1st January 2006 - Happy New Year
The project has been ongoing since March 2005. In brief it has taken best part of a year to get full planning permission. Full planning was granted on 20th December 2005.The surprising fact is that the "Log House" was not the problem but approving an access to the highway. Planning and Highways between them managed to take nearly six months to process the application. It has been frustrating but satisfying to have got this far.If you decide to undertake such a project we have already learnt that you will need lots of patience and understanding. There is a lot of procedural "Red Tape" that exists within the Local Authorities. I don't believe that it is all their fault and feel that Government, through various legislative edicts is at the root of the problem. The system, whilst catering for the individual, takes no notice of the a one off build.viz a quick turn round. John Prescott should take note if he by chance reads this.None of this would have been possible without the help of our Architect. It is my belief that he worked wonders behind the scenes in order to remove the various log jams we came up against. They had local knowledge of the councils workings and was invaluable. Your time will be shortened by using an Architect-yes it will cost, but it is worth it. The time has not been wasted, as during this stage we have evaluated various companies for the "House" and short listed three companies. A visit to Sweden (up near the Artic Circle) to see a manufacturer, plus various UK builds to get a feel for the build process has happened. All a valuable learning experience and have learnt a lot about Log Houses during this period. So perhaps we should not complain about wasted time.

17th February 2006
Yippee.The contract for the land has been signed. Josephine surprised me by taking me out for a celebration meal on the day the deal was completed. Thanks have to go to the seller for there patience and agreeing to take it off the market some six months ago.Now things can really begin to roll. Quotations for the House, Foundations and Fencing are all in (At least those who bothered to reply!) and decisions have been made. Letters confirming the House and Foundations will be going out this weekend. The fence is a self build; we are breaking ourselves in slowly and it is proposed to be erected around the weekend of the 25th Feb. We hope to have the site cleared with the foundations down and the brickwork up to damp proof level sometime in March. Log House is expected to arrive sometime early April. April 1st or is that tempting providence?

28th February 2006
We are now on site-more of that later. Lets set the scene as to how we propose to live up there while living in the Bath area. The answer is a caravan parked on a site close to the plot of land. Not having towed a caravan on the motorway before (M4,M5,M6 AND M54) I, Martin (Josephine has more sense) set off with a certain feeling of apprehension. I should not have worried as arrived on site safely, Towing added an extra hour to normal journey time. Feeling hungry I found a pub in walking distance (no I didnt pick the site because of this-honest). Excellent food and with real ale to accompany it,it tasted good. Back to the caravan in darkness (Caravan in middle of site with no street lights). Eventually found it and was soon in the land of nod. Woke to the chorus of Crows/Rooks with the temperature in the van at 1C (Breath was condensing). I made a complete mess of everything in getting up and decided there had to be a regime and it goes like this. Wake up-switch heater on-put kettle on low-go back to sleep-Kettle then "Whistles"(van warm now)- make tea-back to bed (well I do need to listen to the news)-abultions-breakfast-tidy up. Be untidy in a van at your peril-lost my one and only box of matches and had to go and buy another box, only to return to find them! See(P001) for picture of van on site. Arrive to view the plot at 8.30 (P002). This weekend is fence building. With a flat site the fence posts were easily marked out (7 no) and the digging commenced. During this I met Diane and Bob, neighbours to be who very kindly provided me with tea. The mug was passed over a high fence and would return mug by tying a piece of string to it and dangling back over the fence. Thanks Diane. All posts were in and concreted by 5.30 (P003).I ended the day with a sprained wrist that was puffing up by the minute. It was the jarring of the spade on the stones that had caused the problem. Next day the first job was the "Gravel" boards and "Arris" rails (P004). Why are they called "Arris" rails? This was then followed by nailing some 180 feather edged boards to complete the job by 5.45. (p005 and P006). Quiet satisfaction reigned, albeit with a painful wrist. I did take a break and had a "Sunday Roast" in a local pub. On Monday morning my mobile phone went off as an alarm with standard ring tone. It goes off and I cancel it. Suddenly it rings again? Pick up phone and realise its coming from outside van. I am being very serious when I say that the phone was being mimicked by a crow and thats the truth.I have since heard that the do mimic-another of lifes little wonders. Today was a short vist to site to prepare for the next phase-the foundations. That excercise is planned for March. I drove bak to Bath and arrived to a warm home and a hot bath.

Nothing to do directly with the build but I must say thanks to Derek for his kind feedback on improving our web page.

Finally to CNP (Please advise mistakes). CNP stands for "Chief Nit Picker". Thanks Rod.

14th March 2006
Eventful and satisfying is the best way of summing up the last three days. Cutting the first "sod" (P007) was the order of the day with the help of Josephine,Tony,Fiona,Ceria and Fintan (P008) and a glass of Champagne to celebrate the occasion. Work was now to start in ernest. The object was to clear an entrance 5m wide through the hedge (P009) seen from the road, and (P010) shown from the inside, and then to clear the site of trees/shrubs etc (P011). The picture also shows the fire that was to keep me warm for three whole days.The first day the hedge was only partly cleared due to the fact that the hedge was full of Ivy that did not lend itself to the chain saw. The next day (Sunday) I was greeted to a 4inch covering of snow (P012). The glowing embers of the previous days fire still visible. What a welcome warmth from the cold. It was not long before the fire was going again and progress on the hedge went well having broken its back yesterday. Having nearly completed the hedge job I stood there admiring the work when a snow plough passed by, dumping its spoil of snow and slush from the road all over me. I was soaked through - a clenched fist in its direction and a few choice words went after it but all to no avail. The pleasures of a rural life! With the hedge opening finished by lunch I adjourned to the local pub for a hot soup and roll with a pint of bitter. Manchester United v Newcastle was on the big screen and had to pull myself away just as Rooney scored his first goal.These are the pleasures one has to endure with a self build project. The afternoon went well and was left with just the three largest trees to fell. I had left them till last, reluctant to felling them - just the nature in me I suppose. I left the site with them still standing for the next day. By 2 o'clock the next day the trees were down and on the fire. During this exercise "Bob the Builder" unexpectedly turned up with his JCB. The excavations will have to wait a little longer but it was left on site. The view from the road onto the site is shown in (P013) and the site clearance can be judged by comparing (P011) and (P014). You can see across the adjacent field with the canal bridge in the distance.I left the site for home shortly afterwards with a last look at the remains of the fire(P015) that had kept going through the whole three days through wind, rain, sleet and snow - boy scout training obviously still remembered. All being well I will return to site later this week(Friday) for the excavations.

22nd March 2006
Site is now beginning to buzz. We have acheived a lot in 3 working days, thanks mainly due to the construction company, and in particular to Simon for driving the JCB and overseeing the works. It started on Friday, 17th with opening the fence between the plot and the field (P016); having been granted permission to dump the top soil (high quality) in the field for later retrieval. In the brackground is "Bob the Builder" about to start. As the site was of historical interest planning had placed an "Archeological caveat" in the planning consent that required an Archeologist on site during the excavation phase. Pat duly arrived as we started to excavate (P017). It was cold with a sharp Easterly wind that made it seem even colder than it really was, this was not made any better as we had to stand and watch while the excavations proceeded. I had mixed feelings that having cleared the site nothing of historical significance showed up. On the one hand we might have had a "Time Watch" investigation (sorry Pat!) and that would have delayed the build programme (not so good). By mid afternoon the site had been skimmed (P018). It was down to me now to set the site out (P019). The plan was to set the site out on Saturday and have Sunday off. It didnt quite work out like that as the JCB was left in the middle of the plot so the site setting out could not be completed. The JCB was moved that night and so returned to site on Sunday to finish it off (P019). I took a break from the build and drove to Lake Vyrnwy (P020) near by and sat in the window of the hotel overlooking the lake and tucked into a wonderful Roast Beef dinner with a pint of ale. The rest of the day was spent exploring the area. I went back to site to meet Tony,Fiona,Ceira and Fintan who easily persuaded me to stay the next two nights instead of in the caravan; after all it was cold! Monday dawned and on site at 7.30am but no builders. Around 11.00am things started to move having made some telephone calls. There where good reasons for the delay. Digging the footings was the order of the day (P014) and by the end of the day most of it had been completed. A visit by the Archeoligist to check the footings revealed nothing unusual, so the bronze age settlers most probably lived in the field next door! Thanks. We now had a clear bill of health and just needed Building Control to give us the go ahead to pour the concrete.A telephone call to request inspection was made to Buiding Control. We also need to bring in some crush stone, two lorry loads (16 each load) in order to create a stable base for the concrete mixer(P022). It will not be wasted as it will form the base for the drive eventually. By Tuesday 11.00am Buiding Control had been to site and given us the OK. 12.00am and the monster cement mixer arrived (P023). The picture of it tells its own story. Two visit by this monster finished the job. Pouring it was simple, all done by remote control (P024). Heaven knows how long a cement mixer on site would have taken. I had seriously contemplated doing just that and very relieved not to have gone down this road. By 4.00pm I was heading home to Wiltshire with the news that they proposed to have the brick base laid and completed by this Friday(24th). A satisfying feeling to a fruitful few days.

6th April 2006
The blockwork/brickwork for the foundation of the log house is now complete (P025).The brickies on the job suddenly disappeard having virtually finished the job - six pillars to do. We have had some difficulty in gettings things moving again but its now done. Whilst all this has been going on, and adding to the problems, Building Control have come out of the woodwork(no pun intended) and have raised questions about a potential fire risk in relation to one of the boundaries. I find it amazing that having had planning approval why is it, that issues like this are not addressed at the time. The house manufacturer has been heavily involved in calculations to prove that the building is ok. Based on their belief that all will be ok the house kit has been released from Sweden. It has now arrived in the UK, at the port of Immingham, where it is currently sitting on the quayside waiting for delivery on Wednesday, 19th April. We are taking a break over Easter. Now is the time to introduce Kevin to you. He is an old friend of mine (a builder among his many talents) and he has agreed to give me a hand with the build - thanks to Jayne, his wife, Emily and Katherine the children, for letting him go for a fortnight.We hope during this period to have the house external shell built and the roof on. Happy Easter to one and all and look out for the updates from the "Likely Lads" over the next fortnight. To sign of this entry this picture (P026) is the backdrop to the site taken about half a mile away.For those interested in the rocks this is the southernmost point of a Limestone Rock formation that runs right across the UK in a North Easterly direction.

23rd April 2006
Before getting to whats happened a special paragraph about our "Tea Ladies" is needed. What building site has two tea ladies, Sue and Diane (supported by Chris and Bob) who alternate in providing not just tea but other goodies as well. After we had unloaded the lorry (and more of that in a minute) we turned our back on the site to hear a cry from Sue and Chris beckoning us back to site. In there hands was wine glasses and a bottle of bubbly to celebrate the arrival of the first part of the house-brilliant. We have also had tea and biscuits from Diane and as we left site this Friday two plates with warm freshly baked bread, butter and strawberry jam from Sue. Thanks ladies for all your kindness. Sue please note that the "Bubbly" went to Kevins head and he needed a kip to recover!!
I return to the build, and having arrived on site early morning with eager excitment of the arrival of the lorry from Sweden. Crane driver arrived for the unloading. No lorry! We were then informed that it was still on the dockside at Immingham, some 5 hours away. Hearts sank and emotions ran high ( I'm being polite here but I am sure you will get the gist). Without getting into the nitty gritty we sent the crane back ( a tele hoist - P027) and through the kindness of the company they agreed to come back to site and finish whenever. That eventually turned out to be 7.30 that night. In the meantime we turned our attention to other things not planned and arranged to lay a damp proof membrane on the site and then cover this with stone crush ( a mix of dust and stone)(P028). That arrived at 2.30 in the afternoon and with the help of the others we shifted some 6 tons onto the site. Whilst we were waiting for the stone crush to arrive Kevin took the opportunity to have a nap in a recently acquired whellbarrow (P029)-bless!
The transport eventually arrived at 4.30 in the afternoon (P030) and soon had the first pallet off the truck (P031) and into the field next door. By 7.30 that evening the pallets had been safely unloaded into the field (P032) The picture shows just some of the 22 pallets that we unloaded. All left site tired but satisfied that at last we had the house on site. As mentioned earlier we finished off with the "Bubbly"- a very nice gesture and much appreciated. We looked forward with anticipation to the start of the build tomorrow.
We were up early and soon had the first timbers in place and the ceremony of fixing the first log was recorded (P033). All went well until we came to the end of the first layer of logs and something was clearly wrong. The logs did not fit onto the base as they should have done. Measurements were made and it gradually dawned on us that one wall was short by 1.5 inches or the foundations were wrong! Also the first log for this part of the wall was also shaped wrong.The log wall was found to be incorrect. What now? We (Kevin), now referred to as "Top Man", disappeared down the road to a furniture restorer and "Hey Presto" came back with a modified log. Our thanks to Guilio the owner of the shop, who later came to see us - no charge. Despite having a correct shape we could not find a way of intergrating it with the structure. So all "Top Mans" efforts were in vane. The issue was resolved through phone calls to Sweden who confirmed our problem and they were now urgently making a new wall. Until this arrives no house build can take place. The next day I received a call from the MD of the company in Sweden (thoughtful and appreciated as he was on holiday) to explain what was happening. It has now been made and as I type this it is on the high seas heading our way for delivery on Tuesday 18th April. We did a few bits and pieces on site but left on the Friday (14th) as there was nothing more we could do. I dont need to tell you how we felt having built our expectations up over the last few days. "Thats Life" as they say and proves once again that as human beings we all make mistakes from time to time. The only way I deal with this is to be philosophical about it and just accept that thats what life throws at you, whether you like it or not. Kevin (alias Top Man) has been a brick (no pun intended) and through his building expertise has proved to be invaluable - I have to admit he has earned his new, self appointed title!
Thats all for now and hope that the next entry brings better news.Keep your fingers crossed.

30th April 2006
What a week.It is a very long time since I have physically worked as hard as this past week. We,"The Team",Kevin Bill and myself have put in 11 hour days from Tuesday, 25th to saturday, 29th but at the end of it the progress has been remarkable as you will see. The first part was to set up site (P034), secure the floor beams down (P035) and this was done while we waited for the "New Wall" to arrive from Sweden. As we completed this task,low and behold (and I had said a few prayers), the lorry arrived with the goods. Thoughts of will it fit were uppermost in our minds. We should not have doubted the factory as all was well. My thanks to "Jorntra" the manufacturer for the quick response to the problem we faced last week. The build could now start. All the logs are numbered and it is just a matter of following the sequence, A1, B1, C1, D1 etc, where A,B etc define which wall and the numbers the order in which they are to go in. Thats fine we thought until we came to find them. Although each wall was on a seperate pallet they were not in order and more often than not the one you wanted was at the bottom of the pile. It was explained to us that to minimise packing space it was necessary to do this. The time it took to sort this out, would I suspect have been cheaper to pay for the extra space in transport cost. Be that as it may steady progress was made and the first day ended aronud 8 o'clock that night (P036). Note the long shadow of the photographer. That was good going as we did not start until around 12 o'clock. Wednesday arrived with us feeling full of get up and go and as the build progressed the log piles went down and the "hunt the log" became easier. We did try and bring several logs in at a time but aborted that idea after spending half an hour looking for a log on a pallet that we had earlier taken to the site. No ones perfect are they! The day was satisfying as we started to build the verandah and balcony (P037). Kevin and Bill doing the work while I took the pictures - somebody has to do it! We acheived 1st floor level and failed to take a picture at end of day and forgot to remedy the situation the next day - I will take one when I get back to site next week for inclusion. I was shattered at the end of the day and did not realise this until getting back to the caravan. I just fell to pieces and found it impossible to stay awake. In between this slumber Kevin (now a Cordon Bleu chef) cooked a meal of Sausages, Saute potatoes with vegetables. I was still asleep in my working clothes at 11 0'clock and had to be woken to be reminded that there was a bed I could get in to. Next day secong wind kicked in and the focus was now getting the internal windproofing sheet fixed to the wall and then the vertical struts secured in place (P038). This is a time consuming job as each of the little guides holding the vertical posts takes three screws. We reckon to have put in some 58 post 348 guides giving just over 1000 screws.At the end of the day it was role reversal and it was Kevins turn to drop out of the real world. My turn to cook and I have to say I reckon I can cook a special "Spag Bol" - he didn't complain so I assumed all was well. Saturday was used to generally tidy things off and get ready for next week. I had not achieved my objective of getting the roof done as 4 days had been lost due to the wall problem. Two good things have happened; the MD of my company has agreed to let me have next week off and Kevin's services have been secured for another week. P039 is of the view standing in the Lounge looking through the window/verandah to the field beyond.
Our thanks to the "Tea Ladies" for all there kindness for tea, water, ginger biscuits and home made chocolate cake. I think this is the real reason for Kevin coming back next week! You may have wondered who Bill is in this saga. Bill lives locally and is interested in doing a build like this. I thought he would come and go from time to time, but no, he has grafted with Kevin and I on the build and has been a great asset to the team.
My thanks to all those who have sent encouraging e-mails and to the many visitors that have turned up at the site. Just to put the record straight the white tent is not a "Champagne Hospitality Tent" as has been suggested in one of the e-mails!
Away from site and back at home my next door neighbours, George and Anne having been acting as house watchers and taken in deliveries of various items that have arrived for the project plus dustbin duties - thanks.
It was nice to arrive home somewhat tired, sun-tanned and to find Josephine had a meal waiting for me.Sleep was easy that night.

7th May 2006
The weeks weather turned out to be very dry hot and sunny. In fact it was that good that on my return home it was suggested that I had been on holiday with the suntan I came back with. So for the record this is what really happened. But first the picture that I failed to take last week - (P039) showing the build up to the first floor level.
The outline plan of what was proposed for the week was thrown out of the car window on the journey up on Tuesday 2nd May. As had become standard routine Kevin and I debated (some may say argue - Bill thought so) as to what was to be done first. Instead of going for the roof the decision was made to get the first floor joists in place (P040). To complete this task we then realised that we also had to erect some of the internal walls (known as "studding") and (P041) shows some of this work going on. With the 1st floor joists complete we were able to put a temporary floor down on the first floor level. This would make the roof build a lot simpler.
The first purlin (the horizontal large beams) went in (P042). It sounds simple but believe me it was very hard work to manually lift these into position. To give you some idea of size, the largest of these was 7.2metres(24ft) long by 315mm (1ft) deep by 66mm (2.6inches) width. Heavy was not the word. All told some 16 sections were manhandled up a ladder and onto the first floor before being lifted into position and screwed together to form the four main purlins. Having installed the first level of pulins we then built the walls up to the second purlin set(P043).Just to add a bit of interest the picture shows me in best builders attire. Please note that the house has not taken on a tilt but was put down to the shock the photographer had on seeing me on the Verandah. Picture (P044) shows the main purlins and two smaller ones over the porch now intalled. Note the screw fixings for the purlins, the number of screws used for this was 192. Out of interest over 2000+ screws have been used so far! It was now clear that we were not going to get the roof on - theres optimism for you! There was still a lot of strengthening work to do and I was also keen to clear the field of the remaining logs. All the logs were brought inside the house and the strengthening of the walls completed. Two final pictures; one of Bill taken from the Balcony (who is also going to build a log house) relaxing in the now affectionately named "Champagne Marquee" (P045). In the distance are the hills. Mid picture shows the hedge that runs along the side of the canal.The final picture (P046) shows where we are now and clearly shows the Verandah and on the first floor the opening that will form the windows and double doors from the Master Bedroom onto the Balcony.
As usual our thanks to Sue and Diane for all the refreshments. Biscuits,Cake,Fresh bread and Jam and not to mention Icecream!
I have mentioned Bill earlier and without his help we would not have got the Purlins up without a crane - we were told that it would be ok to do it manually!!!! Bill has been part of the picture since the start of the build and whilst he has gained the knowledge of how to build a log house he has been of immense help to this project. I have to mention Pauline, his wife, who brought us lunch of warm roast beef rolls from the local butcher topped off with tea and Kit-Kats - five star treatment. My three week holiday has come to an end and its back to work on Monday for a while. In some ways that will not be a bad thing. Dont get me wrong I'm not fed up with it, far from it, but it will give me the chance to recharge the batteries and step back and to reflect on what we have achieved in three weeks and plan the next phase. Will be back after next week, speak to you then - have fun.

8th June 2006
To all those who have kindly sent e-mails asking what has been going on since the last entry have no fear, work on the house has taken place but I have not had anytime to sit at the desk a put an entry together. I also thought that you would not have been interested in the fact that May was the wettest for 30 years, as you would all have been experiencing the same. So the fact that I spent three consecutive weekends getting wet is not really relevent to the build progress (or lack of it). In between the rain drops some progress has been made. The "Champagne Tent" has been taken down and the caravan that had been on a local site moved to the building site. Moving the caravan was no easy task as the ground underfoot was very wet. A song by Val Doonagan came to mind - "Delainy's Donkey in the half mile race".Pushing it, shoving it, heaving it etc readily came to mind, with the air occasionally turning the odd shade of blue. The whole exercise taking best part of half a day. We now have all mod con on site plus a refuge from whatever the elements chuck at us.
During this time we have had many visitors to the site from Per, the MD of the Swedish Company supplying the house, and his design team of Hans and Bengt. I was presented with a gift of a paper knife made from Moose bone. It was good to renew old friendships. Ken and Jane from Birmingham and a surprise bottle of wine from Lyn Rogers, who has watched with interest our build progress.This is for the topping out ceremony (completing the roof). Its not been drunk yet Lyn and you will celebrate with us later. We have also had numerous visitors who are hoping to go down the same road as myself and wish them well in there venture.
Over the next three weekends the Verandah and Balcony Floors have gone down and the three main walls (two ends plus the middle) have been built to the apex ready to take the roof (P048).Over the May Bank Holiday and the following week the weather changed for the better. Bill, Kevin and myself set about getting the roof on. The first part of this was to erect the roof rafters (24 in number) over the main part of the house and the porch (P049). Getting the rafters up to the first floor was OK but the assemble and positioning of same took us a full day ( 1 full day = 12 hours). P050 shows the dificult end as the Purlins are in mid air. A sky hook would have been a bonus. But at least you can see the inside of the Verandah with the decking in place. To those of a technical nature each pair of rafters were screwed together with 72 screws- multiply this by 17 and you have how many screws went in that day. The following day Kevin focused on the porch area and in particular where the two roofs met (P052). Not an easy task but confidently accomplished by "Top Man". Bill and myself tackled the roof at the back of the house. All the sawing was done on the machine on the first floor(P053) with the power being supplied from the generator on the ground floor.A further three days was needed to complete the covering of the roof ( known as Sarking- all the tinbers are tounged and grooved on the sides and the ends).Prior to this point the house still moved - not any more, its as solid as a rock. The final two pictures (P054 and P055) show the completed roof with the sarking. Please note that the Porch Gable End has to be trimmed as Kevin decided to have an artistic few moments near the end of the job. He does call himself an artist and perhaps he has visions of exhibiting his work at the Tate Modern. I think it would compete very well looking at some recent exhibits!!
Thats brought you to where we are now except to say that I have purchased an abseiling kit for the next phase. Thats to put the felt on the roof followed by the battening and tiles. So I'm off to do a bit of climbing next weekend. Hopefully I will return with some interesting pictures for you. In conclusion the roof is by far the most challenging part of the project to date. Please note you will need a head for heights in tackling this part.
I trust I will not take so long about future updates!

26th June 2006
The last entry mentioned abseiling, but it didn't quite turn out as expected. With the kit in hand I thought a trial run would be the right way to go. The Porch roof was chosen for the trial as it is only some 5 metres off the ground as opposed to some 7 metres for the main roof.Why is it that heights always seem to be a lot higher when your looking down towards the ground than when looking up? The abseil ropes where put over the apex of the roof. How, I here you ask? Well, you simply tie a piece of thin string to a stone and then throw the stone over the top; making sure that there is no one the otherside when you do!Then tie the other end to the rope and pull it over. That part went well. I then donned the harness (no pictures yet) and with the abseil device clipped to the rope and the harness I was ready to go. In no time at all I was sitting astride the roof apex patting myself on the back at how relatively easy it had been. So now to come down - couldn't have been easier I thought. Hang on (no pun intended) a minute this is going to well. It was at this point when I was brought to a sudden halt. The device linking the harness and rope would only allow me to go UP but not DOWN! Help, what now? Five minutes is a hell of a long time when your stuck, believe you me. Do I shout for help? No I decided, as I had visions of the Fire Brigade, Local Newspaper and a horde of onlookers all playing their part in getting me down. The answer was to disconnect the safety clip, tie the rope loosely round me and slowly release the rope to descend. I know I shouldn't have done it. Lesson from this is that I should have tried it hanging from the garage roof at home, that would have shown the problem up very quickly.So much for roofing this weekend so my attention turned inside the house(as well as my stomach).
Briefly the house is like two houses in one (like Russian Dolls) with an outside and then you build another one inside. So I spent the rest of the weekend making a start on this to return to the roof another time. That went well and made good progress on the top floor starting to make the inner roof. I also brought all the timbers (Just over three pallets worth inside the house and covered them). Whilst this was going on I had a big bonfire to clear all the rubbish that had accummulated to date.Also completed the balcony (P056)
The next weekend it was back to roofing, this time with the proper equipment and all went well (P057 & P058), although it was very time consuming in going up and down to collect timber etc. I used the Porch roof as a learning curve as I found that instructions on this part were lacking - in fact none at all. By the end of the weekend one side of the Porch had been Felted, Counter Battned and Battened. I was tired that night a decided to sleep there Sunday Night and return home at 5 o'clock the next morning. As you can imagine I had a very quiet and easy journey home.
During the week I thought through the roofing process and had a plan of action in place by the following weekend. More abseiling but this time over the main roof but not before the Eaves and Drip Edge had been put in place (P059). This time things went a lot better and by close of play this weekend some 40% of the back roof had been completed (P060). In between all of this a number of other things have happened. On a previous visit I noticed yellow marks all along the road and thought Ah, Ah, road works. Well the pavement needs to be lowered for the drive so a call to the Highways, Street Works Division, was made. Rather than having to dig the road up again just for me, would it not be sensible to do the two jobs together? Now I know what most of you will be thinking.You would be wrong, as they moved very quickly and in 48 hours the job was done.Life is full of the unexpected! Well done the Council.
Several visitors have come and gone including an Reporter for a local newspaper, and Chris and Claire who are thinking of doing much the same as myself - best of luck. Several e-mails wishing me well in my work and then tell me they were off on holiday for a couple of weeks! - no offense taken and trust you all had a good time. Next weekend, weather permitting, the aim is to complete the current roofing exercise. Speak to you soon - have fun,I am.

3rd July 2006
What a 'scorcher' of a weekend and one that will stay in the memory for a very long time. OK, so we all talk about the weather but this was an exception with the temperatures for both days climbing to 32/33C (91.4F). Is this what they mean by climate change I wonder? With the white timber reflecting the suns rays working on the roof was at times very difficult. At one stage I had to admit defeat and come off the roof with my head throbbing. This was despite drinking enormous quantities of water. In 20 minutes all clothing was soaked through. I had to dig deep into the brain box to keep going. Keep going we did. Kevin was with me to help complete the roof, a stage that had put me behind schedule due to rainy May; what a contrast in conditions.The back of the roof was completed without any hassle, having now worked out the best way to construct it. Whilst on the roof Diane took a couple of pictures of the dynamic duo, me with abseil kit and Kevin in posing mode (P061,P062) It is also of enormous help when there are two of you. Hence I suppose the reason for the worker and his apprentice? The good news is that 'Top Man' has promoted me to a fully fledged apprentice! We then turned our attention to the front roof/porch and whilst I concentrated on the main roof Kevin turned his attention to the valleys between the main roof and the porch - it needs someone with a knowledge in this area and that I didn't have. Well he has worked for Rolls Royce in the past and have to admit he did a 'Rolls Royce' job on valleys (P064). Then we realised that we had a problem to deal with that later compounded itself and created a lively debate (thats putting it mildley),as you will see. We were running out of timber battens - not enough had been supplied! We had no trailer and the merchants couldn't deliver. I phoned some local contacts but the one that had a trailer was just off to Scotland. My heart began to sink when unexpectedly two visitors arrived to view house. They were in fact developers who were building 'Canadian' style log houses locally. After a chat it transpired they had a trailer and were more than happy to let us use it. Our bacon was saved and we managed to get the necessary timbers plus an extra roll of roofing felt, as we were also short on this front. Progress continued until 4 o'clock when "The World Cup" kicked in and it was down to the local pub to join a happy mob to watch the match. I have to admit that the atmosphere in the pub was electric and enjoyed the experience if not the end result. At one stage I felt certain that more noise was being made in the pub than in the Stadium. Despite the result we had already decided to return to the roof and get the roof up to the top of the porch to give us an easy run the next day. This we acheived as the moon started to glow and the street lights came on. Somewhat tired I then cooked a 'Spag Bol' for supper which we quickly devoured, accompanied by a bottle of wine between us. It must have been close to midnight before we turned in. 'Heres to an easy day tomorrow' were my thoughts as I drifted off to sleep. Up at 8am and started work at 9am not wanting to disturb neighbours on a Sunday. Something was not quite right as in the clear light of day the timbers did not line up on either side of the main roof of the porch. Oh dear what now. A lively debate ensued, with all sorts of theories being proposed. Roof on either side of porch at different heights, bowed roof, or both of us had made measuring errors. This debate lasted some 45 minutes while we checked, re-checked and checked again. The temperature was already rising outside but also inside now as the debate continued. The penny eventually dropped, what had happened was that I had been using the Swedish battens on one side and Kevin, the recently acquired new battens on the other. The new battens were 2.5mm narrower than the Swedish ones and with 14 battens in place that amounted to over 30mm by the time we got to the porch ridge that explained the difference in levels. A few choice words were said, not at each other but in other directions - I was not a happy bunny. We soon had it corrected but had lost two hours and an early afternoon finish was now dashed. We did finish around 4.30pm as from then on it was straight foward. I thought I would include a picture of me(P063) having just come down from the roof showing the full 'clobber'-Knee pads, Harness, Abseil kit and Tool belt plus one very soaked through individual. We were both glad we were now off the roof with the job done.There was not a lot of excitement at finishing the task as we were both pretty tired and somewhat exhausted - more from the heat than anything else. P065 shows the back of the roof and P066 shows the front of the house with the roof felt and battened. That means the the house is now waterproof and I will not be affected by the weather as I now have the option to work inside or out. That in itself is a big step forward and a major milestone in the construction phase now complete. On reflection I am now over the moon having got this far and say a big thanks to Kevin and Bill for all their help. I can now consider taking the next delivery of windows and insulation before focusing on the internal works.Also note that on picturs P066 you can also see the kerbstones that had been lowered the previous week for the new driveway. A final note to say that the weighing scales suggested I had lost 7lbs in weight over the weekend - what a way to slim!

10th July 2006
The usual journey up to site from Bath seemed to take twice as long as normal and I felt tired and not at all enthusiastic towards the weekends work. I couldn't explain why and thought I would feel better after supper. I arrived at 7.30 and having unloaded set about the cooking. I still felt lethargic and did no work that evening and turned in early. I woke at 8.30 (not like me at all) but only slightly better for it. With breakfast out of the way I had to make the effort to get going. The first task was to remove all the rubbish from the inside the ground floor. Six bucket loads had it all cleared - P067 shows part of it. You can also see the damp proof membrane, the binding on top to keep it down and to stop weeds growing, the air bricks and the floor joists. With this completed I set about putting in the sub-base to the floor that will support the insulation before the floor goes down (P068). All went well and had about an hours work left when I ran into a problem or rather they ran into me. A Wasps nest that I had not seen earlier in one of the corners. A relatively small one around six inches across. The good news is that I had kept bee's before and therefore did not panic. The only down side for the wasp is that it can repeatedly sting you where as a bee can only do it once. The wasp that ended up in my hair failed to drive home its attack so escaped unscathed. Yes, I did retreat to a safe distance to decide what now. The plan was simple, dislodge the nest onto some boarding and then remove later that night. Dislodge I did, to well, as wasps errupted in all directions. Well wouldn't you if your house was attacked in the same way? I had to retreat and leave downstairs alone for a bit. All feelings of lethargy had now left me and the adrenalin running high.So with the downstairs out of action for the moment I went upstairs to work. This was to erect the internal roof inside the existing roof. P069 shows the roof and P070 the internal roof frames inplace. The space between the roof and inner frame will have insulation in it. This took the rest of the weekend except an hour to finish the floor downstairs; having first,in darkness (torch in hand), gently removed the wasp nest without disturbing them to much to a safe distance. By Sunday morning I was back to normal self having first been given a copy of the local newspaper, The Chronicle, with a double page spread of the build so far and enjoyed the read. Thanks to Paddy and Mavis for the article and will be part of the scrapbook for the project. I also had John and Barbara arrive, who also having read the article decided to come and say hello.I felt very much better by 5 0'clock on Sunday afternoon and put my earlier feelings down to just one of those days. The house is now ready for the delivery of the insulation and windows. There are positive signs that things are beginng to come together although the road is still a long on

24th July 2006
It is interesting the tricks that the mind can play on your conscious mind. Have you ever pondered on the fact that suddenly progress seems very fast? That is what has happened to me over the last two weekends work. Although I have not been working any harder progress on the project appears to have moved on in leaps and bounds. It is a nice feeling though. So, what’s all the above about. Lets start with the previous weekend (14/15/16 July). I had taken a day holiday to take delivery of the insulation packages and the windows. Friday I rang the importer for the house to confirm the two deliveries having requested the same two weeks earlier and double-checked on the Wednesday that all was ok. Imagine my reaction to being told that the Insulation delivery was on its way (time not known) and that because of a problem between the carrier and importer the Windows would not be delivered. To say I was “very upset” was putting it mildly. I had organised help to unload and my plans were now shot to pieces. I decided to take matters into my own hands and having obtained the numbers of the two carriers telephoned them. The insulation delivery was sorted quickly with an arrival time around 2.30pm. The Windows were in another dimension. I was met with a very upset Transport Manager (the details of which I will not go public on) but the good news was that the issue had now been resolved and the bad news that the windows would not be delivered today. A lengthy discussion took place and having calmed things down the Transport Manager could not have been more helpful. Bearing in mind that the time was now midday they had arranged for a driver with transport to deliver Windows today. Imagine my surprise when I asked where were they coming from when the reply was “East London”. Still they did it at a premium and Windows arrived on site at 6.00pm that evening. Fortunately my help was able to re-arrange his time schedule and the three of us (and it needed three) unloaded the cargo. At least I now had the Insulation and Windows on site. Tomorrow was another day so to a bad start to a satisfactory end of the day I treated myself to an evening in the pub-good company, good food and above all good ale. I felt very much better as I drifted off to sleep. Next day I was up early and eager to move on. Having prepared the First Floor the previous week I was able to get the insulation in and by late evening also had most of the internal walls on the ground floor in as well (P071). Next day having finished off the insulation set about getting the Windows in downstairs and had Six in by close of play. The two remaining Verandah Windows and the two doors due to their weight was left to the following weekend. P072 shows the two back windows in place. During the week I pondered on how a three-man job could be tackled single handed to install the Verandah Windows. Triple glazed glass is very heavy indeed. A plan was hatched and goes like this. Slide window into building and lay on floor (P073). Erect two sets of pulleys, supported from the floor trusses above (P074). Then attach window to Pulley system and by hauling window up by six inches at a time slide a pallet underneath to support it and after five pallets window was then at the correct height and then my pushing and shoving it positioned it into its hole (P075) and (P076). Now wasn’t that easy – don’t you believe it. The first was a pig, buts that’s because it was also a learning curve. The second window went like clockwork followed by the door on the Verandah.By lunchtime all windows and doors on ground floor were now complete.Except for the Front Door. Time for a change and having taken delivery of a base coat for sealing the outside of the house set about painting it. I had vision of “Painting the Forth Bridge” but set about the task. By dusk I had one and bit sides of the house complete. A late supper and a well earned sleep. Up early (6 a.m.) to continue with the painting and by 11a.m had three sides complete. P072 & P077 shows the effect of the sealant. It has taken a lot of blemishes out of the wood and given it a softer colour that I quite like. Early Lunch as painting is a job I don’t take to very easily and during this time decided to tackle the front Door. P078 shows the door in place and finally the ground floor is now secure, well almost, if I had remembered to take the door lock up with me. I had one hour left and started the last wall but did not finish it. Overall I had a smile on my face and a smug feeling that the house was beginning to seriously take shape. One admission of failure is that having done a spell check on my previous diary entries I have found loads of spelling errors. I was never any good at English but then neither was Sir Winston Churchill – I know I am not in the same league but we both shared the same problem! Please note that any errors you may find in this entry is down to “Word Spell Checker” and not me. So if there are any complaints e-mail Bill Gates please. Speak to you soon –take care.

16th August 2006
Time has flown by and it does not feel that some three weeks have gone by since my last update. So what’s been going on since the last entry? The following weekend was much the same in that it was a window and door installation but this time it was the upstairs. Having successfully used the pulley and tackle to install some of the windows downstairs I thought I would employ the same tactics again and haul the windows and doors upstairs. So with enthusiasm I set to work only to be brought to an abrupt halt when I realised that the only hole to the top floor was the stair well and nothing to secure the pulleys too above it. Umm, what now? A cup of tea and a thinking session was called for. After various ideas, some of which included balloons filled with helium, but with sanity restored I landed on the idea of using the ladder as a type of sledge. The idea being that having strapped the window or door to the ladder I could then haul the ladder up to the first floor with said item strapped to it. The test was with the smallest and lightest window first (P079). The first attempt resulted in the ladder going vertical as soon as the bottom of the ladder left the floor. I had somewhere along the thought process forgot about the law of gravity. Never thought I would curse gravity but I did then. To overcome this I lashed a rope over one of the main beams (“Purlins “ to the techno-files) and the other end to the top of the ladder. It required some effort to haul it up, but up it came. Success at last. The largest and heaviest window was tackled next on the basis that whilst I still had plenty of energy this was the best option. I needed to wind the rope round the purlin twice in order to hold the load and give me a rest half way through the lift. I managed it and with renewed energy buoyed up from the previous lifts, soon had all windows and doors upstairs. The installation after this was really straightforward having learnt the lessons from the previous week. P080 shows the Verandah doors and windows and P081 the view from the main bedroom looking through the doors to the field beyond.That was weekend’s work, except finally to put in the front door lock. The log house was now secure with all external windows and doors in place. The following weekend was a more traumatic affair with the object of putting the gable ends up. Prior to getting to site my eldest son, Mark and his wife Sally had been up to site to have a look before they returned to Perth, Australia (that’s where they now live). I mention this just in case you thought they might be on some world tour. A phone call from them said that the hole that had been dug for the rainwater soak-away now had a hedgehog (Fuzzypeg by name) at the bottom of the pit. There was no ladder to get down to it (the house is now secure remember), so Fuzzypeg had to wait for me to arrive to get it out. It was not very happy in being removed as it moaned and grunted as if to say, “just leave me alone”. This was further confirmed when having given it a plate of milk it walked straight through it and off into the undergrowth without as much as a second look (P082). Oh well I did my best. It was skimmed milk and perhaps it preferred double cream! Hedgehog rescued I started on the gable ends with the “help” of my brother. I am not blaming him but things just seemed to go wrong and got worse as the weekend progressed. The first gable (The Porch) went well (P083)) although it took some time to get all the angles correct. The end gables of the house were next. We had no scaffolding to get to the top so all the work had to be done from the roof, not an easy option, particularly as the main roof joist had a twist in it so we had to pack behind the gable timbers to get it straight. There was a lot of huffing and puffing from me whilst Peter supported the other end of the plank whilst at the same time giving his new motorbike long admiring glances! (P084) The batteries for the drill/screwdriver ran down so we had to start the generator to recharge them. Five minutes later the generator packs in. I had smelt a strong smell of oil but to late to do anything about it. It turned out that the generator had been over-chocked and the spark plug had sooted up. No spark plug tool, so a cry of help to Diane and Bob whom kindly came to the rescue and allowed us to plug the charger into the mains. The first main gable end completed (P085) we turned to the last one. Half way through this exercise I was using a rip saw when it jumped of the wood I was sawing and straight across the top of my thumb with the instant result of me feeling faint (I’ve always been like this and believe it to be hereditary) and my thumb doing its best to paint the log house red. In this case it was “Blood stopped play” for the rest of the day. Once again Diane and Bob came to the rescue with the first aid kit and got ticked of for not going to the Hospital – yes I know, I should have gone there but then I don’t like them. Two white hankies, now red and with bandages and plaster the red stuff eventual gave up pumping out but leaving me with a very sore thumb. We did finish the last plank the next day, or so I thought until I came to check the angle at the top. The angle had been cut incorrectly but there was no way I was going back up there again until thumb had healed and left site a “Grumpy old man”. My thanks to Peter for his assistance although I did have thoughts that he might have put the jinx on me. A weekend in some parts to forget I think but in other ways good to see Peter. This weekend has gone very much better but not before I had to rescue not one but two baby Fuzzypeg’s. I arrived on site and decided to check the soak-away hole and there in the bottom were the two hedgehogs. “Hedgehog rescue centre” swung into action. Down the ladder to rescue the toddlers and gave them a plate of milk (P086). One refused to uncurl and the other said thanks and took a drink before scuttling off into the undergrowth. When I returned later the other one had also gone. You will be pleased to know that I have covered the hole to prevent further problems. The task this weekend was to put the Roof Velux Widows in, two of them. Having not installed one of these before I thought it a good idea to study the instructions. Having read them not once but several times I believe I was more confused now than at the start. My father always used to say to me as a nipper “when faced with difficulties just take one-step at a time”. So putting this into practise I set about installing the window. I started at 9 o’clock and finished the first one at 8 o’clock that night, well I was learning as I went along. It felt good having persevered, and at last had one window in. My reward was some real ale and a hearty meal in the Cross Keys. Dave the landlord, supported by Margaret is an excellent cook. The next day the second window went like clockwork and wondered what all the fuss was about the previous day (P087). I had it all wrapped up just after midday and was home early for a change to a relaxing evening – one of the few that I seem to get these days. I’m not complaining as I am still very much enjoying the challenge, of which I’m sure there will be plenty more to come. See you soon.

3rd September 2006
I started the last entry by saying how time had flown by and it seems to be going even faster with my retirement date from industry now set for end of this month. Very mixed feelings about it all and not unexpected. However this is about a house build so on with the “show”. The weather has now turned and rain/wind appear predominant at the moment and the weekend of the 19/20 Aug was no exception. It was a good test for the roof and all appears well. The focus has been to get the studding (wall partitions) in downstairs and took most of the weekend (P088) I did take a break as I had been invited down to the canal/heritage centre by those that run it and spent a very pleasant two hours learning a bit about the history of the area whilst listening to a local school jazz band (P089). The jazz band was excellent as were the hot cups of tea and hot dogs. I hugely enjoyed it all despite wind and rain. It certainly didn’t dampen the spirits of those organising it all. Next weekend plus the following week (26th Aug to 3rd Sept) varied tasks were undertaken. First I received a call from the MD to say that I had left an important file for the house in the office. It was good of him to actually deliver it to the site on Sunday as he was staying near the site for the weekend. Then I went to the car for the other files for the house build to realise that I had left all of them at home (Bath area). There was no option but to do a round trip of around 7hours driving to pick them up. Back to work. Having completed the studding downstairs my attention turned to the installation of the roof insulation and the vapour barrier (P090). That looked straightforward but when your looking up all the time the back starts to complain a bit. It is now in and I could start on the upstairs studwork (P091). I had asked about making allowance for wood shrinkage and told not to worry only to find later that I did need to make an allowance. I was none to pleased and have yet to modify the studding. During the week numerous visitors have come and went-they have come to look and learn about building wooden log houses. Friday saw the last delivery of wood for the house comprising of three pallets and some small parcels. I didn’t give this much thought until the artic lorry arrived. It has taken two days plus Bills help to get the wood inside the house. Thanks Bill. The larger pallets were some 6 metres in length and between us we shifted about 4 tons of timber. I was invited to Bill and Pauline’s for eats that night and with a bootle of wine had a great evening. The lorries contents are shown as follows.P092 shows some of the plaster boarding/timber board for the walls. P093 is the remaining timber for the walls. P094 is the flooring for the house and out of interest is nearly an inch thick and with a dance floor finish to it. P095 shows the ceiling timbers on the left and all the architrave wood for the skirting/coving for the walls. In between all this delivery was taken of the dense ceiling plasterboard for soundproofing. I have now just over a third of the ceiling plaster boarded (P096). A small aside was the commencement of the heat recovery system (P097). This is a continuous ventilation system that extracts the stale air and puts the warmth of this air back into the incoming fresh air. A simple but clever concept that keeps the house filled with fresh air but without losing the heat. On the outside the caravan has been moved (P098) to the drive area (P099). P098 also shows the hole covered up where the hedgehogs fell in. My thanks to Karolyn in advising me not to feed the hedgehogs with milk or bread as it’s not good for them. However I am assured that they like ‘Spikes Dinner’, available from all good pet shops. This will encourage them to be regular visitors to the garden. I also received instruction on how to construct a hedgehog house and in my retirement and with the spare timber I have decided to make one. By moving the caravan I have been able to start clearing part of the garden to be. P100 shows the front of the house virtually complete for the first time. Sorry about the smudge on the photo but that was due to the wind and rain. During the week we had some very heavy rain accompanied by equally strong winds. Good news is that the house is still standing and waterproof, but then it should be! The drive home was a relaxed affair and my thoughts of the week were that overall it had been a good week, trust yours was as well. Speak to you soon.

15th September 2006
The Mikado by Gilbert & Sullivan has a song in it titled “Three Little Maids”. The three little maids in this instance are Lucy, Shelly and Wendy. They run the office at HQ and keep us all happy. In there spare time there talents have no bounds and the latest venture has been on knitting. One of them has been trying to teach the other two the basics of the art. There legs have been pulled over dropped stitches etc. However last laugh goes to them. I was presented with a box inside of which was a present for the new house. The photograph (P101) shows the contents – need I say more as I think it explains itself except to say that a visit to the loo in the future will now remind of the “Three Little Maids”! The weekend was two glorious days of sun with a slight chill to the morning air, a reminder that colder days are just around the corner. I had set the task of completing the plaster boarding and to my surprise had this completed by Saturday evening. P102 and P103 are of the ceiling and for the first time the house now has rooms in it. It is surprising how one relatively small task can change the overall appearance. Sunday was a sort of free day and decided to attend to the garden outside. The first job was to reinstall the fence boundary (P104) and then follow that up with moving the topsoil for the garden to be (P105). As a result of the efforts of moving the soil I have now decided to hire a mini digger and dumper truck to move the rest of it. Calculations suggested that it would take another ten days before this exercise would be completed and don’t really fancy ten days of shifting earth. The next step is to now install the wiring and plumbing before completing the room partitions, walls and flooring. The roof tiles have been ordered and this will take place in early October. One small problem is that having agreed with the Electricity Board where to route the cable the council have said no. So it is thinking caps on again and only hopes that it will not delay the installation of the supply – now there’s optimism for you! Short and sweet this week plus retirement age has now been reached – another milestone or is it millstone? I’m happy and trust you are too.

8th October 2006
Yes I know, sometime has elapsed since the last update but have no fears the project is still going forward. In part the delay in the update is best summed up by picture P106. Need I say any more other than to say thanks to those who embarrassed me in the restaurant that night? I have only part retired as I still have a small role to play in the company for a short while. I have a new helper on the site at the moment with a mini digger and what a help that has been. The helper is by name Ellwyn (known by all locally as Elli) and can be seen moving the topsoil to make the garden up in P107. P108 shows the mound of topsoil we saved right at the beginning of the project when we cleared the site. P109 is the topsoil in plus a spare heap that will no doubt be used somewhere. Whilst all this was going on and with the weather doing it’s up most to stop us the roofing tiles arrived (P110) – the picture is for Richards benefit; we are getting there and hope this helps your concern? I have been working inside and the soil pipes and pipe work for the hot and cold system is now installed. P111 shows part of the installation. The weather has been bad for some but not for me as Elli was unable to do some bricklaying and pointing elsewhere and therefore was able to help me. This amounted to digging the trenches for the water supply in pouring rain (P112) and the ducting for the Electricity and Telephone line (P113). P114 shows the drive re instated after the installation of these works. I now await the various services to come and do there bit. As an aside I have had significant difficulties with Electricity and Telephone Utilities, but rather than write a book it is sufficient to say that I believe that the problems have now been resolved – at a cost! This entry is brief (thank goodness I hear you cry) as I am now on site virtually all week and only return to my present address at the weekends. The previous working pattern of weekend working has now been changed resulting in progress being significantly improved. Whether the December deadline is achieved will be realistically assessed at the end of this month, so watch this space. The weekend was in part spent at Lyme Regis looking for fossils. Mind you having just retired the thought did cross my mind that a look in the mirror would have sorted it. However, it was a really good day and J and I walked some 5 miles along the beach of this beautiful coastline. Bye for now. Sorry, forgot to say thanks to George my dustbin man next door. Take care.

28th October 2006
Two weeks have elapsed and a lot has happened. First the company gave me a great send off for my retirement and one that will be remembered. Thanks to all for your presents evening meal etc. That has meant that I can in part work during the week now and that has made a significant difference. I decided not to work the weekend of my retirement but took Josephine up to site and explore the area. The major landmark is Rodneys column, a climb of over 1200 feet. It was very windy and somewhat cold at the top as pictures P115 and P116 show. It also gave me the chance to take a picture of the cabin from the other end of the field (P117) that also shows the Shropshire Canal. The weekend was a very relaxed affair before starting to work in earnest on Monday. Part of the house has had its second coat of stain (P118) and the difference in colour can be seen. This is the final colour. The Electric,Computer Network, Telephone and TV cabling is now complete. The ventilation system ducting is also in (P119). Elli arrived on site and set to on the installation of the main sewer/drains. This is now complete. Pictures P120 and P121 shows some of the work. Whilst all this was going on the tiling of the roof has commenced with Kevin’s invaluable support. See pictures (P123 and P124). We only manage to complete the back roof, porch and part of the front – the weather driving us off the roof on the Wednesday. The roof was well tested that night with lashing rain for 10 hours and gale force winds. All was well. Elli finished of the drive and has done a brilliant job (P125). It only needs its topcoat now. The next phase is to complete the roof and put on the solar panels then the internal walls covering can now go on. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting bigger by the moment. I am still having problems with the Electricity Board in getting power to the house and is becoming a bit of an issue. All other services are well in hand and expect Water and Telephone to be connected very soon. I hope the next entry in terms of progress is as good as this one – keep watching. Bye for now.

12th November 2006
A rude awakening that Autumn/Winter is upon us has forced a change of plan in the project. Very heavy rain, storm force winds, very frosty mornings and some glorious sunsets (P126) in the past two weeks has been a tidy reminder. The focus is now to get the outside complete first. After the last entry Kevin (alias Top Man) has returned to give me a hand with the roof and solar panels. The back of the roof was relatively trouble free but there was quite a bit of work involved in getting the front tiled. The major task was installing the solar panels. Two panels each weighing 40kgs (90lbs) had to be hauled up to the roof. A lot of huffing and puffing and a few choice words helped to get them onto the roof. The brackets holding the panels had to be installed first (P127). P128 shows the two panels in place. With these installed we could then complete the tiling. Not the easiest of tasks but we managed it and P129 shows the completed roof. A feeling of satisfaction of a major task done, and without accident. Well I knew I shouldn’t have thought that as the inevitable happened as dismantling the scaffolding I managed to fall off it.Pride more than anything else was hurt but I was left with a few bruises – no picture I am afraid. Thanks to Kevin for his invaluable help and we must be getting use to one another as we don’t seem to have our regular morning disputes – I do miss them. It was painting time now and with pot paint in one hand and paintbrush in the other I set too on a task that I had set myself two days to complete. Six days later the task was finished – now there is optimism for you. The difference is quite marked as seen from P130 of before and after. Whilst all this has been going on the main services to the house have moved forward. The waste/sewage connection is now complete and connected to the house. The telephone installers arrived one day very early in the morning followed ten minutes later by the water board. As they both required access to the same part of the road the water board left saying they would come back tomorrow as the council would be unhappy at both services operating in the road together. So the water board left taking a 20ton truck plus other vehicles with generators, compressors, traffic lights etc with them. The telephone took all day as the proposed short route of ten metres was not viable as there was no spare line their. So a trench of some 40 metres had to be dug along the highway to the next connection point and then on underground from their a further 100 metres to the junction box. The cable is now in and awaits connection on Wednesday of this week. The Electricity Supply is making very slow progress due to legal requirements and due to this, an opportunity to lay the cable in the trench dug by BT has been lost which of course now means its all got to be dug up again – well that’s the 21st century for you! Co-ordination is a word not often used these days. However I will say that there are individuals within the Electricity Company that are doing there best to move things forward. I have had one or two jokes about having a “Candlelit Christmas” – we will see. P131 shows the log house roofed and painted. The light at the end of the tunnel is gradually getting brighter. Finally I had to resort on one night to wearing a bobble hat in the caravan as it really was cold and I probably would have given “We Willy Winkey” a run for his money – not a pleasant sight. Speak to you soon.

3rd December 2006
My how time flies when there are a thousand and one things to attend to. Life is hectic and can best be summed up as “Controlled Chaos”. Christmas is rapidly approaching and I am still optimistic about seeing Christmas in, in the Log House. Whether that will happen will not only be down to me but also to the Electricity Supplier in getting us connected. Things got a little heated last week but it seems to have removed a major logjam. The “Way leaves” office did get things moving and the documents are now signed. My thanks to Sue for turning the documents round very quickly. I have been told that there is now no reason why they should not be able to get the connection made. Watch this space. Whilst all this has been going on I have booked the removal men for the 18th December – now there’s optimism for you! All the Bathroom/Shower Room bits have been ordered and arrive on the 12th Dec (this year) and the Kitchen units sometime around the time but delivery dates are not yet finalised. The appliances – Fridge Freezer, Cooker, Hob, Washing Machine, Dishwasher is all in hand as well. A new member of the build team (Rod by name) has joined me to assist with the walls and flooring and has been a great help this past week. Where are the pictures I hear you cry – so here goes? P132 shows the end of the Entrance Lobby walled and with the Central Vacuum Unit, The Telephone Outlet, Main Electricity Fuse Board and the Hot Water cylinder now in place. Now all we need to do is connect everything up!! I could not resist P133 showing a spectacular sunrise – for me the best I have ever seen. Probably down to very mild November and of course not forgetting so called “Climate Change”. I am afraid I have a rather cynical attitude about this and strongly believe that it is politically motivated so that governments now have an excuse to raise additional taxes on poor old Joe public through the transport system. Houses will be next for not having adequate insulation and no renewable power generation. Lets put the politics aside and get back to the plot. The walling is going well with the Entrance Lobby and Study complete, the Kitchen (P134) and Lounge (P135) 90% done and the Hall part finished (P136). At the moment the Hall cannot be completed as the workshop for all this work is in the Hall as shown by P137. The plan is to have all walling downstairs finished by 5th Dec except for the Hall and then to concentrate for the rest of the week on the flooring downstairs. When that is well in hand we then propose to move the workshop into the Lounge area so that the Hall can then be attended too. This weekend has been manic. It started with a 5 o’clock start to get back to Bath area for Breakfast but first had to pick up the packing cases in Bristol for the move. Other than a time for a haircut the time has been spent with Josephine’s help in packing some 23 boxes ready for the move. Most of the packing is now finished. Writing this is the last job before calling it a day. I am happily tired and look forward to the severe challenges that will present themselves over the next three weeks. I do hope to give you a further update before Christmas but I have cancelled the BT connection this end for the 18th Dec and hope I will have power and a broadband connection at Talltoppen before Christmas Day. Until then I wish all visitors a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Oh I nearly forgot I also hope to do some Christmas shopping as well. Wish me luck and good fortune. Cheers.

5th March 2007
Yes, I am still alive and well. Why the absence? In short December and January have proved difficult months to deal with due to the fact that whilst trying to continue with the build I moved all my belongings on the 18th December, no electricity during this period. I did set a target to be in by Christmas and whilst that was achieved it was at a cost to my mental state. Although the project is not complete I am fairly certain that this period will be the low point of the venture. I have had a generator on site to run just one heater but could not run this during the night because of noise problems. All of the above I lay at the feet of the Electricity Supply Company responsible for the electric cable network. In all my working life I can honestly say that I have never come across a worse company in terms of communication (zero), client care and the ability to get anything done – whatever adjective you wish to use in a negative sense then this describes the company. They eventually arrived on site on the 25th of January 2007 to install the cables. The digging of the trench and installing the cable and connecting it took under a day so why did it take from March 31st 2006 to January 21st 2007 (10 months +) to achieve this? It beggars belief! Having got this far it took another two weeks before the meter man arrived to make the final connection. What bliss the night of February 5th it was to sit and enjoy the warmth from a heating system. I suppose on the positive side I will never take a heating system for granted again. The low point was the week before the meter was installed as the temperature at night dropped to –6C. At least getting up is a rapid affair and there is no longing to stay in bed for another ten minutes. As a rider to the saga they dug two holes for the cable. One in the drive, the other at the electricity pole (25 metres). The one in the drive had to be filled in by me as I nearly drove the car into it. The other is still waiting to be filled in a month later. Well what did you expect? Oh and as a final insult an Electricity representative arrived on Tuesday, knocked on my door and asked me did I know where the electricity cable was buried in the ground. “Have you no plan”, I asked, “No”, came the reply?. Must be the norm I assume. Sadly it’s a monopoly – but if I had my way someone at the top needs to be instantly fired for complete incompetence. In my letter of complaint to them I propose to give them my web site and suggest they read this entry. I wonder what sort of response it will generate? – I will keep you informed. I now feel very much better for getting the above of my chest and must look forward. So what’s has been really going on with me. Now that there is power the work has been far more productive despite what the weather has recently thrown at us. Winds of 95mph were recorded locally plus 6inches of snow and flooding. I couldn’t photograph the wind but managed the floods and snow for you. P138 and P139 are views from the Balcony. That’s as close I trust that the water come. It looked like a river delta with the odd islands scattered in it. The locals said it was the worst that they could remember. Jokes about me building a Noah’s Ark abounded were rife in the village. As I said earlier I moved lock stock and barrel on the 18th Dec, P140 of the shambles. The temporary office was the first priority, P141 closely followed by the wardrobe, P142. That was all that was achieved over the Christmas and New Year period – the mind was not a very willing horse. The good news now is that all the walls are now in place – both up and down stairs and it now looks something like a house. I had help from Rod, who was a very able and good “chippy”. With that complete the office was moved down stairs (it was in the main bedroom) to the Study ( P143). The Kitchen was the next item to tackle and it is now fitted and fully functional, P144 and P145. This allowed a number of the packing cases to be emptied and space began to appear in the main Lounge area for the first time. Further progress in this direction has taken place and a semblance of a Lounge and Dining Room is now in operation (P146 and P147). The Shower/Sauna room has taken a major step forward with a functional Loo, Wash Basin and a Shower(Cold water only at the moment) (P148 and P149). P148 also shows my efforts at plastering and although I was not sure I could tackle it the end result appears to be ok. I’ve tried to keep this relatively short but a lot of work has actually taken place. The problem now is not to sit and enjoy what I got at the moment but to push on to get the inside finished. The next task is the Bathroom and then to connect the hot water cylinder to the system. So wish me luck. A big thank you for all your e-mails asking “where the hell are you” – all very much appreciated during a period that will not be forgotten. Trust all is well with you and I promise to update the site sooner rather than later this time – but only if you say “Please” (that’s for Lucy benefit).

13th May 2007
Well I cannot believe that another two months has elapsed since my last entry. I have been very active in all sorts of areas in addition to the house. Since retirement I appear to be busier than ever. Progress on the house has been good and it is now beginning to look like a “home” as you will see. The first task since my last entry was to remove all the dust covers and protective board covering the floorand to set about coating the pine floor with two coats of a wax/oil finish (P150). The exercise has been very time consuming, as furniture has had to be moved and 24 hours between each coat. It has been well worth it as it has given the floor a very nice finish. Whilst this was going on carpets/rugs were ordered and just about managed to get the floors done before they came to fit them. I also had the small task of fitting the Skirting Boards, Architraves around the windows, doors and ceilings. Most of this has been completed and did not hold up laying the rugs/carpets. P151 and P152 show the Lounge area from the Dining room end where you can now see all the above work in place. This area is virtually complete – the first, at long last. Turning through 180 degrees shows the Dining area (P153). The Hall is P154 (please excuse the light fitting and Fire Alarm not yet complete). The Stairs (P155) shows the fitted carpet. The carpeting exercise has completely quietened the house and given the house a warmer feel all the way round. For the technophobes P156 is of the Distribution Board, Hot Water Cylinder with the Solar panel connections to it. The Solar Panels will be connected very shortly. Turning my back on this P158 shows the front door and Coat and hat stand of the Lobby area. The final picture (P158) is taken from the Lobby looking down the Hall area. Next time I hope to show you the Kitchen, Bathroom, Sauna/Shower and Bedrooms in a similar state to the above. It’s been like a giant jigsaw with some of the final pieces now going in. It has given me quite satisfaction to see it coming together like this and it is turning out to be even better than I had originally thought. My other interests have involved a bit of walking/climbing, canal restoration, local railway preservation interest, local heritage centre (Canal and the local Lime Kilns), consultancy work for my last company, Sheep Dog Experience Day (Border Collie plus Sheep) and the odd visit to the local pubs. See what I mean about being active in retirement! I trust this finds you all well and have decided not to promise you another update within a short time as I failed last time. If you would like to know when I have updated the web site them please send me your e-mail address via the Visitors page and I will e-mail you when it has been updated. Take care. Back to Home Page