HOME, SWEET, SWEET, HOME

It has happened, this whole crazy project has finally come to an end.

The Granthams are in, feet up, pictures on walls, etc, we have laid down our hat and call this home.

The week prior to moving in was a little stressful, there were phone calls to be made exit plans for Strathblane to take into consideration, a delayed piece of kitchen worktop that got scratched when being loaded by the fork lift, or thats the line we were given, along the final shove with the decorating, which was greatly hindered by me kncking my head and having slight concussion, which meant that apart from me falling asleep every time I sat down, that I couldn't go up ladders, so yet more work for poor Ian to do, So sorry babe, it really was an accident.

Fair to say that we were feeling it now, stress, anxious, skint, and did I mention stressed, I was held up on our wee twisty road by a lorry that had got stuck on the tight corner, so I got out the car to berate the driver, or firstly co-driver, who was franticly pointing at said driver, still in cab, saying it was him, him. So up I go and tear into him. People were constantly telling me how rough I was looking, even more than on an average week.

Richie got the look also when telling me how to wash a floor " you don't want to be doing it that way, you should be doing it like this." I'm sorry, I know its sexist but scrubbing floors is what we know.

The day before we moved in was hysterical, there was a kind of party atmosphere around the house, I think anyone that had anything to do with the re

novation was there to tie up loose ends. Factor into this the arrival of a shed load of carpet and underfelt along with the less than jolly carpet fitters, who had expected to finish around 3pm, which in actual fact took them to way past 6pm, no' right for a Friday. The street was like a parking lot. Again apologies to the good folk of Mugdock.

Ian and I worked at the cottage until around 7pm, lightweights!!! I hear you cry, but I was so exhausted and needed sustenance, so off we headed for a curry, with good intentions of swinging by Mugdock later.

I had romantically fancied just camping out on the new carpet in my new room under a cosy blanket. However as we were both almost asleep after our spiced onions and poppadoms. Ian, ever the sensible one, just gave me one of his, don't be so bloody ridiculous, head shaking looks, and decreed that no such nonsense would be happening the

night before a house move, "we're going back to Strathblane and sleeping in our bed, we're not camping people." I had already mentally escaped the rental house and only wanted to return to get my things back.
Maja had already escaped, said her goodbyes with a flourish and a cheer, kind of like "yeeehaaaa, so long house, been nice knowin ya," not a backward glance and ran off in the direction of Sarahs car to stay at her house until we were all sorted

out.
Saturday morning arrived and with it, the Big Boulevard Motors van, and a bunch of eager men, it could not have gone more smoothly if we had made a plan, our slick team of movers, Ian, Scott, Pete, Steve, Drew handling big and bulky, Margo and I loading the cars with small things. We had everything moved in a couple of hours, it all ran like clockwork.

By lunchtime there was pizza and sausage rolls in the new oven, beer was opened, and a power struggle over the wine/beer fridge was kicking off, Scott insisting priority should be given to the beer, it was noted that as a red wine drinker that would be only fair and sensible. Then I pointed out that in my new surroundings, I have decided to be a champagne drinker. Hahh!
By Saturday evening we had bathrooms cleaned, mirrors shining, Amy and Margo, you're both stars, the kitchen was in some kind of order, my job, and 70 large HP server boxes sitting behind the sofa. Out of sight, temporarily, out of mind.

Maja and Sancia were desperate to move in that night too, so once the girls got to bed....finally, Ian and I sat in our big, empty (apart from 70 boxes, 1 sofa and a very wee TV) living room, put some wood in the fire and opened the wine, I can't tell you how good that wine tasted, it was a decent pinot noir, however, it was special, and we savoured every minute of being home.
So in a nut shell, the house is great, we love it.
Was it worth the time and money? absolutely, we will hopefully have many great times here, so no regrets there.
I get that a home is still only a house without the love of your family living there, its Maja and Ian that make it for me, but still, it may as well be gorgeous.
The biggy, would we do another big project again? Bring it on, perhaps in a year or so, and in the south of Spain, well... a girl can dream. Ian would say that's all I do.
Once again we have to say how lucky we were to have such lovely, talented people to work with, and turn this particular dream into reality.
First and foremost to Richie, Stevie, Tony and Andrew, who are all part of the R.Petticrew building empire. For understanding me, what I wanted, particularly on the days where for whatever reason, making a decision was beyond me and for just going ahead and making the right one on my behalf. Richie, you are a perfectionist and "probably" the best builder in the world. Robert Edgar from R.E.Design, for putting the ideas together and humouring me during my inspirational ideas phase and for coming on site immediately,when needed.
The roofer, who did something fancy above the porch without asking "keep it simple nothing fancy schmancy" me, but turns out I love it, just as well for him.
Stuart McDougall, you have given me my dream kitchen, Quooker hot water taps rock.
Definitely not forgetting the posse from Ireland, you were all great, had me laughing every time I came round, and made me coffee.
So if I ever get my place in Spain, I'll have you all over, bring your tools for a long holiday.

Ian, I love you. You have worked your socks off to pull this together and I appreciate it, the only Xmas present I've opened and not asked you " have you got the receipt?"

All the unsung heroes who watched Maja, listened to my decor babble, my indecisiveness, helped with painting, cleaning, helping out on Mudock parking front, yadda, yadda, yadda.
My mum, Sheena, Gael and Richard, who did a lot of my painting, all the above mentioned movers and shakers, David, George, Graeme and Simon.

Sarah,Jo,Wendy,Anne,Rhona,Pamela,Yvonne,Nicky,Ruth and Tommy, Claire and Andy.....I feel like its a record sleeve, or an Oscars speech, but you were a big help and played a part, and thanks.xxx

TWO weeks and counting.

The whole family are now champing at the bit to move. The house has a feel of , well a house. Its now called the cottage, not the site.

All orders have been delivered, apart from 2 lights.

The kitchen appliances all arrived on time, quickly after ordering them from http://www.applianceonline.co.uk/ great prices, would thoroughly recommend them.

Next to arrive was the stone hearth from http://www.caithnessindustries.co.uk/, not such a happy experience. The stone is beautiful, the chip on the corner , not so much. Called the man in charge, got nowhere, he tells me that the quarry, cutters, polishers, and their mammys are all on holiday for two weeks, that added to the time it takes to find a piece the right size. The only option is to keep the chipped one.

The big changes to the house have been the addition of doors, and paint. Ian has been toiling away every night for the last week and a couple of weekends emulsioning ceilings throughout the house, only 2 bathrooms to do and he has managed to paint the walls in Maja's playroom, the downstairs hall, some of the kitchen, and with the help of "RichardgimmearollerRolls", managed to get a chunk of the living room completed.

The sudden push to paint downstairs is due to the wooden floor being fitted on Thursday, along with the woodburning stove. I don't want any splashy paint on these badboys.

Stuart from MacDougall Interiors, arrived today with all the kitchen goodies, so that should be going in any day now, however the tiles in the utility room are still not in place. It all seems at this point to be a slick transition from one company in, finishing off as another van draws up, maybe the stars are aligned for tradesmen, or maybe, they wait until we clear off before the bedlam begins.

I will send my wee darling off to her first day in primary 3 tomorrow, do a yoga class then spend my time cutting in and varnishing a couple of doors, I think I'll be there everyday thereafter until we close the door for the final time in Milndavie.

The Final Countdown

We have entered the month of August, kicking off with Majas 7th birthday today, the 1st, and ending with the end of our 6 month tenancy agreement on rental house on the 31st.

So quite a lot to squeeze in to those 30 days.

I can, at the close of play on the 1st, report a successful start. Majas birthday was a happy, fun, busy yet low keyed event, with piles of food, birthday cake (thanks gran) and lashings of ginger ale.

The month has started well.

This week brings with it truckloads of goodies from both ends of the country.

Tomorrow the hearth arrives from Caithness, cant wait to see it. Also the carpet fitter is coming round to measure up.

Tuesday all the appliances come on site from the south of England, plus a last prefit meeting with Stuart who is looking after the kitchen planning.

All going well Allan will be on site on Wednesday to start fitting the woodburner.

The outside of the building is complete, just some lighting and an alarm to go on.

Inside we have running water, lights, even some doors here and there. The bathrooms have been fitted and tiled. It looks likely that towards the end of this week we may even have a kitchen, although the worktops will be 3-4 weeks away.

Richie has come up trumps with some more design ideas, namely making me great wee cupboard doors, now all the solid doors will look the same. I mentioned previously that all the builders know their onions, and its good to be able to leave everyone to their own devices.
However, here's the thing.
Whenever Ian and I bought a new house in the past, we would be saying, love the house, but what's with the bathroom tiles, or the odd door handles? we're going to need to change that. Reality was, yes, we would replace the totaly minging, and make do with the odd, or funky things that we possibly got used to or just couldn't be bothered changing.

The prospect of choosing everything, doorhandles, skirtingboards, grout colours to flooring, windows, doors not to mention the kitchen, was thrilling.

As the end draws near, I know many of you get how overwhelmed I was by everything. None more so than Richie and Ian. I have a wee curl in my lip thinking of how my weekly rollercoaster ride to home improvment would pan out.

I spend days, weeks looking for a certain thing or less expensive lookaliky certain thing, checking out every magazine, internet shop, warehouse, store 'til finally, eureka, I find it buy it have it delivered.
when the box is opened and said item is placed in position, I hate it, it looks all wrong, the size is too small/ big, it's too low/ high. I freak out, Richie will say wait until this is next to it/ or once you see it all finished, thats the normal height,then I phone Ian and give him my woes, he says the same as Richie.

I feel like I have messed up big time, go back later in the day and love it.
Stevie, the joiner is now just humouring me, and recently moved a piece of bathroom furniture up 3 cm. I told him that it was so much better, but was kind of waiting for him to tell me " its still in the same place you crazy woman."

So yes, I have managed to get my way in a lot of things, thankfully been happy to leave a lot to Richie.

This week will see some giant steps forward upstairs, we are almost ready to decorate. The plaster on the walls is a thing of beauty, its like glass, I'm relluctant to even paint it. However paint it we will, white.

So as I prepare to move out by the 31st August and reinstate the Grantham family back to the cottage, I can confidently say we look like we are on target for that date, with or without worktops.

There goes the neighbourhood.

Which neighbourhood have we disrupted? both Mugdock and now Strathblane.
The former obviously through the building work the latter through the Granthams love of spending time outdoors in the sun, preferably laying back in the sun with a cool beer or a glass of fizz in the garden, and Majas desire to be in a paddling pool, problem being little to no garden space, and the fact that we are now spilling onto the street, beer and pink supersoaker gun in hand.
I think our need for private space has not only been spurred on by the good weather, but also due to the fact that we have been down in Mugdock on a number of occasions in the last few weeks and have seen just how well the builders are doing, to my unqualified eyes we are on the home straight, which makes me more impatient, when it looked like something from hurricane Louise I was fine, but now I'm bugging Richie for a date of entry, he conceded last week and told us that yes they were ahead of plan, and yes we should be in by August. No promises.
I have also had some visitors to the house, my mum and a neighbour had the guided tour and were very positive, mum was just amazed at how much had changed. As was my friend Anne, she found it a bit strange that there was absolutely no familiarity from the original house at all.
We arrived on site with all the kids in tow, after an attempt at skiing in 25 degree heat with long sleeved tops, gloves and trousers, they were exhausted, Maja was the first to crumple, shortly followed by the rest so we abandoned our mission and took them up to the house instead, where they happily played in the builders sand.
Jo also came over, which was interesting, as she had never been in the house prior to that, straight away she pointed out that the kitchen is North facing and despite having a 21/2 meter window and french doors, its relatively dark so really should go for light reflecting surfaces, relief, finally the decision on cabinets had been made.
for many of you who have gone through my constant change of heart between dark wood and white gloss on an hourly basis, you'll understand the joy I'm feeling at ticking that room off. Done deal, phew.
School holidays are almost here, the chances of us getting in before the kids go back are good, here's hoping, send kids round with paint brushes towards end of July. I'll feed them.

Halfway house

Well, we've reached the 1/2 way mark, 3 months in, 3 months to go. It's hard to imagine we will be back home by September.

Although a lot has changed externally, inside it still looks like a cow shed.

While Maja thoroughly enjoys being mere doors away from classmates, she is still looking forward to moving back to the cottage. So we decided that this landmark weekend would be

celebrated with a breakfast for kings, which was Majas favourite of waffles, bacon and syrup, which is to be recreated on the first morning in the cottage - mind you - the wafffle maker will be brought out for many a breakfast before the key handover but this doesn't detract from her great sense of occasion.

Internally, Ians thoughts have been leaning towards cables and wires, sourcing, buying delivering and instructing the electricians on routing the said cables and we now have a total of around 90 extra cables, all terminating in a specially built cupboard in the utility room.

The cables are for internal netwworking, telephone, TV, multiroom sound and optional remote controls.

I have been looking and buying bathroom furniture and sanitary ware, looking at paint charts getting a vision of how the rooms will finally look The colour scheme is coming together well, however the main linving room will be challenge - due to the size (huge!), working out style of furniture (traditional or modern), room layouts etc.

The main disadvantage we have is when we come to move into the house there will be very litte, if any , money left to furnish it. With this room, that will be an advantage as I need time to live inside it and get the feel of it. All we will have is a TV, which Ian is looking into, size wise quite big, read MASSIVE, is apparently what we need. I can visualise lots of grown men sitting on cushions watching footie and drinking beer, argh, or Maja and chums could use it for rollerbading, and I could have some of my yoga mates roll out our mats there. Hastening to add not all at the same time.

If anyone has any better ideas let me know.

The staircase will arive in a week's time, plus the walls will be constructed (sheeting added to the wooden frames). Roof slates are well underway and should be finished this week. The windows are all in place.

Everything, as I write, is going tickety-boo.

getting inside

Well, as you can see, we have ourselves a roof covered with sarking, dormers and if you look carefully 2 velux windows to the front plus two at the rear already in place.
Ian and I were invited to have a poke around the house last Sunday. We were there to decide where the TVs, speakers and any additional wiring should go, along with a last chance to change walls or doorways.
The electrician was scheduled within the next few days.
I was also asked to provide the plumber with all of the things that need fitted behind bathroom walls. Given that I detest seeing wires, pipes anything that distorts a clean line of a room basically, there's a bit of shopping to be done.
Majas school was closed for half term on Monday and Tuesday,I intended leaving everything until Wednesday. Not to be. Johnny the plumber spoke to me on Monday and said get a move on Mrs.
The next morning Maja was duly dropped off at my mums, as planned, while I would go to my yoga class, no such luck however,I chased my tail round bathroom stores looking for shower fittings, frames and anything else I could get my hands on.
I had planned to collect Maja along with her wee cousin at lunchtime, after lunch stupidly took them both shower shopping, thereafter the wee chap got into every bathtub in the store while Maja ran face first into a big glass shower screen, busting her lip and loosening her two front teeth, thankfully still baby ones. Frazzled the assistant stuffed a brochure into my hand and held the door open for me.
Ian, I have to add had taken off to Bucharest, and looked like being stuck there indefinitely due to more volcanic ash.
I also met with the kitchen supplier, and handed over my less than realistic wish list, he is going to send out some door samples in the next week or so.
The folks from the stove centre were also out to see where we could place our wood burner, unfortunately due to the dormers upstairs, it is not possible to put it where I would have liked, it will now go in the corner, leaving a big empty wall. Ian has embraced this silver lined opportunity, and is on the other laptop looking for a huge big tellies to fill the space along with upgrading the low voltage wiring diagrams. I am now getting a TV in the kitchen and Ian has asked if I would like internet access, that means Good Food online, no brainer, however when he decided that we need internet access in the main toilet I shot him down. Take a newspaper in like everyone else for gods sake. Am I wrong?
I have picked, ordered and even collected all the en suite fittings, and possibly even picked the tiles for the floor.
A very hectic week, but I can more or less tick a room off. only 10 more and 3 hallways to go.
I don't want to even think about the garden. Next years project.

What comes down must go up.

Sorry about the delay in posting blogs, I've not been grounded by volcanic ash, just busy with easter holiday activities. Maja is back at school now and I'm back on the building case.

Huge changes, everything was stripped out and preparations were being made for truss arrival. They duly arrived on site and were offloaded by a large team inside an hour, keeping disruption to a minimum.

The guts of the house are being prefabricated over in Ireland, the team were due to come over for a few days to get started. Ian ran past the house on the Saturday and the Irish guys were still on site working away. Weekend workers, great stuff.

Last week Richie was looking for our thoughts on finishes. We chose our sofits and gutters, something that I can honestly say I have no or little opinions on.

More importantly, kitchens, my domain, time for my dream kitchen. I have, on the other hand, done the ground work, read the magazines, spent many happy hours coveting designer modern,"Elle Dec'", or traditional hand-painted in muted farrow and ball shades,"Country homes and interiors", even the concrete uber- modern shabby chic, "Wallpaper".

Maybe I've seen too many, but I am finding this very tricky, modern yes, wood possibly, definately underfloor heating under the cream tiles.

I visited some showrooms today, still undecided.

Yesterday I was on site for a quick look at progress, the trusses are up, there is a floor upstairs, or is it a ceiling downstairs, one mans ceilings's another mans floor. The Irish guys have extended their stay until Friday to erect the internal kit and line the roof.

I could really see it taking shape, so, thats when I decided to change some things, little things. moving 4 doors, removing a wall, ok 2 walls, and adding a window.

Things are really moving fast, indeed the whole process has ben quicker than I had anticipated.

This week I plan to have a decision on the kitchen, some options on bathroom fittings, layouts etc and speak to the good folks at the stove centre to refit the woodburner, choose windows and finally pick up some fabric samples and paint charts, time for mood boards.

Busy weeks ahead, loving it.

The Point of No Return

The guys are doing a grand job in mass destruction, Rough cast is being removed,the roof is completely off, and the chimney stack, the only standing structure that was left in the house last week, has gone.

Little conversation I overheard between Maja and neighbours two kids."Maja your really lucky that your house is getting smashed down in the summer, because there is no chimney now, how would Santa get in?"

Majas reply "yeah, I think thats why mummy and daddy did it now." Pause....."MUMMY IS THERE A CHIMNEY IN THE NEW HOUSE?"

After a good number of dry months, it seemed that the moment the roof was removed we have had rain, hail and snow. Thanks to Richie and his team for having that great Scottish spirit, where the weather is concerned, they just got on with the job in hand. So in the middle of a snowstorm trusses and ceiling timbers were duly taken down. Richie was saying that they were all in the kitchen with snow falling on top of them. It is officially british summer time, surely the snow will abate now.

Work has Restarted!

The following day, the architect / structural engineer met the builder and Ian "on site". For 2 hours, there were inspections, deliberations, technical building conversations and speculations.

The result of all the above was relatively positive. Much of the remedial work could be done from the inside of the house - although unplanned for, does mean that subject to confirmation of the foundations, work can restart.

The builder, architect and Ian left the site, with the main open point being to investigate the foundations from inside the building.

Keen to progress, the builder came back later in the afternoon, removed a 6' x 5' section of the floor - including the joists - and dug the foundations. The news was good. Although no foundations were present, it turns out the building is build on top of a bed of rock!

The next day, I was visiting a neighbour in Mugdock whose kitchen overlooks our cottage. She told me that she has spent the morning watching a team of builders on the roof stripping tiles and removing the chimney. so I sat with my coffee and pollenta cake watching the deconstruction of my home. Can anyone remember the Billy Connolly sketch, when he woke up in a friends flat in Finnieston, looked out the window, and saw the house he was born in get pulled down? well, I got that surreal feeling.

When we were visiting the same neighbours on Sunday, we decided, after testing the emotional water with Maja, to let her go across to see what was going on. All she could say on seeing the house void of any rooms was "where are all the corners?"

"In the back garden." was Ians reply.

She thought it was hysterical. I think it may be useful letting her see the changes, as she is finally on board.

Now, the tiles are off the roof, the chimney is down, including the structure inside the building, the final measures for the new roof structure have been taken and the order for the truss (wooden structures that form the roof) manufacturer has been placed.

While no doubt there will be more snags to overcome (the telephone line to the house, for example, will need to be removed and moved, as it enters the building in an inconvenient place once the new roof structure is put up), but for now, no more major incidents to deal with.

Work Begins....Stops

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS. LOVELY JUGS MARGO

When we put the plans out to tender, it became clear that we needed a builder to take on the complete job, we have neither the time nor more importantly the experience for such an undertaking.

During discussions, we have now learned to call builders "the contractors", and home "the site".

We were lucky to have been recommended a contractor, firstly through our architect, and secondly, by some happy clients and their neighbours. So the decision to go ahead with the company we wanted was not too difficult

I have to say at this point that I also work heavily on gut instinct, it has served me well in the past.

The first few days were relatively quiet looking from the outside. I was visiting a friend in the street and with the exception of some vans parked in the drive, it was business as usual.

However later in the day, when I met up with the builder I could see that our house, site, was void of some of the internal walls, said walls were now heaped in the back garden.

From this ...


To this ...

Left site very excited, definitely underway now.

One day later the problems are now clearly visible ....

In general, the overall construction of the timber that forms the house is not to the standard that would be acceptable today.

The uprights, which span from the floor to the ceiling and transfer the weight of the roof to the foundations, are constructed from various types of wood, many of them not of sufficient size and / or material - these will need to be replaced / added to.

The lintels around the windows - all of them! are not lintels. There are blocks of wood not properly supported and not doing very much to support the weight above the windows. These will need to be replaced. Luckily, most of the windows will need to be replaced anyway due to layout changes, so this is not a big problem.

There are questions over the fixing of the the plywood to the timber frame which forms the wooden skin of the building. Structurally, these sheets of wood are important to stop the building "racking" (imagine squashing a square to a rhombus shape - this is "racking"). There is no real evidence that the required "nailing schedule" has been followed. A "nailing schedule" defines which type and what distance nails to use to fix the ply to the frame - getting it right ensures the structure, getting it wrong, well ...

There are also questions over how the brick skin is "tied" to the wooden frame. Again, no evidence this has been adequately done.

Given the "standard" of the construction, we are now concerned about the foundations. Likely not a problem, but will need to be checked before continuing. This means creating a hole inside the building and digging a "trial pit" to expose the foundations (if they are there!) to check all is well.

What does all this mean? Worst case, the building would need to be taken down - i.e. start from scratch.

So, work has stopped and the architect / structural engineer has been recalled to review the situation.

Week One... Reality bites

Steve and David first time either of them have made the bed.

Firstly a big thanks to the team who moved us from Mugdock to Strathblane, namely:

Drew, Peter, George and his son Graeme, who were based in Mugdock,dismantling and loading the truck.

Steve, Scott, Simon and David in Strathblane, offloading the truck and building/ fitting the furniture. Not forgeting Margo, for the buns, and the Horrocks for looking after, and feeding Maja.

I collected the keys for the new house on the 1st March, gradually, with the help of my trusted local mothers, brought in and emptied many boxes.

More importantly, Rhona, thanks for making me take a couple of hours off, pulling the gang together and providing great food and wine for Anne and I on our birthday.

Our wee Maja hates the new house and does not want the builders to go near her bedroom in Mugdock, leaving notes on walls to that end.

I was also struggling to find what's known as FLEA insurance (Fire, Lightning, Explosion, Earthquake and Aircraft) for the soon to be empty property.

Insurers are jittery when properties are empty for more than around 90 days.

Boxes and furniture were going everywhere,to my mother in law and my mother's house (hope your attic doesn't cave in mum, I know a great builder if it does!), others to Strathblane.

By Friday I had almost crashed the car, fallen down a flight of stairs, and bizarrely, went out to collect a meal from the Chinese restaurant and brought home a couple of bags of groceries from Tesco instead, blaming Ian for my mistake when he was looking for his satay.
Stressed and emotional we decided to use our tried and trusted coping mechanism...
Pop Maja off to bed and open a bottle of wine.
I believe that may have saved our sanity and our marriage.