A final day off in 2020 meant we could make one more push before our pre-agreed break over Christmas. The extra daylight hours made such a difference as we managed to get most of the lighting changes done, AND find time to get out into the garden to do various jobs like planting out kindly-donated raspberry and redcurrant plants, and the pots we’d bought with us from London. Plus – I learnt this week it’s far easier painting in daylight than by torchlight (necessary when the light isn’t fitted and it’s dark by the time the working day is over).
A couple of lows this week on the decorating front. The first was at the end of a week patiently painting windowsills, only to find the final coat cracked and the whole thing had to be sanded off and restarted. And the second was an accidental slip that resulted in a major paint spillage on the living room carpet. By some small miracle we’ve managed to clear it up without any visible lasting damage – thank goodness for an abundance of carpet cleaner!
It feels like we’ve finished for Christmas in a fairly good place – we still have at least 5-6 finishing touches for each room we’ve started, but you can start to see the difference already. And with most rooms now requiring expert support (there’s no way I’m attempting to add an earth wire into a light fitting), or waiting for deliveries that are stuck in transit somewhere between the Netherlands and the UK, we’ve accepted that it’ll still be a while before any room is properly complete. The things that have really made the difference include: repairing the cracks in the lounge walls, staining all the beams, a new light fitting in the dining room, and putting the furniture into the spare room (well and painting it too, see the before and after photos below). Although the house was in a reasonable state when we moved in, it’s still nice to see a new vision come to life.
All attention now is on our planning submission, which we’re hoping to get in before Christmas with the hard work of our planning consultants. With an 8+3 week estimated timeline before the council respond to us, we’ll be keeping everything tightly crossed for a positive outcome. Watch this space!!
Ley Farm Cottages 
The earth cables must be sleeved individually with yellow and green sleeving and terminated into a connecter block , your light fitting is double insulated and the earth is not required to be connected to the fitting , but is needed throughout the rest of the circuit
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Doesn’t it depend on whether the fitting is metal or plastic? The current ones are all plastic but as we want a particular metal one, my understanding was that the earth had to be attached to the fitting… Electricians are in high demand here (as are all skilled workpeople) so it looks like we’ll need to wait until late January… such a shame as we’re nearly finished with that room!
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