Monday 15^th June - This week Ian (the builder) is hoping to get the stonework and blockwork up to wall-plate (eaves) level and the roof "cut on" next week. We aren't using standard roof trusses for the new "top roof" (we have a lower roof as well, remember) so the carpenter will build the new one in-situ. Using purlins, we'll have a lot more usable loft space. We're having windows fitted in the roof to give us a 6th potential bedroom. We have the existing four, but Alison's could be converted into 2, plus the loft would be OK (with some adjustments to rafters & joists etc).

Today the plumber is in to fit the living room radiator and the plumbing out to the extension (last minute decision to put plumbing into the utility area). He may also spur pipes out for the new radiators in the upstairs back and front rooms. The gas fire may also be fitted today. I'm not particularly pleased about the way the fire is being handled, we want it fairly central in the wall it is going onto, but it needs an external flue so is limited to a few feet of wall at one end. As a result we want it as close to the middle as we are allowed to put it, so what do the builders do? They create a box around an existing pillar which takes up some valuable space, they put the electrics (ignition for the fire) next to the pillar, and thus the fire is already forced about a couple of feet from where it was best positioned. The problem with a lot of this is that it tends to happen as a "fait-accompli", we get home and it was done the way they assumed we wanted it done. Some things we take so much for granted that we forget that we have to spell it out.

We expect to have the structure effectively completed in 3 weeks time, by then the roof should be on, the upstairs rooms knocked through, the garage door on and all windows in. We may still have the slates to be put on. Ian is going to call out the roofer just once to do all the slating, as he pointed out, the slates are decorative and protective, the main waterproofing is the roofing felt which can cope without the hard roof for a while. I expect that we could have a liveable living room by mid-July or perhaps early August and liveable rooms upstairs about 2 weeks after that.

I'm considering taking us both off for a holiday at that point, maybe back to Italy for 10 days or a week, although we may cop out and just do a foreign long weekend, perhaps over the bank holiday in August. We'll need it.

The carpet for the living room is expected to "happen" fairly late on in the proceedings. We have a lot of decorating to be done and we'll feel easier about doing that while there is no carpet down, I also have to lay a lot of plastic tiles in the new living room in order to give the carpet-layers a consistent surface to work on. The Chesterfield is due to arrive in mid-August (still being built).

Going back to the house. Carpeting ideas have come to mind over the weekend as a result of having ordered the main living room carpet. Luckily we don't pay until about September, it is laid in late July and we have about a month before the bill comes due.

We've decided that if the floorboarding upstairs looks ok, we'll sand it, seal it and stain it (maybe not in that order, but sanding definitely first unless we get the other bits wrong in which case we do it twice!). Then we'll find suitable rugs and use them instead of carpets. The old living room carpet will probably end up in the loft space, it was going to finish up in my computer space (in the extended part of the back bedroom (top left of plan)).

I want my computer space to be pretty "organic" in look, balance the tech with something a bit kinder on the senses, so kilim rug, ceramics, and I already have a cane blind that graced the studio but was on the wall that becomes an arch. I could always put the blind back if the arch is small enough, but I think it'll be fairly extensive.

I'm also hoping I can set up my drawing/painting stuff so I can be inspired on occasion. My final hope for that room is that I can make it comfortable enough to be in at times when I'm not working, in other words actually be able to sit in there with a book and a drink, or even just to muse on life. Most of my creative activities happen in spaces I "live" in. If I have to go somewhere specific to achieve something it usually means my inspiration has disappeared by the time I get there. I like the thought that I may be able to sprawl in an armchair with a guitar hooked up to gadgets and just noodle about waiting for my muse to speak.

Into week 7 of the project now, and Ian is building up the walls today, so long as it doesn't rain too much. We have showers forecast but so far it has been dry, if dull. The plumber is also in today to put together the central heating extension into the living room and the utility room, and then move on later to install the extra radiators in the upstairs extension (which Ian is frantically building at the moment). I'm also hoping that the remaining walls in the living room are going to be dressed up (and maybe also the beams/girders gracing our ceiling at the moment). Ian again stated today that the living room will effectively be completed by the weekend, he presently wants the walls to be built up higher than our neighbour's rather dodgy porch, in order to get the scaffolding "second lift" into place. Then he can continue building up to wall plate and we can then get the roof on.

At the moment everything is happening in a rather chaotic way because the weather has forced some inside work sooner than we expected.

I arrive home to find the site deserted. At first I thought there had been no progress, the front wall was no higher than before, then I realised that in fact the front wall was already up to windowsill height (as is the back wall). In fact nothing will be built at the front wall until the house is virtually at wall-plate height. Alison is back and apparently had a few words with Ian about progress. He's more pleased. Although there was a threat of rain all day (it was very dull) nothing significant fell out of the sky and Ian made good progress, managing to lay three courses of stonework during the day. He's now working close to head-level on the wall and will find things easier once the next stage of scaffolding is in place. Now that the wall is above the neighbouring unsightly porch the way is clear for the "final lift" enabling Ian to work up to wall plate and beyond. He may wait to erect the scaffolding on Wednesday and decide to do the inside blockwork wall instead, but I get the impression he's happier to make progress on the external wall first.

Inside the house, parts of the lovingly erected plasterboard have been removed, partly to reveal the gas pipe emerging from the wall (for the gas feed to the fire) and partly to permit the laying of water pipes for the front radiator. From the position of these pipes it is apparent that the concrete of the new floor will cover them. The plumber also made a great job of replacing the landing carpet after having raised it in order to get at the pipework underneath, from which the new pipework has been spurred.

During the evening we look out of the side window for a short while, knowing that this view probably won't last after the end of this week.

Ian quoted for the extra work to be done, about £2k worth. Some of the costs are a little on the high side but for the time it saves having Ian do it, it is worth the costs. Also, some of the work is stuff I wouldn't personally consider doing, drilling through walls and running out pipework to the extension, drilling out tumble-drier vents etc, installing the gas fire, installing the loft windows. Altogether it works out as being a good package, so we're taking it.

Tuesday 16^th June - I realise today that I could spend Friday at home. Ian reckons that the living room will become "liveable" again by that time so I could spend Friday doing things to prepare for decoration work. We have a room which is half-wallpapered (the old living room) and half-plastered (the old garage) and we need to get the walls consistent. Removing wallpaper and sanding the wall lightly will be one job, and perhaps painting the entire set of walls with something neutral to prime the surface consistently… boring, and it won't show later, but it has to be done. In theory the ceilings will also be ready for painting, as may be the skirting boards and windowsills. If the room is ready for painting to start I will have to vacuum and dust first, it is quite dusty, not critically so, but enough to cause a problem when painting.

We're getting to more exciting stages soon. At the moment progress is reasonably quick because there is little stonework to do on the new front & back walls. The inner block wall is still to be put up so there'll be a day or two when the progress from outside will appear to stop. After that, the roof starts to go on. I imagine it'll take about 3 days to get it felted and battened, and the guy putting the slates on might take a day or two to finish. Inside there is a new door to go where the landing window is right now, and two fairly large arches to put into place for each of the bedrooms, boarding and plaster-skimming the walls and putting in skirting, architraves & windows, oh, and tongue & groove floorboarding, and we're virtually there!

Tonight when we arrive home there are changes, but they're more subtle. There are three main areas where progress has been made, first, the gas point for the fire is in place, spurred from the gas pipe as it branches over towards the kitchen (for the gas hob). Second, there is a series of pipes leading from the wall near the kitchen, across the back of the utility room and finishing up as washing machine hot & cold feeds, a waste pipe, and also, joy of joys, an outside tap! The third area of improvement is the gable end wall, which is up by about another 2 or 3 courses (it is hard to tell with random coursing of stones). The views to either side of the neighbouring houses are now just memories, unless there is an amendment in fire regulations that would allow windows close to boundaries.

I finished painting the window frames (3 still standing in the living room, one installed and glazed for the living room). Much simpler if they aren't glazed! The installed one wasn't too bad, I just dismembered a cardboard box (cereal or something) and held straight-edge pieces of it to the glass as a mask, then just painted normally along the V between the card and the frame. A very quick job, and by swapping the pieces of card regularly I didn't get any marks on the glass. As it got darker I realised that I could probably paint the soffit over the new living room as well, so I got stuck into that. By 10:45 it was too dark to paint anymore (it was a clear evening and we got nice late light). Everything out front looks a lot better now. I still need to paint under the soffit (it was darker there and I thought I might miss a few patches so it was better to leave it for now and just do the bits that were easy to see).

I'm starting to estimate end-dates now, which I take to be a good sign!

I see the entire job done and the builders off-site in the first week of August. 3 months end-to-end isn't too bad for the volume of work done. I think Ian has another job starting at the end of July so he may be off-site a lot more in the last 2 or 3 weeks. Perhaps if it is rainy he'll get our job done more quickly since he won't be walling in this other job and doing our interior work instead.

I envisage the living room fully decorated within the first week of the builders being gone (not carpeted). We may temporarily put the original carpet back down so we have half the room comfortable while awaiting the new carpeting, then move the original up to the loft room (and put boarding down in the loft room as well). Alison is already experimenting on the old wallpaper with new paint schemes, we discovered that if you aren't careful you can easily turn terracotta into orange! An orange living room, perhaps not (except in more artsy places perhaps). During that first week, when we aren't painting the living room it is probable that we'll be setting up the utility room and restoring the shelving space and tools and plumbing in the washing machine & tumble drier etc.

We'll also be building up our food stocks again. That room is now becoming a utility/garden shed/food store!

After that, Alison and I go our separate ways to decorate our own spaces, we're both opting for wooden floorboarding exposed, with rugs. I'm going for the ethnic look, Alison for pine and primary colours. I already have suitable lighting, some ancient things from my teenage days (beer jugs with hessian shades, very 70s).

At some point we're also going to need a new driveway (the existing one will be a complete eyesore when the skip/dumpster is removed and the other debris removed). That'll be the next job for external contractors, we hope to get that done within 2 weeks of the main building work being complete, hopefully there won't be any serious debris left on-site that needs clearing first. Ian knows someone who can do the job, hopefully pretty cheaply, we're hoping no more than £200.

Best of all, I think the whole thing will be pretty much "on budget" (just as well bearing in mind the other things we're planning). A priority for the run up to Christmas is a new kitchen sink/drainer, dishwasher where the washing machine used to be and a small freezer for under the worktop where the tumble drier used to be. Plans, plans, plans!

Wednesday 17^th June - About 1am I heard a lot of activity in the water pipes and assumed we had a plumbing problem or something, as a result in the early hours we were dashing around the house (and outside into the garden) looking for trouble. I went into the loft and everything was static, the cold water tank was still, and nothing had fallen into it. We put something on it's cover once and the cover fell into the tank along with the object. All the water it displaced came sluicing out of the overflow pipe causing great panic, but it was actually OK, even the object (I forget what it was) wasn't the kind of thing damaged by water. Either way we were woken up and badly disturbed by it, plus I needed to be up at 6am, so I'm somewhat tired right now. My workplace being the kind of place it is I'll be challenged to stay awake for most of the time. We never found out what the "water activity" was a result of. The night was probably quite cold because it was clear, so there is the probability that the central heating came on (there is a huge room downstairs without a door on it, so the ground floor is effectively one huge cold room).

Still, all the activity awoke Maximilian the Hamster and we were treated to the squeaking of his exercise wheel for about another half-an-hour on and off.

Things are coming along nicely and the house will be at wall plate by Friday afternoon (I expect). Maybe the scaffolding will arrive today and we'll get home to an even weirder sight. Friday is predicted to be sunny all day, so hopefully good progress can be made then. I get the impression that Ian won't be laying the concrete floor this week, doing outside work instead so the roofing can be started. While the roof is put on I'm sure he'll do the floor, then when it is done he'll go back outside to build up the side of the gable end to the roof apex. If we get a rainy day this week then the floor might be done sooner (in some ways I'd like that since it means we can start doing our own thing with the room, pre-emptive work such as coving and curtain rails etc). When the floor is laid the fire can be installed although I imagine that Ian will call the plumber back when the remainder of the plumbing is to be done (upstairs radiators and the gas fire).

Someone down the road (who recently put their house up for sale) is now considering doing extension work (so they say). I can't see that anybody nearby could possibly do a cost-effective extension so I don't see it happening. Of course the fact that the builder gets talked to on our property also gives people an excuse for nosing about.

We arrived home to find Ian irritable. Considerable progress has been made on the inner gable end wall, the blockwork is built up to the level of the outer stone and inside the beams are all boxed in and the props have all been removed. I'm relieved in many ways that this work is done when we're out of the house and unaware that it is next on the agenda, it saves us a lot of worrying over "how is it going?"

Ian's irritability concerns our neighbour. Apparently the second lift of scaffolding arrived today and there was instantly some argument over whether Ian could in fact put the poles up. He'd apparently agreed not to allow the poles to touch the building next door (perhaps just as well) and had built up the gable end wall to a point above the neighbouring structure in order to span across from front to back of our gable end wall. Now the lady next door is objecting to the plan. From what Ian says, she agreed initially, even today, then came out 30 minutes later and refused. A short time later a "friend" of hers came over (her husband left her 2 years previously) and stated that he owned the house (to Ian) then backed off slightly and said instead "well, I have an interest in it". I don't know how vociferous the discussion became but in either event, Ian decided that the scaffolding could wait a little longer and the scaffolders left. Her attitude with Ian had apparently been "I don't want you here, and frankly you can kill yourself for all I care".

Alison immediately contacted a solicitor for some initial guidance, and he was very helpful regarding the situation. His first concern was that we established firmly who actually owned the neighbouring house. The problem being that if the lady living there was not the owner, then she'd made agreements that she wasn't legally entitled to do and Ian had placed contracts with the scaffolders on the basis of that rather deceptive agreement. If she was the owner of the house then she had reneged on a verbal agreement that had been used as the basis for contracts. The solicitor's point of view was that in any case the main dispute was with Ian, our contract with Ian basically said, "build the house please" and never stated how. Ian was then responsible for determining how the job was achieved, hence the fact that he'd been in contact with our neighbour and not us, in fact we cannot negotiate in any way regarding how the job is done.

We then carried on discussing the situation with Ian, he pointed out that the job would take him a few days longer to complete and would cost him more money (reduce his profit) but that it wasn't a problem for us to worry about. His main concern was his personal safety, and frankly that is our personal concern as well. To be working at a fairly high level on a single scaffolding plank while carrying large stones and also having to cut them in order to create a consistent gable-end, would carry a fair degree of risk. The discussion really couldn't go much further than that. Ian was inclined to carry on and erect the scaffolding as per the original agreement and said that he wished he'd not discussed it on this occasion (he'd gone around to mention that the agreed scaffolding was about to be raised, and she'd suddenly decided to object). However he considered that if he went ahead and erected scaffolding there was also the possibility that the neighbour would damage or loosen it in some way and create danger for Ian, I don't know what had been said to give him this impression, I dread to think. Ian had also mentioned to her again the possibility of performing some building work around her house, as a goodwill gesture. As he pointed out to us, there were a great number of things that needed to be done, as he said to us, there were upward of 40 points where just the new porch was deficient, without even looking at the rest of the house. He also mentioned that she'd complained about the possibility of things falling from the scaffolding and that they might damage their house. Ian had explained that this was very unlikely and if it were to occur then he would repair any damage incurred. Her response was that "any repairs wouldn't be as good as the original" at which point Ian apparently had to restrain himself from laughing.

In the end it became obvious that he'd agreed to do a lot of work that needed to be done to the neighbouring property for no other return than the safety of working with a decent scaffolding "lift".

Ian left, asking that we let him know if anything else came up and also requesting the next stage payment (wall plate) for Friday (12%). The only thing we could add was that in the interests of neighbourliness (no matter how one-sided) we'd prefer that he worked within our boundary if at all possible, but that the final decision was still, particularly with regard to safety, his.

Alison wrote to our neighbour discussing the situation and re-stating that it was an inconvenience to Ian, and that he had placed contracts based on the expectation that she was as good as her word. We also asked for a quick clarification about the ownership of the house which we expected would probably arrive during the evening. After dropping the letter through their letterbox we went off down to the pub to eat since we had been running late anyway. When we arrived home no confirmation had arrived although she was there and must have seen the letter, and by 11:30pm there had still been no confirmation.

Perhaps most telling was the fact that a scaffolding pole was already over the other side of the boundary as part of the earlier agreement, it had been there for several weeks, it had not been objected to, it was right beside their front door. The absence of any objection in that time implies an agreement was indeed reached.

We also concluded that since our neighbour was now precipitating a dispute, that it would only be fair in the light of this account being "published", that we allowed her the right to reply. Depending on how far the situation gets, we'll make this offer at some time early next week, otherwise it may be taken to be a way of coercing her to accede to Ian's request at this point in time.

I still find it surprising that she's turned down what probably amounts to about £2500 of free building works because she thinks she's making a point. But the point is perceived by those who have expressed any opinion as being, "she must be mad, I'd love some free building work!" And all for a couple of scaffolding poles. >Sigh<

Alison and I discussed how Ian would work without the full scaffolding "lift" and realised that it was not going to affect our own schedule for the interior work. The walls will be at "wall plate" by the end of Thursday or possibly Friday and at that point the roof can be put on. The blockwork for the gable end wall can also be built up from the inside using trestles and internal scaffolding (as it would be because the stonework would generally go up first). So the interior of the house would become habitable within the next 2 weeks and we could carry on with our own lives while Ian put the external skin of stone onto the gable end wall. Without a more substantial scaffold he'd take perhaps a week of a certain amount of risk to build up the gable end, with the scaffold it could have taken 2 or 3 days in comparative safety.

Meanwhile we continue to experiment with decorative ideas and colour schemes.

As we discuss things upstairs in the bedroom we realise that we haven't paid any attention to the fact that the front of the house is now supported on the new pillar…

Thursday 18^th June - I call Alison at work in mid-morning to discover that she spoke with Ian by telephone and discussed his plan of action. It transpires that he can work safely by utilising scaffolding as a safety rail, so his personal safety is no longer a great problem. We offer to rent or buy some safety harnesses for him to use, since someone around here needs to be looking out for his safety in doing this work! He pointed out that by working on a narrower ledge there was an increased risk that stones would fall onto the "wrong" side of the boundary since there is a great need to have the stones close by (on the ledge) and also less room to walk around. Perhaps our neighbour didn't think about this aspect and has precipitated precisely the situation she said she wanted to avoid.

We get home to discover a deserted site, the fine drizzle has prevented progress outside so the living room has had a bit more care and attention paid to it. The beams are now all boxed in and the plasterboard placed all around the walls awaiting a final plaster skim. In addition, Alison walks into the living room by opening the door to the ex-garage part. Yesterday there was no door in that wall. I laugh and point out that the door was moved from its position opening from the hall into the old part of the living room to its new position and she could just have walked through the arch which had held the door until today.

In the dining room there are four large boxes. The loft windows have arrived. During the evening (socialising with a friend) we realise that we don't require planning permission for the use of the loft as a room because planning considerations only apply to a change of use of the living space. In this case the loft room has not had a previous use at all, since it doesn't yet exist! At least we have written authorisation (via email) from the council for these windows.

Friday 19^th June - Today I'm not at work and when Ian arrives and I mention this he says "good, because the scaffolders are arriving and doing the "lift" today". I mention that there shouldn't be any problem since he's spanning over and not planting any further poles on her "territory" but he's more sceptical. First I need to get the car into our local garage in order to get an oil and filter change on the new engine. This will take only about 20 minutes, 5 to drive there, 5 to hand over the car, 10 to walk back. In that space of time the scaffolders have arrived and are unloading, ready to perform their work under Ian's direction. I head back inside to commence clearing my room in preparation for the eventual breakthrough of the wall, occasionally going to a front window in order to check that the progress is OK. I'm not called out for advice and neither are there any altercations outside as far as I'm aware. Ian starts working at a higher level, back up in the sunshine which surprisingly graces the day.

In a surprisingly short time my room (the old bedroom 2) is cleared of most of the contents that are to be moved (into bedroom 4). Two large bookcases will remain although quite a lot of their contents will be removed at the last moment before the walls are knocked through. Apparently the walls can be done in two stages, inner wall then outer. I'd much prefer outer then inner so we'd have less dust, but it seems evident that it has to be the other way around (no risk of miscalculating the entry point to the new room). With everything going OK, I head away at 1pm to pick up the car and then go over to Bath in order to meet up with Alison. In the interim I visit a few shops which might inspire me for decorative ideas. We head homewards in the humid heat in order to pay Ian the next stage payment to discover that he's already packed up and gone home. With the house to ourselves we have a relaxed evening, deciding to visit some friends nearby later on. With them, we talk through things until a late hour.

Saturday 20^th June - Today dawns rainy. I awake at about 5:50am and listen to the sound of the continuous rain for awhile, and drift back to sleep. I re-awaken at almost 8am and the rain is the same, the weather forecast says "occasional showers", which means that today must be a real occasion. Alison heads off to see to her horse, Meg, and I busy myself outside moving piles of blocks out of the end of the driveway to enable us to park on our own drive rather than inconvenience other people. Ian arrives (without Dave) moments after Alison returns and we chat about various bits and pieces before heading indoors to discuss other matters. Ian mentions that our neighbour did have words with them yesterday. I ask Ian why, since the scaffolding is planted firmly on our side of the boundary with the exception of the poles which have been there since the beginning, weeks before this current argument has surfaced. Also it only spans over into the space above their porch, and even then, not much. Ian is finding her whole attitude rather hard to comprehend, it certainly seems unreasoningly unreasonable. Apparently her apoplexy reached the point where she actually fell over, she was so angry, at which point apparently the scaffolders, having had just about enough of her tirades, fell about laughing. I think Ian read my expression there, because he dropped the subject. Despite all her irrational behaviours I think the scaffolders were pretty unsympathetic and could have handled the interlude differently. Either way, Ian has a reasonably safe scaffold to work on now, although it will be there a little longer than it could have been because it is still fairly narrow and difficult to work on. Also, it is opposite her bathroom window, I'm sure she would have preferred it to be there in full for one week than in part for 2 or 3 weeks.

Ian is concerned that they may try to tamper with the scaffolding despite the fact that it is illegal to do so, in fact scaffolders require to be licensed, and, interestingly, a licensed scaffolder cannot interfere with scaffolding erected by someone else except under very exceptional circumstances. Since Ian's scaffolders are now away for 2 weeks, unavailable, it will by law remain for at least that time.

Now Ian can push the end wall up to the fullest extent (I'm not sure how he's going to do the apex since the scaffold is set up at "roof plate" height, we'll see). He envisages 2 weeks to having the outside fully built up and is now turning his attention to the details of the work. He plans to strip the slates from the entire roof and re-use them to provide consistent colouring on the roof. The slates have weathered to some extent, I've seen old and new placed side-by-side and the difference is significant. What Ian plans to do is to re-roof each side using slates of the same vintage, as far as is possible. The south-facing roof (at the front of the house) is most visible to other people and he intends for that roof to be a totally consistent colour. At the back there are no people to overlook the roof, so he'll do a mix & match on that one, even then it won't be one section new, one section old, he'll blend new and old.

Inside, he tries to persuade us that our glazed vertical panels that form part of the wall between the hallway and the living room should be forsaken in favour of a set of double doors. We're interested in this idea for about 2 minutes, then realise that it isn't what we want to have done, we want similar panels to the existing to be used where the door used to be, instead of two vertical strips we'll end up with about 6. The idea of doors introducing potential draughts seems a bad idea to me, in a room which Ian is already convinced will be too cold. He requests that we start clearing our upstairs rooms (which will lose part of their walls) in preparation for the new breaking through. He assures us that this process will be a totally painless experience compared to the creation of the new living room from the old living room and the old garage.

The final point concerns the creation of a fused 3 amp supply to the security system control unit, and also details of where the unit will actually be sited. We discuss this and resolve the issue, and he'll provide an individual quotation for the extra work. After that, and finally receiving the stage payment, he departs, leaving us to move an obtrusive pile of engineering bricks closer to the house, just about as the rain starts to ease off. Back inside the house we carry on moving things around to the most advantageous positions. I clean the carpets as far as is possible, and take up the dirty mats and the damp-proof membrane and vacuum the hallway for the first time in weeks. For a while I'm reminded of home, seeing things partly return to normal this way. I resolve to mow the back lawn too, make it look like it belongs to someone. Well, someone who left large objects in particular places, now marked by dead patches! The Velux loft windows are moved (with a lot of effort, they're heavy) up to my old room, which I'd half-cleared on Friday. After that we're just about done.

Sunday 21^st June - The sun is shining brightly, so we decide to take this longest day as it comes, and set off in the car to wander the countryside. As these things happen, we ended up at the coast, and more specifically, a set of DIY centres at Weston-Super-Mare, just south of Bristol. Here we locate several useful things including a new garden hose, now that the builders have blocked and holed our original one we decide to get one that can be coiled on its own holder, attached to an outside wall. But first we'll hide it. For a few weeks. We also get some industrial-grade brackets which we can use to attach things to our outside wall on the boundary side. This space is at most 2 feet wide, wall to boundary, narrowing to 6 inches at the front of the garage so it is effectively dead space unless we can do some storage as we're planning to.

We also get a couple of other bits for the alarm system and a lamp shade that will suit one of our new lamps. Ian had been nagging us to get a downlighter to fit under the stairs (in the living room) and we bought one that had a 6 inch housing within the wall or ceiling. Under the stairs it turns out that there isn't sufficient clearance for such a light, it needs a shallower housing (4.5") and this size seems to be a rare beast. We located one on Saturday but had our doubts about it's style, but it seems we'll have to go for that model after all, since most "shallower" downlighters require a transformer, the shallower ones all seem to be "low voltage".

We arrive home in a rain shower, having both improved our tans over the course of the day, and England being England, it is now sunny once more, at 7:25pm.

This next week, weather permitting, should be very significant …