November Monthly Update
and the utilities cupboard’s revival:
A note on this month:
November is usually chaotic for us with work, largely because it contains Black Friday which we plan annually for. This year, similar to some others, we have a major course launch which is a whole full time job in itself, with the entire team working to get everything absolutely perfect before launch day, which is the 28th November – aka Black Friday. November also marks the start of true winter, and with horses that involves a lot more time spent mucking out, bedding up, feeding, rotating fields and turning out compared to summer. As a result, I’m (Jess) not around so much.
That means that these updates may be a little shorter and seem a bit light on detail. If I’m not there in real life when the exciting things happen, I have second hand information on everything. This is usually briefer than it would be if I was there absorbing things in real time.
Therefore, please bear with me. The 3-4 hours it takes to put each weeks section together is time that I currently do not have spare, but the time is carved out regardless. Enjoy them, because fuelled by caffiene, they shall be done!
November Week 1:
It’s VAT return week so Dan was racing to get the accounts organised, this happens every quarter and we really ought to have a better process but alas, this ate a full day this week. Gromet, one of our farm cats, was also sick. To be honest, nobody knows what is or was wrong with her, but it all started last Sunday.
She didn’t come in on the evening to the cats area, and stayed out all night. This isn’t completely unheard of, but it isn’t normal for her. In the morning, she was right there in the stables but she wasn’t herself. The only way I can describe how she was is like she’d had sedation of some sort. She was moving slowly, sort of spaced out, and she wasn’t interested in food or water. She went straight to her bed and then refused to get back out. There were no signs of injury on her, and she was otherwise a totally normal looking cat, but she just wasn’t “right”.
Dan said to let her sleep till lunch then we’d assess the situation, but at lunch she was just the same. She wasn’t her loud, chaotic self and her sister, Wallis, was obviously concerned about her too. I rang the vets but the earliest they could see her was the following morning. She spent the rest of the day in the office with me - purring non stop no less - which just made me more concerned.
Long story short, she’s been in and out of the vets all week and had bloods and scans done to see if we can work out what’s wrong with her. The current thinking is that she’s either got some sort of low-key infection or she’s taken in a toxin of some sort. She’s medically fine apart from a very slight temperature and very slightly elevated liver readings. She bounces from being really good one day to fairly shut down the next - it’s not good and I don’t like it!
We’ll have to see how she gets on, but Grom’s back and forth to the vets ate Dan’s days. Plastering isn’t really stop-start, so he got far less done this week than he’d have liked.
He did get the rest of the plastering done in the middle section, so it is now absolutely fully plastered. He did a lot of “bits” including the window reveals, some upstands, the roof light area and the tippy top of the sloped ceilings. He also did a bonding coat on all the windowsills ready for their wooden tops.
No mist coats happened though and no other stud work was built. The materials were purchased though, they’re due on site next Tuesday, so at least there’s that! Dan also picked up the immense volume of paint we’re going to need to run through this section. As mentioned previously, everything is just going to be one colour for now, and we’ll give each space a more solid identity when we know we’re home free on the finance part!
This month were also working to get prepared for animal housing too. The cows are due on site any day, so Dan spent some of this week grinding off the last of the rubber mats in the cow shed. These aren’t required for the cows as they won’t use these areas of the shed, so the mats are repurposed for horses instead.
Currently, the mats are bolted down with one, two or three bolts per mat, and there is no way to easily get them up aside from grinding.
The mats are heavy and difficult to move around, but they’re absolutely wonderful for any horse area because they provide cushioning and prevent slips!
This winter we’re preparing granary B for Velia to foal in next year. This barn has a smooth concrete floor and gets very slippery when wet, so mats are a must. We’re also working to try get a winter run in set up for the girls, so they can choose a sheltered area indoor if they wish. This area will also have haylage drops - which will save the field from tractor churn - and for high traffic, some mats will help save the ground indoors.
Dan was the height of health and safety, as always…
That’s where we’re at right now. A mixed update full of “stuff”. A major milestone though, as the plastering is at least fully complete there!
November Week 2:
We’ll pick up outside this week with project shedding, and the eventual home of the rubber mats. This weeks update has been completed on Sunday evening, so we have a fairly full 7 days for once, although it might not quite seem like it!
Dan cleared out Granary B so that we could get a good look at the space and do some proper measuring up. Here’s what she looks like right now:
The plan here was to either bolt or sink some gate posts into the floor to create two 13ft x 12ft pens/stables, leaving ample space for a walkway to the side and a storeage area in the little nook there too. Dan’s vote was for 9ft fronts with 4ft access gates, I felt the less expensive and faster option of 13ft full gates would be ideal. We did a test drill to see how deep the concrete is, and by default, whether bolting the posts down would even be an option, but at 3-4 inches thick sinking is the only way to go.
The logic is that the 12ft dividing gate/panel could be easily removed to create a 12x26ft pen/stable/thing, providing a lot more versatility. Technically the barn is fine to be used as one gigantic pen/stable/barn but the access route and additional options would be super. The vet, physio and farrier all like this access path and it’s the easiest way in and out for wheelbarrows too.
The result of our test being sinking posts isn’t a big deal really, and it was added to the to-do list for next week, but by the end of Sunday, the situation changed a little bit. We’ll circle back!
Next up we’ll head inside, because both the plumber and the electrician were due this week. Exciting?! We thought so!
Guess what actually happened?
Guess…
…
Yep, you guessed right, nobody came.
That caused a delay, because Dan was holding on the entryway stud work until the trades had been, leaving him twiddling thumbs and the house holing a selection of random fully painted walls where radiators should be sat.
Why aren’t all the walls painted? Good question! Technically we could have sprayed/painted everything, but in the time between the plaster being dry enough and the trades descending wouldn’t have been enough to get to the final finish. Now we know we would have had time, it’s a bit frustrating.
Therefore, none of the studwork, the painting, the electrics or the plumbing is complete, and by Saturday Dan was getting annoyed. Armed with his nail gun, some wood and a stack of insulated board, he set about studding the entryway.
Not a single wall in this area is square or straight, so it wasn’t exactly the easiest first try but by the end of Saturday, the whole area was prepped, cleaned and repaired (some new stonework and pointing was needed). By Sunday at noon, the entryway looked like this:
We’re testing out a handy little metal bracket system to set up the studs and square up the walls, and so far, it appears to be working ok. The top just needs finishing off and then it can be boarded. The stud structure is made with little wood bits instead of chunky wood bits because we’re matching the lining to the original finish depth, and the mini-cavity at the lath and lime side, which isn’t very big at all.
This whole area would have been boarded by the end of today and ready for plaster.
It would have been, if this hadn’t have happened…
I ran Dan to A&E (where we ought to have some sort of frequent flyer miles, or a warning sign… or something), and there we waited for the rest of Sunday afternoon to have a 90mm nail removed from Dans thumb. The jury is still out on how Dan managed to nail-gun himself, but the general consensus is that the nail ripped out of the end of the noggin and settled in the next thing it hit, which was Dans hand on the adjoining doorframe.
It was almost all the way through the other side, you could see it pressing on the skin underneath, but its position looked like it might have gone through the bone, so after a few X-rays, both before and after the nails removal, he was given the all clear, a tetanus shot, some precautionary antibiotics and then sent home.
They were kind enough to give us the nail back too. Legends.
In all fairness now we now that no bone was harmed in the self-inflicted injury, we could have just pulled it out ourselves (Dan still says hell no to that), but either way, the Sunday afternoon disappeared and we are indeed still behind.
With a gammy hand, the concrete breaking might be put on the backburner, we’ll have to see what it’s like tomorrow.
Onwards!
November Week 3:
A few different updates to whiz through this week. Of course, Dan was recovering from his self-impaling with the 90mm 95mm (I’ve been corrected) nail, but on the whole he chose not to let it get in the way and soldiered on like a champ.
Chronologically, the first thing that happened this week was a hard stop on one of our side projects.
The truth is, we’d been running about prepping Granary B when clearly we have other things to be doing this November – we were moving on that project now because we were expecting a new equine addition to the property in the next week or two. In brief, I’d been to view a stunning youngster who would compliment our breeding programme and be the perfect riding horse for me in a few years too. Everything checked out and we were progressing with the purchase. As is normal, especially for insurance, this wonderful horse had a pre-purchase vetting on Monday but unfortunately she didn’t pass her vetting, and so we’re staying at 3 horses for the 2025/26 winter.
Therefore, Granary B’s conversion-to-stables project is on hold until Spring, when Velia will need it next. Because it’s cleared out though, we can utilise it as a larger stable if someone needs more leg room, or as sheep housing, so it’s a bonus that we did this much, just sad that the plan didn’t come together for us. I am really gutted, but at the same time I hadn’t planned to add another this year and I feel most for her owner because it could happen to any of us with our horses too.
Inside the farmhouse, Dan and his gammy thumb went to work finishing up that entryway. If you scroll up you can see where he finished at the accident point. Back on site, he progressed by finishing up the framing and adding the insulated plasterboard:
By the end of the week, this area was also beaded and taped, ready for plaster (the jury is out on the ceiling - it might be re-done too, TBC on that):
There’s something so satisfying about a taped and beaded wall. It’s like the area is screaming “I’M READY”. A milestone, even without any plaster on the wall. I like looking at this stage because it is certainly more refined than earlier phases, but shows some of the bones more than in the later phases. A bit like a visual documentary on “how it’s made”.
The pocket door area also now has walls and a cieling. Gone is the very unsightly stonework in this section and the entire space has more shape to it.
If you can’t tell, I’m very happy this area now has walls. 10/10 from me.
Upstairs the heating engineer was indeed here, thankfully, to get everything ready for warmth. Sadly, no warmth could be had, because the electrician hasn’t been yet and he’s in charge of making the boiler start back up. Even without any heat, it’s been a wonderful week to see the system upstairs come together.
It started with the utilities cupboard.
The pipes needed to be re-run from the oldest section of the farmhouse into the back of this cupboard, followed by the re-installation of the old cyclinder thing (still no idea what this actually is) and a couple of new expansion vessels too. I had to whip out some lighting for shot two below, apologies for the horrendous colour balance.
It was, of course, also radiator installation week 🥳
If you remember from last week, Dan just focussed on giving only the radiator walls their coats of paint, hence the slightly strange done-but-not vibe here.
The radiators here match one in the old Kitchen, and they’re surprisingly affordable considering how they look. The valves, on the other hand, were discussed a few months ago and are decidedly NOT affordable (to me anyway!). They are pretty though, so at least there’s that.
Technically we’re awaiting paint (that’s a Dan job), plastering of the entryway (also a Dan job), the electrician doing his magic bits, a toilet move (it didn’t happen this week), and then the old master bedroom can move into one of these new bedrooms. When that’s clear, the “old” part of the house will get it’s speedy refurb. This next phase is a little ways off, but we hope to move along quickly now.
A fairly long update from me this week. Next week is Black Friday where our team is put under immense pressure, so I’ll try my best to update on time but there may be a slight delay.
‘til next time…
November Week 4:
I was absolutely not roaming around the site this week. You could have added a chain, but it wasn’t needed, because I was glued to my desk in the Cottage from Monday through Sunday – it was, of course, Black Friday week.
That means that despite all the scheduled bits and automated elements, for me it doesn’t relent until the initial flurry is through. Dan’s parents were also up here and Dan’s Dad said it best, “You love it though!”, and oddly I do love the stress and chaos. This year we had a huge course launching on the same day, so Dan was also roped in on Friday, leaving a little less “done” in the house than he’d have liked!
His one task to post some things that can’t be scheduled in advance went well, aside from the swearing I heard about 5 minutes in because something wouldn’t load for him 😅
I’m therefore going third-hand on all the stuff in the house this week… let’s break it down!
The Entryway
Dan managed to get this plastered in little sections around all the humans that were also in the building this week. He drilled a wooden block into the floor as a door stop to protect his sections, and his parents kindly removed the wallpaper that was on the ceiling there and, aside from a rough edge where some coving used to be, it’s come up fairly well. Drying plaster doesn’t photograph too well because it sucks up a lot of light, but I’ve given it my bestest stab in early sunrise light here:
The elephant in this room is probably that door. The central stained glass panel died a while ago, but the door itself is sound, so we’ll hang onto it for now and perhaps replace the pane soon. Next year the house will have a whole new set of doors installed - obviously I’ve already designed this one!
The Electrics
LET THERE BE LIGHT 🥳
Not just light though, all the circuits are connected and that means all the sockets, electric showers, kitchen built-ins (oven/hob etc) and the boiler are also back online. We’re keeping the new light fittings and app-controlled spotlights safe in their boxes until the painting is done, and then they’ll go up to give us a complete finished central section.
I really like the choices we made on the switches. Sticking with antique brass, the slightly more heritage-looking aesthetic works really nicely in the spaces. The sockets are what they are, no old-school versions available, but bedsides and the office storage corner have USB & USB-C sockets for now, because we have a lot of equipment that uses both of these cable connections. These will eventually become redundant as technology advances, so we’ve not thrown them everywhere - just where they’re needed right now!
Because the electricity was back connected, and we’re past our -10c few days of being frozen solid again, it was also time for…
The Heating
LET THERE BE WARMTH 🥳
This was a really special day. Thursday was make-the-boiler-work-again day and the heating system got filled for the first time since February. It was the moment of truth for the new section to see if there were any leaks, if the system would work as anticipated, and if the new radiators and insulation would do anything to shift the 8c internal temperature.
I have news on this:
The new middle section has 3 radiators upstairs, which I sized up for the rooms BTU and purchased with prayers for their effectiveness. They work perfectly. In 3 hours the rooms were so warm it wouldn’t be possible for either Dan or I to sleep in them 😅
The old master bedroom that we camped in last year used to get to a maximum of 12c in winter with the heating running full blast continually. Dan has insulated the whole ceiling and dormer roof areas, then plasterboard-ed it out. There has been no change to the radiator in here and no wall insulation added. The room heats and retains that heat far better than it did previously, reaching 17c in a half day of running. BIG change in here. Very big.
The system has no leaks, and works as expected!
The downstairs is still unheated in the middle section, because it will have underfloor heating instead. Dan wants to paint before this is laid down, but we’re expecting to have the pipework down in the next fortnight.
The photograph below of the biomass boilers flue shows a stark contrast in exterior pointing vs Dan’s re-pointed wall we shared last month. This is an accurate view of what he was working with before he did the pointing, and it shows the walls desperately need repointing, which will start in spring because lime mortar + frost = dead on arrival.
Today (sunday) it is -3c outside, the inside of the farmhouse is balmy. I nearly cried on Friday when I popped in after the morning madness because it is actually a warm and liveable building.
It CAN be a family home. It can be dry and toasty. I love that!
The Untouched Section
Switching from overwhelmingly positive news to standard farm news, we must discuss the south section, which is the “newer” part dating from circa 1880 (ish).
I mentioned that Dan’s parents were here and they were helping with wallpaper removal. The wallpaper left to remove exists in this southern bit, the bit with our giant store room (the snooker room) and the leaky gable that Dan did repoint. Up until now, the upstairs bedrooms here were barricaded by insulation in the hallway, but you might remember one as being the Rugrats Room, and the other having our wall demolition from October to try find the source of that almighty leak.
Well, wallpaper removal was painful in the Rugrats room, but it has come off. The years of wallpaper, paint, wallpaper, wallpaper, paint, wallpaper and so on have provided some structure to the walls, and the removal of this structure uncovered some issues. In this small bedroom, the plaster came off in a patch, damaging the lath:
Wallpaper removal was paused on this final area, as this wall needs more intensive remediation.
Down the hallway and into the other bedroom, the one with the two previously leaking dormer windows and the bad gable, you can immediately see it has faired a little worse:
In here the wallpaper was actually holding up the top of one of the dormer windows which has clearly suffered from extensive water ingress. It’s not a big job to resolve, but the pattern on the lime plaster is worth noting.
A mixture of wallpaper glue marks and black mould – this room has seen its fair share of damp. Thankfully, all of this is now historic.
The ideal situation would be to remove the wall linings and replace, but we’re doing that in a few years for this section and right now is not an option. Therefore, given that the room is now leak-free and dry, mould remediation to clear any remnants up and fungicidal additives in everything (plus a nice dose of heat) will get this room back to its best.
I know, it looks bad right now, but I promise you that this really isn’t that bad. We’ve dealt with WAY worse here, so actually this is a simple room to sort.
^ Look how much we’ve grown… zero panic!
Tidy up time inside, but that upper section is now ready for Dan.
Dan is currently taping up everything ahead of painting (via sprayer) in all the new plaster areas:
Then he’ll switch to studding some additional walls in other sections before we lay the heating pipes in the middle part. All systems go, but she’s coming together in her bizarre, segmented way!
The current status of behind schedule is about 1.5 months. Technically we’re staying in this building over Christmas, so the countdown is on!