Divine Intervention

The contractors that the water authority sent out to make the connection to the water main dug their trench across the road, didn't find the pipe, backfilled the trench, resurfaced the road and went home!  Neil got back on to Anglian Water who explained that they didn't know where their main was, so they came up with a solution - and a few days ago out came a man with some divining rods and traipsed about until his sticks crossed and he declared that the pipe was below there.  The contractors are coming back next week with a bigger digger and they're gonna keep digging until they find the main.  It's not quite 12 months since we applied for the water connection, but it ain't far off!

Fortunately things are going a bit better inside the barn.  Most of the stone floor is laid now, the kitchen is almost finished and the wardrobes have been fitted.  Some of the internal doors have been hung, and the patio flagstones have been laid and look really good.  The hot water cylinder and heat pump are in, waiting to be connected up.

We've chosen the carpets for the bedrooms and stairs and they should be fitted at the end of next week, although there's a delay in delivery of the wood burning stove so that won't be fitted until a few days after we've moved our furniture in.

The electrical works are almost completed.  We chose the exterior light fittings today, using the internet to see what's available and letting Neil know our preferences.  Completion of the plumbing works might be a bit more problematic, as the plumber goes on holiday next week just at the time when the water connection should finally be completed and we'll be able to test and commission the heat pumps and underfloor heating.  That's another headache that Neil has to sort out; it's tough for him at this stage of the job, but he's used to it and he seems to be keeping on top of things.

So he could have done without hassle from the council about getting their approval to construct the tarmac driveway across the highway verge.  They want to know where all the utilities are, insisit on the paving works being done by someone on their approved list and threaten to prosecute if we don't do it all as they say.  Apparently they are one of the stricter councils on these kind of things.  Sound familiar?  Didn't we encounter one of the strictest water authorities when it came to complying with these new (and poorly implemented) water regulations?

And as I'm writing this we get a call from Neil.  The carpet we've chosen for the bedrooms is not available until mid-July (not good if we're having the furniture delivered at the end of June), despite them saying an hour earlier that it was in stock and could be delivered next week.  So we've just changed to our second choice, which is not wool but has a lower tog rating (important for underfloor heating performance) and is in stock - or so they are saying at the moment.