Today was spent digging a trench from the side gate to the road, what fun! This is in preparation for the gas line to be fitted, we’ve saved about £500 doing this, so as much as I moaned (and I really moaned) the saving was worth the effort. It was also quite nice to be out at the front of the house chatting to passers by, many of them are older folk who knew the previous occupants, they all want to know how we’re getting on and wish us well, which is super.
We’re slightly concerned that there doesn’t seem to have been any notification to our neighbours that the road will be closed, except a tiny sign on a lampost at the very end of the street, so there may be some drama this week!
I’ve also been on the case trying to mend the stool that the pesky electricians broke. Here is how it looked a few years ago when I first bought it…
After much stripping, waxing and upholstering it looked like this, shown in our last home…
And after the aforementioned electricians got at it, it looked like this…!
Not only has the poor old thing lost a leg and it’s mouldings, it’s having to lie on the vile carpet. After a bit of nailing, a lot of gluing and some serious clamping it was on it’s way back to health.
It’s now looking much better after a bit of filling, sanding and polishing, and will be going into the guest bedroom word of warning to friends and family that may stay in future….It might be wise not to sit on it for too long!
This weekend has finally seen an end to the hours, and hours, and hours of scraping and scrubbing of the exposed brick wall in the kitchen. 
It looks a little patchy in this photo, it’s far from ‘perfect’ as each brick is different, but I’m super pleased with it, I can’t wait to get it sealed and hang my Thai mirror on it.;
LANSDOWNE REVISITED 
Digging is no fun but saving £500 is nothing to sneeze at. Love the brick character wall. Better make a big sign for the neighbors or you’ll owe them cupcakes. Jo
The saving means we can have a tiler do the kitchen floor, which we’d planned to do ourselves. The project manager on this job is very tight with his budget!
That’s a lovely Queen Anne stool–I hope it lives a long life! Still envious of your brick wall … nice job! We also live in a neighborhood where we meet older residents, and they have great stories to tell. It’s fun to learn about the “old days” of my town!
I think it might be on borrowed time, but still looks the part…I couldn’t bear to part with it just yet. I’ve joined my local history society, I’m the youngest there by a good 40 years, I love it!
Good for you!! Better to be the youngest than the oldest! 🙂
Good job on the trench. Thought that was a job for Andy. Although you needed it to be straight lol
He skulked off during trench digging, he found an ‘urgent’ door painting job!