One of the first parts of renovating that we did this year was to finish our bedroom.

It was way back in 2022 when we ripped out the old built in wardrobes, that took up over a quarter of the floor space. As we do, when we first moved here we had made the best of them, painting them, and the whole room, white. Added a charity shop find chandelier, and crystal knobs. But the wardrobes were just too big, and totally impractical. You can see from the photos the ridiculous amount of floor space they took up.

We then moved the furniture and blocked up the doorway into the living room early last year, and RD reopened an old door from our back kitchen. But with us both working, finding the time to decorate the bedroom was difficult. We lived with the plastered walls for over two and a half years! We made what we could of it, but by this year it was time to move forward.

Being such a small house we have decided to pretty much keep the same colour palette throughout. All inspired by our green kitchen. I also wanted to have a ‘pop’ of pink in each room. When the wardrobes were removed a lovely curved ceiling was revealed, and we wanted to highlight it, like a canopy over the bed. RD did a fantastic job, as I wanted to colour drench the ceiling as well. We were apprehensive, but it has worked so well.

We have also removed all the old style skirting boards, and RD has added ply board skirting, and boxed in the door that he had re-opened into our bedroom.

With a change of bed, lighting, wall lights and a rug added, it is now unrecognisable to the bedroom when we first moved here. It’s now a little sanctuary.

One of our main aims was achieved when we opened the paddock up for the girls. Ironically by fencing it! One of the biggest joys this year to see the girls running free.

In May we changed our bathroom. It was covered in a plastic wall covering, causing mould, a lot of mould! The old enamel bath was orange, and the toilet was so close to the wall it was difficult to wipe your arse!

The plumber came, a day late. He turned up when he wanted, went home after half a day, which meant it took him 3 weeks to complete it. He had an ongoing feud with the tiler for money he owed, and wanted to use the same tiler to recoup his money. The tiler was not stupid, the plumber was! The tiler knew what he was going to do and just didn’t turn up. Delaying everything for another week.

Luckily it was very hot here in May, and our back garden is secluded because we had to shower using a bowl and jug in the garden. Thank God the neighbour didn’t look over the wall! France taught us well! we were, naked, pouring water over each other. The worse thing was the toilet because for 3 weeks it was not secured to the floor, making sitting on it quite precarious.

We found ourselves in a catch 22 situation. We had no bathroom, so we couldn’t say anything for fear he would not come back. Getting plumbers over here is virtually impossible.

We were overjoyed when it was complete, because we could get rud of him.

It is now a joy to shower in there. But only after much more expense because RD fitted the extractor fan, we were left with an extractor fan that had not been connected! RD also set up the mirror light, which was also not connected, and we paid out the same price again for another fantastic plumber (who we had used before but had not been available when it came to fitting the bathroom. -How I wish we had waited.) to fit a pump, fix the shower, which had been left clogged up with dirt, and fix the overflow. Because within days we had no water coming through the shower. I could go on with all the problems we have had, we call the original plumber ‘Paddy, the gift that just keeps giving.’ but being positive our bathroom is beautiful now, albeit for the few things he has done which cannot be rectified.

I am still grateful every day when I get in that lovely shower and look around at what we have achieved.

Of course, as I have already shared we also had the summer house installed.

The final job this year was installing a beautiful barn gate. As you know we have 2 Lakeland Terriers, and this breed is known as the Harry Houdini of the Terrier World. They see it as their personal challenge to find a way out of whatever you have put up to stop them.

Our front gates were awful. Rusty metal gates topped off with any barrier we could find to stop them Lakies getting out. They finally broke free of the wood on the picture below, and RD had to cut up an old metal cage and use that as a temporary barrier. Our house looked like a scrap metal dealers. They were padlocked shut, and very difficult to open due to all the wire that had been attached to them to stop the Lakies escaping.

What a difference the new gate has made. It has a wheel on it for easy opening, just one bolt to shut it, and it makes our house look so different, and our lives so much easier.

Of course it has been Lakie proofed, as much as it can, and wire has been attached to the top to stop them jumping over it – even though it is over a meter high!

At the start of the year we will arrange for new French Windows to be fitted, giving us more light, and feeling of space in our tiny hall. Then onto the final renovations, the hallway, redecorating the kitchen to bring it all in line and new flooring. It will have taken 5 years!

Moisy