Take Three Thursday: Steps in Time

Don't you often wonder who has has taken those self same steps before you? Today I am joining Mary Lou at Patio Postcards with her Thursday meme where we post three pictures of something we have observed this week which are linked in some way.
You will know that we are having work done on the farmhouse and last week we unexpectedly had to have the stairs removed. See previous picture! This has revealed what we expected that there had been a much earlier staircase that had been a complete spiral. You can see to the left of the ladder where the original post is now propped by a later addition.

                                 

There is also evidence of the original stairs where the wood is built into the stones. Who knows when these were removed although we know that at some stage this end of the house was 'modernised' , perhaps about 200 years ago.

The carpenter in less than a week had constructed a new staircase. This seemed an ideal time to hide something behind the stairs. I have written a memory and put it in a stainless steel thermos. Who will find it? 

What would you include if you were writing such a memory to hide?

Taking Shape

A few days ago I gave a bit of an update on how the house is progressing. Several people commentated on the conservatory room so I have taken a few more photos of what it is actually looking like now.

A lot of the outside groundwork has now been done. The stone wall is completed. The patio slabs are down and the grass has been resown. It is not over clear to see but the building is set down I with steps down to the door. This is to achieve flat flooring inside flowing through from the kitchen and dining room. I have discovered that those who work in interior design talk about 'flowing' all the time!

This shows the interior. It will be the dining part of the kitchen with units coming round into it and then a table and perhaps an easy chair or two. We will be able to enjoy the glorious view all day! There has been some debate what we should call this room. The builder refers to it as the Orangery that sounds rather grand. We favour the Breakfast Room. Any suggestions? 

Tuesday Afternoons

" I really love Tuesday afternoons ". These were the words this Tuesday of the little lad that I look after once a week. I think he was particularly pleased to see that Student Daughter was home and with me when I picked him up from school.

What we do each week is a little weather dependent. He will just happily play with the old toys of the girls that we still have. He also loves to cook. Whenever possible however we like to get outside.  

This week it was a walk down to the bluebell woods for a picnic supper.

Poppy of course likes to come too although she does have to be kept back from the picnic.

Then there was a bit of an Easter Egg Hunt as long as he promised to share them with his mum and dad.

Back at the farm there was just time for a chill out with the pet lambs before mum arrived to take him home.

Hopefully he slept well after all that fresh air.

A Set Back

You may recall that we started work on the farmhouse back in October with a renewal of the roof. We have since then been renovating half of the house for the farmer and I to move into. A great deal of progression has been made.There is too much to show you all at once but here is some of the progression.

This view is taken in the dining room looking through to the new kitchen and entrance. 

Then the newly laid concrete where the conservatory was.

Now the new conservatory is nearly done.

We still have a way to go but have chosen flooring, wallpaper and curtains but today there was an unexpected hiccup.The carpet was removed from the stairs to discover that the wood was far worse than we had anticipated. so out they came! This means a halt to any more work upstairs while the new stairs are made.

Watch this space for an update!

A bit of an Update

Where has the time gone since Christmas? I really have no excuse for being away except a little loss of momentum, a fairly busy time and no longer being able to use my aging Ipad to upload posts. So I have finally fished out my laptop and here I am!
So what has happened while I have been offline? The year started with Farmer Daughter spending a 5 week adventure holiday in New Zealand and Australia.

Meanwhile back here Student Daughter has been busy working on her dissertation (submitted today!) with a few visits back home.

We have all had a weekend break in Devon which was a late birthday treat for me. More about that another day.

My mum has had her 90th birthday which we all celebrated together.

Lambing has come and gone with a remarkable number of triplets, 11 pairs in total!

Alterations to the house have advanced considerably (there will definitely be more about that to follow).

Easter has come and gone! What a sunny one it was too.

 So that gives you a bit of a taster on what has been happening here. Now I must find a bit of time to find out what everyone else has been up to while I have been absent. I hope you haven't forgotten me.

Happy Christmas

         Wishing all my blogger friends a very Happy Christmas. I hope you all have a lovely day.

                   

   

A Significant Day for Commuters

Time flies by and we are speeding towards Christmas at a tremendous rate. I thought I had started my preparations early but as always I still have lots to do hence the lack of posts on here.

 Monday was a momentous day for those who regularly travel in and out of South Wales. There are two Severn Bridges which cross from England over the River Severn into Wales. The first was opened in 1966 and the second in 1996. Both have charged a toll on the west side on entering Wales since they were built. The beginning of this week saw the abolishment of the toll on both bridges.

 Student daughter and myself had to travel to Cardiff on this momentous day. We crossed by means of the newer bridge. 

Temporary signs have been erected.

There is a lot of work to be done to remove the pay booths.

Although this is great news for the motorist. It will not be so great for the 100 or so staff who have been made redundant.