we were getting on, and to point out what we'd done wrong.  He offered help with anything we wanted (although he dismissed the idea of lending us a JCB).  No mention of land or fences, though, so we left it at that.

Hope to finish the fencing tomorrow, then we can start to think about Christmas shopping.  Meanwhile, if anyone has ideas how to tension pig netting, send us a comment.

Substantial breasts

Heard back from the planners yesterday.  No real concerns over our last sketch - except that they don't like the 'substantial' chimney breast, which they think obstructs the openness of the interior, and they'd like to see some elevations.  Back to the sketching board.

Also met the architect and structural engineer on site this morning.  The good news is .... well the bad news is our walls are pretty unsound, and the neighbour's tree against our back wall is a willow, and our soil is probably clay, which together give the worst combination for subsidence or heave and structural damage.  The options?  We could take out that willow, and probably another one in the centre of our neighbour's courtyard ('cos they can affect buildings up to 40m away!), then wait 6-12 months for the ground to regain it's natural moisture content before building - but of course to remove the trees requires our neighbour's consent, and he's already being awkward on removing one, never mind two.  Or we could pay more for a piled foundation below the raft to get below the willow roots - then the bl**dy trees can stay there.  If that's the answer, then the rogue fence can be put in it's correct position, and we'll have those few metres of our garden back.

Mind you, if we're not on clay it's not such a problem, so first we have to dig some deep trial pits, probably inside the barn, to establish our soil type.

We also need a proper survey inside and out to determine proposed floor levels, then to dig some holes inside the perimeter to find out whether the stone walls are founded deep enough (probably not is my guess).  It might even be sensible to remove up to a metre of the soil from inside the barn at this stage, since it has to be done anyway.

So it looks like we need to get a digger in - and it can take out our willow stump while it's there.  That will probably be in January now, maybe even February, after the levels survey and planning application have been done and whilst we're waiting for approval - assuming we can get that in by end Jan.

You can see how the weeks slip by on these projects.

First Fence

Bought our fence materials today from a farm supplier near Burton Dassett.  They had a great store, full of farmers hardware like gate hinges and animal pens, plus loads of timber and tools.  They were also really helpful and cheaper than the internet.  It's so much better to be able to talk to someone when buying stuff you're not familiar with.

We filled our trailer with fence posts, put a roll of pig netting and a reel of barbed wire in the car boot (plus some new leather gloves for the boss) and set off to Chacombe.  A few hours later, and with the help of the hired post rammer, we had two rows of posts that were upright and in line.

Then it started getting dark.  I'll have to fix the pig netting on next week, then Misan can attach the barbed wire!

Aah-choo

Called our neighbour this morning to get his agreement to taking down the tree in his yard that's against the wall of our barn.  He didn't agree!  He wants to know what we intend to do first before he'll agree.  We took our file with us, intending to show him the latest sketch, but he'd gone out by the time we called round, so he'll have to see it another time.  Don't know what it is about the village - soon we won't be able to sneeze (daren't even consider f*rting) without someone there objecting!

So we went to the barn anyway and carried on with chainsawing the remaining small logs, then cleared up the last of the scrap timber (still a trailer load).  Brought it back to our tip in Leamington, and noticed we've lost one mudguard off the trailer - it's probably in bits in the M40 verge by now.

Managed to upload the architects sketch - here's how the chimney breast might look from the hall (if the planners agree)!

Scheme 5

Architect sent us an updated sketch today addressing the planners comments, so I sent that straight off to them.  Didn't quite get the immediate response we got last time - hope no news is good news.

The architect also drew a section this time, which shows our fireplace and chimney plus the staircase and gallery.  Looks great.  Hope it gets approved.

We'll follow our usual Saturday routine and go to the barn tomorrow.  Looks like it's gonna be a cold but nice day.  Might chat to our farmhouse neighbour to see if we can chop down the tree that's against our east wall - before we decide whether to discuss his rogue fence.

We've also seen a site in the next village where they've demolished a house and crushed it all into hardcore, which could be handy for our access.  Got the contractors phone number last week but (don't tell Misan) I've lost it!  Will get it again tomorrow then call them to see if we can dispose of a few lorry loads for then at no cost.

And I've priced up the fencing materials ('cos we're gonna do it ourselves).  Basic pig netting on round posts is much cheaper.  A 3 rail fence would be a few hundred more.  Anyway the paddock suits an agricultural fence - certainly not close boarded; at least that's what we're trying to convince the planners, having seen our cottage neighbour's intentions.

Making Plans

Got a revised layout from the architect on yesterday, and sent it off to the planners at lunchtime.  Was most impressed to get a response within a few hours.  They think it's better internally than the previous approved plan, but object to the extra window to the third bedroom, the 'possible' (but really unlikely) solar panels on the rear lean-to roof and the cupboard between the dining and lounge (but that supports the quarter landing, so it's not easily deleted.  Mind you, they said they'd like it 'deleting from the drawing' - didn't say we couldn't build it!).


So the tippex came out again last night to try a few modified layouts.  Then spoke to the architect this morning - we've decided that only a few minor adjustments are necessary before submitting a new sketch later this week.  At last, things seem to be moving in the right direction.