May 2012 saw some of the best weather of the year… Once the scaffold arrived we started in earnest on the roof (that is, when it wasn’t too hot!) As the least run down part of the property, and our home whilst on site, the Annex was the priority followed by the back of the stables, the coach house and Rex room (an outbuilding, so-called after the original range it housed). We also unblocked some of the chimneys as well as continued to work away on getting the water from our borehole into the house, started to strip out the outbuildings, repaired some of the damaged dry stone walls and continued to make the most of the good weather in the garden… including an Australian bonfire…
Weatherproofing the house was the priority and as soon as the scaffold arrived we got into full swing…
The borehole continued to progress, with the assistance of a mini-digger (thank you to Robert).
And we also got a chance to cut back the huge yew trees overshadowing the annex and porch, revealing a pretty outside light. Result!
Other successes included getting a fire lit in the sitting room (after extracting years’ worth of nesting material) and removing the ceiling in the coachhouse (to relieve the humidity problem).
Meanwhile Tony was working hard at rebuilding the dry stone wall knocked down by the sheep.
And here are a couple of reminders as to why we fell in love with the place
Hallyards 