After what seemed like a long and frustrating few weeks, the hungry one called with a lift in his voice. It was all beginning to happen - he had found possible builders and was negotiating with them about what we wanted done and the price - but what had really pleased him was that the septic tank had finally been emptied; He was sitting on clean ground!
Once the contract was sorted the builders were due to start at the beginning of October but a spell of heavy rain delayed them for a week or so. Once they were started, the speed and thoroughness with which they did things was unbelievable and still is. They started outside, demolishing the barn and rebuilding the ditch outside the fence - simultaneous destruction and construction; there's a lovely balance in that - for everything we destroy, we will build anew.
It's impossible (and boring) to describe day to day progress, so the photographs can do that. Progress has been meteoric but not without wee hiccoughs along the way. I got a phonecall one evening in the middle of October.
"We have a problem," with a flat voice, "We've had a fire." - What? A fire? Where? How much damage?
Thankfully, it was a very little fire but the problem was it was old wiring (neatly wrapped in cloth!) which had caused it. The builders spotted it, shouting, "Foc! Foc!" The hungry one hurried with a fire extinguisher but Lucian used earth and dirt to put it out.
So the electrics were out. The builders spent hours trying to make it safe for the night and said it could be used but not really very safely. They all had a conference and decided that the hungry one and Haggis were more of a hindrance than a help now. They would move onto the property to keep it secure and the Hungry One would come back to Bucharest with the dog.
Oh, and there were rats.- Yes, rats. Living in the back wall. In the crack. Now gone.
The Hungry One has been fantastic - he has found brilliant, trustworthy people to renovate the house and the work is started, and at a price we can just about afford, all while camping out in a house which wasn't really ready to be lived in. And alone. He deserves a medal for what he has done.
So, he and Haggis packed up and drove over the mountains to home.
Since they came back, which is only four weeks, the work has progressed apace with just two wee problems popping up - there's another septic tank; they found it under the cludgie when they demolished it. It, like the first, is disgustingly full (the previous owner hadn't emptied them in five years!) and will be emptied as soon as - it's open now and downright dangerous so needs to be dealt with. And then the bathroom/pantry ceiling needed replaced - it was falling down but you could see from the straws between the boards and the plaster that it was very, very old - certainly before plasterboard! Again it'll be done - Lucian says two days.
We've been receiving photographs and phone-calls at least once a week which is reassuring and worrying in equal measure. When I hear the names Dan or Lucian, I find myself holding my breath until I find out what's going on at the other end of the bit of the conversation I can hear.
What's amazing though, and I'm talking about the ceilings in the new bedroom and the replacement, is that the attic is floored as a matter of course; that's just what they do. With the floor over the living room and kitchen being stone and the back two wood, we have an amazing amount of storage space with the option for conversion at a later date!
Once the contract was sorted the builders were due to start at the beginning of October but a spell of heavy rain delayed them for a week or so. Once they were started, the speed and thoroughness with which they did things was unbelievable and still is. They started outside, demolishing the barn and rebuilding the ditch outside the fence - simultaneous destruction and construction; there's a lovely balance in that - for everything we destroy, we will build anew.
It's impossible (and boring) to describe day to day progress, so the photographs can do that. Progress has been meteoric but not without wee hiccoughs along the way. I got a phonecall one evening in the middle of October.
"We have a problem," with a flat voice, "We've had a fire." - What? A fire? Where? How much damage?
Thankfully, it was a very little fire but the problem was it was old wiring (neatly wrapped in cloth!) which had caused it. The builders spotted it, shouting, "Foc! Foc!" The hungry one hurried with a fire extinguisher but Lucian used earth and dirt to put it out.
So the electrics were out. The builders spent hours trying to make it safe for the night and said it could be used but not really very safely. They all had a conference and decided that the hungry one and Haggis were more of a hindrance than a help now. They would move onto the property to keep it secure and the Hungry One would come back to Bucharest with the dog.
Oh, and there were rats.- Yes, rats. Living in the back wall. In the crack. Now gone.
The Hungry One has been fantastic - he has found brilliant, trustworthy people to renovate the house and the work is started, and at a price we can just about afford, all while camping out in a house which wasn't really ready to be lived in. And alone. He deserves a medal for what he has done.
So, he and Haggis packed up and drove over the mountains to home.
Since they came back, which is only four weeks, the work has progressed apace with just two wee problems popping up - there's another septic tank; they found it under the cludgie when they demolished it. It, like the first, is disgustingly full (the previous owner hadn't emptied them in five years!) and will be emptied as soon as - it's open now and downright dangerous so needs to be dealt with. And then the bathroom/pantry ceiling needed replaced - it was falling down but you could see from the straws between the boards and the plaster that it was very, very old - certainly before plasterboard! Again it'll be done - Lucian says two days.
We've been receiving photographs and phone-calls at least once a week which is reassuring and worrying in equal measure. When I hear the names Dan or Lucian, I find myself holding my breath until I find out what's going on at the other end of the bit of the conversation I can hear.
What's amazing though, and I'm talking about the ceilings in the new bedroom and the replacement, is that the attic is floored as a matter of course; that's just what they do. With the floor over the living room and kitchen being stone and the back two wood, we have an amazing amount of storage space with the option for conversion at a later date!