September 2023

 

1st September: The plant room in all its complicated glory.

4th September: Lee is laying the patio slabs. 

4th September: Upstairs, work continues on the bathroom. Splash-backs and wall panelling in grey with a hint of green.

4th September: The front door is in place. It will painted in the same colour as the matching door to the main house. The gravelled area leading to the front porch has been lowered quite considerably. This should prevent rain water from washing over the concrete into the house as it always did in the past. A course of bricks will extend the cemented area to form an attractive edge.

7th September: At the back of the Annexe, Lee has created a bench along the curved wall. It will serve three functions: as a bench to sit on, as a step up to the garden and as reinforcement to the wall, the foundations of which were exposed when the ground level was lowered. The blockwork will be rendered in white.

7th September: Soffits, fascias and gutters are fitted to the southern lean-to block.

7th September: Downstairs, the floor is nearing completion.

9th September: A fine brickwork edge is created to finish off the step up to the porch.

14th September: A bannister is fitted and painted.

14th September: Upstairs, the main bedroom is ready to move into!

20th September: A hatch between the small kitchen in the main house (formerly the Pantry) and the original kitchen of the Annexe is being turned into a doorway. In bygone days, the food would have been cooked by the resident housekeeper and passed through to the Pantry before being taken into the Dining Room of the main house. It is sad to see this curiosity consigned to history, but it will make for much easier access to the Old Kitchen (now renamed the Scullery) from the main house.  

23rd September: The entrance area in the Annexe now has a ceiling and has been plastered.

24th September: The hatch between kitchen and scullery is now fully opened up. Two large concrete beams had to be removed and the ceiling propped up.

24th September: View looking the other way into the main house.

28th September: This final series of September photos (below) shows the exterior with its first coat of rendering (the white topcoat will have to wait until the spring) and the state of the almost finished interior. There are only the stove and the shower doors to put in now, and a bit of pipework to complete in the bathroom. Plus some final bits of paintwork, which the ladies on the team have been doing to perfection.