June Monthly Update
June Week 1:
Farmhouse
Dan recorded absolutely none of his activity this week, which leaves me super thin on the ground here for any meaningful update. I’ll list the activity this week and throw in a few photos instead, but just know that all of this is in the north side of the farmhouse (where the bathrooms, kitchen and Wet Dog Room are):
Boarded up the wall that has the doorway to the wet dog room
Boarded up the ceiling in the downstairs hallway
Boarded up the ceiling in the upstairs hallway
Plastered both downstairs doorways reveal off the hallway
Plastered the downstairs hallway ceiling
Plastered the upstairs hallway ceiling
Plastered the downstairs hallway wall
Filled in the chased electrical additions in the upstairs master bedroom
Boarded the understairs cupboard (in the middle section)
Added skirting to the hallway upstairs (in the middle section)
I also got some more storage boxes, which are needed, because Dan’s ‘tool room’ is a sea of items all over the floor for 16 square metres. There is organisation to the floordrobe of bits, but everything is so spread out now that it isn’t in cupboards and it's unmanageable. The boxes should help just give things a home, and then those homes can stack up for some order around here!
Here are some snaps of the areas mentioned - none of this has been tidied up (as you can see), I just stepped in, pointed and shot:
Fields
The other big job to do was to move some ponies about and start to get a handle on the weeds. We’d already had some areas sprayed back in April, and it did absolutely nothing. This week we had to manage horses and move things around to get Fat Camp 2 sprayed with Grazon Pro for docks, thistles and nettles (this is knapsack only) and then prep it for Polo (this is boom sprayed), which tackles buttercups.
Fat Camp 1, where Tuna and Connie currently are, this needs the same plants tackling, but it’s occupied so that’s not an option. I cut the nettles by hand so that Tuna and Connie could eat them once the sting had wilted away, and then I strimmed all the docks and thistles. This field doesn’t have a lot of buttercup in it (thank the lord), so it won’t get sprayed this year.
Buttercup is toxic to horses, but it’s so bitter that they don’t eat it unless there is nothing else to eat. It does take over fields though, and this year the UK has a massive buttercup problem. We think it’s because the spring was so cold and dry, so the grass didn’t get a good start to outgrow the yellow beasts. The only action now is to go with spraying and Polo protects the other species we want to try keep.
For the lower section, this has a lot of sheep sorrel coming up, probably thousands of docks, some nettles and thistles, buttercups, yarrow and a lot of rarer pasture plants. The biggest offenders were tackled by knapsack, but the buttercups still remain here. They’ll be added to the boom list.
I moved Velia down her larger field into a new strip, which means her old paddock can be tackled, but this section will be left alone this year on the whole.
The elephant in the giant field is the haylage. The docks in here were supposed to be sprayed but for whatever reason it hasn’t happened. The docks are going to seed, which is not good for us at all. I did go out and hand rogue a patch but it’s not worth the time I’m losing from work so we’ve admitted defeat, the docks will. be baled, the horses will spread them all over in winter and we’ll have to re-start spraying next year. Not ideal, but it is what it is. You can click to flick through the before and after here:
The buttercup here is ok to be left, as the plant isn’t toxic in hay/haylage. The seeds, however, will spread everywhere. Next year will be fun…
This is, however, well ready be cut and baled, which is great news! The next hot spell will be go-time, we think.
Asti
Asti’s 3 weeks old this week, and she had few different graduations. The first was the “Meet the Farrier” graduation, which Velia took part in as well. Asti was very confident and explored Mike whilst he trimmed Vel, and was happy to suckle from one side whilst Mike was trimming the opposite hind leg. Of course, Velia was 10/10, she was very, very good.
Asti also explored Mike’s tools, enjoying a scratch on his hoof stand thingy. This was the first time we’ve been able to watch what Asti does if she’s panicked, because she jumped at something from behind and ended up sort of on top of the stand. Instead of panicking, she carefully went backwards and re-organised her legs before walking calmly forwards. 10/10 Asti!
The second graduation was in yielding body parts, which is vital for a baby to learn. The aim is to move the hindquarters when asked, and the same with the front end (often harder for them). It took Asti 6 minutes to nail it with a finger nudge of pressure. We also did some work on full body touching, including leaning over (not touching her back!) and rubbing the opposite side, along with lots of play with ropes and lines.
This all helps immeasurably for handling them and starting them as 3yo’s, so it’s a no brainer to put the time in now! Asti also finally got a headcollar put on. This is quite a big deal for a baby horse, and our foal slips were enormous so only useful for the initial feeling around her head. I waited for a different headcollar to arrive and then Dan popped her into her rope loop and I popped the headcollar on. We repeated it a few times and then ended the session, letting her chill until the following day.
Sadly, there’s no evidence of this, because I didn’t bring a camera with me and Dan was very much occupied!
On her 3-week-old milestone day, we popped her new headcollar on and headed out to take some photos in the blazing sunshine. Here she is with her new accessory:
We do not leave foals in halters, mainly because none of our areas are snag-proof - it’s very easy for a foal to get hung up on something and break their neck, it’s just not worth it to us.
The final thing on Asti’s Graduation list was letting Dan pick up her feet. I’m not saying she holds them for 5 minutes and falls asleep, but it’s good when they’re this small to get them used to leg handling and holding the hoof off the ground without resistance. We’re just waiting for a pause and relax, then releasing the leg again. With me, she’s a lot more confident but with Dan she let him do all four willingly, albeit with a face that said she really wasn’t sure about it all:
That’s all for this week, catch up next time!
June Week 2:
A busy week of ‘bits’ again and to be honest, the rooms Dan has been working in aren’t spaces I’m happy sharing on the internet. I know his building sites are messy at the best of times, but this week took that to another level. I can’t cope with the chaos and I’d rather not let these photos be your opinion of the rooms!
However, the main focus is the Kitchen, as I’ll be moving into the Farmhouse in the next couple of weeks. The kitchen had a giant stack of insulation, insulated plasterboard and plasterboard right in the centre. To get those out, they needed somewhere to go. The plan was to move the office things out of the storeroom, and then put the board stack into the store instead.
But to do that, the office stuff needed somewhere to go, which meant it was door time. This was a Jess project whilst Dan raced on with his bits, so over 4 days, I did a coat here and a coat there. By the end of the week, the doors were painted and rehung with the hardware back on.
Like I said, Dan was in the kitchen mostly, sealing the ceiling (with peel stop), running some renovation plaster over old lime walls, and adding gypsum plaster to bits that can be gypsum’d. With the doors ready and the furniture partially available, Saturday was Office Move-In Day (kinda). The shelves and storage boxes haven’t been unpacked in 2.5 years, so it took me a while to figure out where everything could go:
I have a bureau/writing desk/thing that’s been in storage for about 4 years, at times in a damp shed, and prior to that it was in storage elsewhere too. The drawers are sticky and the front surfaces have water damage all over, but I'm planning to sand it back and stain it, because I really do think it’s super cute. The refurb started with a thorough clean, before moving it from storage to its temporary home in the office. If you look past the water stains, you can see my vision (I hope)":
That leaves the office here, minus the second desk, artwork, dog beds (other ones), cable tidying, windowsill, chairs, and so on:
By midweek next week, I should be in possession of some kitchen photos that I can share, and then Dan heads upstairs because we’re literally 10 days away from upstairs carpets!
Until next time…
June Week 3:
Another week has whipped by and this one was a part week for us. Ren was over in Melrose having another round of stem cell implantations for her joints and a new array of soft tissue damage (with zero known cause), Alfie was having a special photoshoot on the beach at crazy o’clock in the morning, Asti has her first ever bout of diorrhea and Velia got colic. It’s been a week, for sure. Thankfully, we end the week with everyone safe and well again, so at least there is that.
This week was Kitchen Week, and by Kitchen Week, I mean tidy the place up so we can actually use it. I mentioned last week that Dan had been plastering, filling and sanding, but I also said there’s no chance I’ll share a photo because the state of this room would set the fear of god into anyone who likes things neat and tidy (me). The giant stack of insulation and plasterboard was now out, but Dan used the space to store stuff, mix plaster, grout and filler, and generally make a mess.
The mess was, mostly, mine to clear up and I’ve been putting it off because just walking in gave me anxiety. To never forget how freaking bad this room was, here it is last week, the photos I said I’d never share:
As you can see (past the mess), Dan had already plastered, filled and prepped the space (ish). The ceiling is on a temporary repair with peelstop + hopes and prayers, and the bottom corners of lime plaster on two older walls have been filled back to a solid structure with renovation plaster. This will take a few more weeks to set hard; then it’ll be sanded back to a perfect corner before being smoothed over.
This week, however, was painting week, wine rack alteration week, radiator week and cleaning week. My job was the last one; Dan took the rest. Painting came first, but as this room is a literal cave and much of this was done after hours, the stills are quite poor. Hopefully they are legible enough:
Next was the big clean. Tidying took a couple of hours, then cleaning the surfaces took around 4 hours (ish) and with no water on in here just yet, this involved traipsing down to the cottage, filling vessels and then returning on repeat. Next was the floor, which I thought would take about 3 hours - it did not.
The floor was so bad, a few times I thought about just chucking the crappy lino away - but we have neither the time nor the budget for unnecessary expenses like that, so I carried on instead. The floor was cleaned in 3ft x 1ft sections, on hands and knees, wetting, soaking, scrubbing, scouring and then scraping the plaster/grout/filler/paint off wherever it was needed. Some bits took a couple of minutes; others took 20 or 30 minutes. In total, it took the best part of a day, split over multiple days, to get the floor done. There is one section that still hasn’t come up right, but I’ll tackle it again when I have more time and some more aggressive scourers.
There’s just the hearth to touch up, a bit more paint in a couple of spots, skirting to go on, the windowsill to paint and the cupboard door to reattach, and then it’s more than survivable. The fridge cupboard is still tbc, but again, survivable. Here’s what she looked like when I took a pause on Sunday (today) with a before and after for a 1-week switchover:
The radiator will be up by the end of today today, the water turned on and I now need to go source a light.
Onwards!
June Week 4:
Good news, we have a light sourced and on site, the bad news (if you can call it that), is that it isn’t up in the sky just yet. Nope, the Kitchen was paused after the radiator went up and the water went back on because this week it was all about the upstairs.
Technically, just one section (middle), featuring our temporary bedroom, another bedroom and the landing area (where the utilities cupboard is. This is the section that was fully rebuilt, and it’s been achingly close to completion for a while now. This week was carpet week, so Dan had to get a race on cutting and fitting the skirting and architrave, then filling and caulking, then taping and painting. In the shortest time known to man, he got it done just in the nick of time, leaving this section a bit messy, but looking like this:
Our temporary bedroom went on a journey through rooms as the carpets were laid. Dan did set up a camera, but sadly the settings were not conducive with human eyeballs, so I do not have anything I can share. Afterwards, Dan caved into my pestering and put up the 4 blinds that have been sat in a box for a while, officially signing these rooms off as ‘done for now’. Different, room, but here’s the after:
As always, it’s about the details:
Dan also took an entire day out to go get a second-hand sofa that I fell in love with. Over the past 6 months I’ve been keeping an eye out for a Chesterfield-esque sofa set to go in the Farmhouse, but aint nobody got the money for one of those new (we do not) and therefore, trawling all the scammy Facebook Marketplace posts was how I spent my spare minutes. I was looking for 2 × 2-seaters, or a 2 seater and a 3 or 4 seater, only in tan, brown or tweed, and it had to be in good condition.
Imagine my excitement seeing a tweed and tan Vintage Sofa Company Chessington set for sale in Birmingham?! Off Dan went in 36-degree temperatures to retrieve the beauties, and a full day round trip later, the 2023 models made it home. Photos in a sec - stick with me.
Not to be outdone, the room itself needed some new additions - curtains. At the moment, there is no way to watch TV in daylight because the TV sits opposite the window. But with the dusty stone work to do and bits of plastering down here, Dan had a hard stop on adding any soft furnishings. Now was the time to open the curtains that have also been sitting in a box for a few months to pop them onto their special double poles.
Dan commenced popping the rails up:
Nope, the skirting is neither finished nor painted in here, but that’s another days problem! We’re waiting for the fireplace to be delivered for it to be fully polished off, so a few weeks to wait yet!
Next, I hung those curtains:
I did measure for these before there was a floor, and they’re ever so slightly long for a brush, and slightly short for a puddle - but never fear, I have a plan for that later. The main result was that yes, you can, in fact, now watch TV:
Here’s some current photos of the lounge:
Do I still need to steam the curtains and voiles? Yes. Do the shelves, windowsills and fireplace still need putting in? Yes. Is the room otherwise finished? No.
Do I care? Nope! And I LOVE this sofa set 🥳 We’ll add some cushions and throws when the time is right, but for now, it’ll do.
The next phase is all about the bathrooms and master bedroom, which have another urgent deadline on them, so that’s next week planned for Dan!