Its a proper home....at last!

It has been a long coming but finally we have got not just a house but a home!

Since the summer hubby has been over in Ireland quite a lot, chasing up workmen to finish their jobs before we could start on our bit...the decorating.

At the end of August I got some leave from work and spent 10 days out there. It was great feeling I could finally take part, have a go and make a difference.
I had spent months deciding what colours I liked and once hubby had agreed we had chosen paints and set to.  There were a few changes though because when I arrived hubby had already painted our room and unfortunately I didn't really like the colour of one wall. I wanted a statement colour and the colour i had chosen wasn't 'statement' enough. There was a bit of a discussion and finally I was able to go and buy a better colour and when it was applied it was agreed that yes it probably did look better than before.

Goodness yes its bright but now all the furniture is in the room it does look better.

We also managed to finish another bedroom in time for a short visit from my parents who came over to see the house and to lend a hand. OK so there are no curtains yet but to be honest the only thing likely to be looking through that window is a cow in the field.

My mum helped me giving three rooms their first coat of paint and my dad did a brilliant job clearing out the garage which had become a dumping ground for packaging. At last we could see the back of the garage.

Once Mum and Dad had left we had a few days and we set about starting painting outside. The weather was good and so it was a great opportunity to get at least one coat of paint on before winter comes. It takes a lot of paint.

      

Before

After

Hubby got a good job!

We have also got the heating working, a fitted a working kitchen and bathrooms so we can live in it quite easily now whilst we finish off the painting.
This week has seen the last of the flooring fitted so finally no more dust!

Thought you would like to see some before and after photos:

The kitchen - before

The kitchen - now

The sunroom - before

The sun room - now

Dining area - before

Dining area - now

Upstairs roof space - before

Upstairs - two rooms and a shower room - now

Sunroom to dining room - before

Sunroom to dining room - now

Project Shanvallybeg

We have been over to Ireland again to start work on the interior painting. I could only stay for about 5 days before having to head home for work so I have left hubby and Maisie dog over in Ireland. 

The new heating tank has arrived and is in situ, we have painted the room and have had flooring fitted. It does look like a rocket doesn't it!

We went to town and bought some paint. We are giving everywhere a coat of white paint and then have had the pleasure of choosing colours! 

Some new furniture arrived whilst we were there, we managed to put it into the middle of one of the rooms so we can still paint round it.

I managed to give our bedroom and ensuite a coat of white paint and since I've left hubby has managed to finish painting both of the large rooms upstairs. 

So over to hubby for a few words about Ireland..............

The Shanvallybeg Project

So Monday Sharla and I arrived here in Drummin.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday washing all the walls and painting.

Friday I kicked a bucket of paint over and later that day the handle on my bucket decided to part, depositing a solution of Borax and water all down the stairs!

Saturday I had to take my best friend and work partner to the airport in Knock, as Sharla was back to work on Sunday in Shrewsbury.

So far two rooms under coated, 20 litres of paint gone and 13 more rooms plus a massive hallway to undercoat before two top coats!

Neighbours invited me for a drink Saturday evening, Martin had got a bottle of Bushmills in and Mary Jo had prepared loads of food.

However this was not before I finished Saturday off. Sharla had returned to Shropshire and Maisie with her broken leg was left to comfort me. Let's check the garage I thought. The key was really difficult to get in the lock. After about 5 minutes of trying bingo, turned the key pushed up the roller door but forgot to take the key out. Snap the key was now in two pieces one of which was still inside the lock.

My brilliant neighbours have given me the key to a house down the lane to get a shower, the only thing I currently don't have, whilst camping out here. Ah cotton wool buds I saw on the side. Must get some dust out of my ears before the shower. Snap, WTF, the cotton wool bud had just snapped in two. Better remove the other half I though, snap, now 25% of the stick left in my ear. Shower and shave, down to see Mary Jo and her medical skills to remove the bud from my ear! The cotton wool buds apparently have been there many years so very brittle as I found out!

Sunday, breakfast, some washing on the line and now two weeks or more of painting, apart from finding somebody to sort the garage door out! Currently electrics in the house but no heating or water, the latter coming from a tap in the back garden from a well on the hillside.

So as you can read it seems hubby is having quite a time of it.

We have lights.......and they work!

We had another trip over to Ireland recently and were really pleased to see the progress made in the months since we were last over.

Firstly on approaching the house we could see Kevin our builder had been very busy with the digger driver not only installing our septic tank and percolation area but levelling out a lot of the ground around the house. The large grassy mound from the side of the house had disappeared and let us see what a huge job we have got in front of us with regards the garden!

Before

After a bit of landscaping

We also noted that several drainage trenches had been put in, a great relief given Ireland is such a wet country. 

Another brilliant surprise was seeing the stonework on the front of the property. Given the fact that we had chosen it by walking into a showroom and been confronted by a huge selection of stone. We had to think about what other colours were around so the dark blue/grey colours match in with the dark roof and the lighter brown colours blend in with the windows. We were really pleased with the finished result.

The view from the entrance of our driveway looking back down the lane

 Inside the house we were further excited to see our staircase now in situ. Ok so it isn't complete but it gives a lovely idea of what it will look like. Again very pleased to be able to walk upstairs on a proper staircase and not a rickety temporary ladder/staircase.

The biggest result was realising that we finally have electric power to the property! So we ended up going round each room and switching on each switch own turn and we oohed and aahed, a bit like when at a firework display. As we had only seen our light fittings in the boxes it was brilliant to see them all in their places and finally be assured that they were the correct purchase. Of course my wonderful designer  light switches and sockets looked brilliant. I am so pleased with the choice.




So whats next? Well the plumber is in now, fitting radiators and the heating system, then we can warm the place up and then start fitting the woodwork. We have chosen the doors and handles (who knew there was so much choice). Also hoping the kitchen will be fitted in May/June
We are visiting again in a couple of weeks to finalise our choices of tiles so the tiler can get on and start work in the bathrooms. 

A sneaky peak at one of our tile choices - purple has to be included somewhere !

Half a kitchen

In November we made another successful trip to the west coast to see how things are progressing.

We arrived on the early ferry meaning that we arrived over in the village late morning. Of course we drove straight upto the house to see what if any changes we could spot.
The first thing was the garage door! Yes sad but true but every little thing means progress. Kevin the builder had arranged it and we are very happy with it.

Newly rendered garage with a new door. 

We had picked up the key for it from our neighbour so we opened it up and set about decanting stuff from the car into the garage. I have to admit this included a quirky selection of our belongings including our open Canadian canoe, dog agility equipment  and a rotary washing line. Completely random.
Within half an hour of our arrival we got a call to say that the lorry  carrying our delivery of kitchen appliances from the UK was arriving in the village. We gave the last few directions to the driver and marvelled at how organised we were.
The lorry arrived bearing a logo very close to our home in UK 
which was strange as it is now an Irish registered vehicle. Anyway as if on cue, the heavens opened and assisted in a swift and soggy transfer of goods from lorry to garage.

We were also pleased to see that all the plastering inside was now complete and does make such a difference to the inside. The new hallway looks vast.....perhaps it could double as a skittle alley.

We were also pleased to see the first of our two multi fuel stoves installed. This one is in the dining area.  We will also have a free standing one in the lounge.

Overall we had a lovely few days which also involved choosing carpets and measuring up for bedroom furniture and we even had a sunny enough day that we could enjoy our 'garden'. I use the term loosely as it is currently more like a field. 

Getting plastered!

We had another lovely few days over in Ireland and would you believe it, beginning of October and it didn't rain once!!

This trip we stayed in a little cottage about two miles from our house. The cottage belongs to a German couple who only visit once or twice a year and offered their cottage  as a place for us to stay.

The cottage where we stayed.

The view from the cottage gate.

We had a lovely surprise when we went to visit our house. Apart from three sections which need to be stone clad with local stone the rest of the house has been rendered beautifully. At last we can see our house coming to life,

Before

After

The back before

The back after - no sign of the door that used to go to the boiler room.

Work will now commence on plastering inside.

We  finally ordered our bathroom furniture / sanitary ware. We will have four bathrooms of various shapes and sizes so there was a lot to think about.
We have found a brilliant furniture store locally which has a great selection of furniture and it seems that every time we visit we manage to do so whilst they have a sale on. Last time we were over we ordered a mattress and sofa and so this time we decided that a bed frame and some bedside cabinets and drawers would be a good idea.