Feeling chuffed with myself due to some recognition that I have received over the last few days for photos that I posted on the Photography Cafe website.
I thought I would post the photos here for your perusal ….
Until today I didn’t even know they existed. Such a tiny bird, flying into the garden with a bunch of tits. I guess it was trying to lose itself in the crowds, if it hadn’t been for that bright head cap I wouldn’t have noticed that there was an interloper.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture as the visit was so fleeting.
Has anyone else seen one of these in the Waterlooville area?
For the second time in only a couple of weeks we have had a significant fire fairly close to us. This time the fire was just 2.3km away and the smoke from the fire was being blown just slightly west of us. Multiple fire fighting aircraft were buzzing directly overhead.
Here are some photos that I took this afternoon.
Fire Smoke – Viewed from ThornlieFire Smoke – Rising from beyond school buildings. Source is apparently the other side of Garden St.Fire Fighters Dropping Water – Detail from previous photo.
According to the DFES, more than fifty career Fire and Rescue Service and Bush Fire Service firefighters from six brigades were on the scene. They were supported by three helicopters and two bi-plane water bombers
Bell 214B Big Lifter – Operated by McDermott AviationBell 214B Big Lifter – Operated by McDermott Aviation
This area is known as Forest Lakes. Most of the housing estates incorporate ponds and lakes.
Filling Up – Bell 214B Big Lifter – Operated by McDermott Aviation
The water bombers, at least the helicopters, make good use of nearby lakes to replenish their tanks.
We All Got Wet – Bell 214B Big Lifter – Operated by McDermott Aviation
Sorry I haven’t posted recently. The good news is that the rebuild has been completed. Sadly the last few bits and pieces needed to seal the completion took much longer than either we or Executive would have liked. The main issue was with getting hold of some of the trades folk, breaking them out from their new big projects to carry out our itty bitty ones.
So here is a reminder of where we were back in July …..
The Old Conservatory – External View
The old conservatory was beset with problems pretty much from the get go. The Self Fit, the build company, went bust before it was completed. Last works were carried out under the supervision of the Official Receiver. What this meant was that we had no ability to approach the builder for all of the subsequent issues that developed. The 10 Year Warranty never materialised and would not have been worth the paper it was written on. After construction, over the next 25 years, the conservatory slowly subsided in one corner, the one nearest in the photo. The whole structure slowly moved away from the house. All this movement caused leaks to appear, disappear, reappear. Leaks that ranged from small weeps to full on waterfalls. I replaced the flashing and then applied triple overlapping flashing which seemed to pretty much seal the join with the house. We still had leaks along the outermost wall. The patio doors were so out of kilter that for the last two years they had been sealed around with gaffer tape because you could see daylight around the rubber seals. The multi point locking system was pretty much defunct. I had lashed the door handles together using 80lb strain fishing line.
Anyway, that is all past history as we have a nice shiny new conservatory …..
Conservatory – External View
Of course we still have to sort out the garden. The wilderness we laughingly called a lawn was pretty much trashed by all the workers feet and the digger brought in to dig out the footings as well as storage of all the raw materials. As the saying goes, you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. The garden is a the project for next year and I’m sure much of the grass will have grown back by the time we get started in the spring. In our climate, unless we have a real hard winter, our grass never stops growing.
Here is a view of the interior of the old conservatory …. minus carpets and most of the furniture …
Old Conservatory – Interior
And here is a view of the interior of the new conservatory ….
Conservatory – Interior
Nice shiny tiled floor which is actually level, unlike the old one. So to compensate we bought furniture with wonky legs.
Conservatory – Interior
Just look at how much extra light we are getting even on a autumnal sunny day.
Conservatory – Interior looking out
We are spending so much more time sitting in our new room. We made a lot of use of our old conservatory, and I know there is a novelty element, but the new room is so much more inviting and more comfortable as there are no drafts.
Every day this is the venue for our morning cuppa and quite often where we have lunch.
Conservatory – Outside looking in
Having clear glazing for the roof means I spend quite a bit of time just watching the clouds scudding overhead or the trees swaying in the wind. Very relaxing.
I’d like to offer my thanks to our neighbours for their patience and tolerance while we created noise and dust during the build. For allowing the various contractors to park their vans on their drive, and they even allowed us to take down their fence to give access for the mechanical digger.
I have enjoyed the whole process of knocking down the old conservatory and watching the new one grow, somewhat like the phoenix rising from the ashes. I know that my wife has not enjoyed the experience. All she could see was a mess but it has all been worth it to see the smiles now.
Now its time for us to enjoy, looking forward to spring and summer next year to make full use of the bifold doors and the deck.
So I would like to say a huge thank you to Executive Windows for such a brilliant job.
For several weeks now I haven’t posted any “views”. Due in part to the demolition and rebuild of our conservatory. The process of this resurrection is something that I have been boring you with for seven weeks or more.
So today I thought it is time I reinstated my “View from the conservatory” posts, triggered by the view across our neighbours back gardens and specifically the dew laden cobwebs.
Cobweb & Spider
It is that time of the year when the big fat “orb ?” spiders string their webs across every conceivable object.
Cobwebs
A fine display of natures jewellery and as autumn progresses I am sure we will get many more such delays.
No further progress towards completion as yet. However, we are making as much use as we can. We have sat outside on the decking when ever the sun shines. There is still a lot of heat in the sun but the ambient temperature drops rapidly at the first hint of a cloud. This just drives us inside to sit in our new warm, draught free environment.
Inside just became a whole lot more comfortable as, yesterday, our new furniture arrived courtesy of The Fir Trade Furniture Company.
A year ago we visited their stand at the Garden Show, Stansted Park. Tried their seats and found them to be really comfortable. This year we revisited their stand, retried the seats and were really taken with their level of comfort and with the sturdiness of design. Managing Director Hugh Ross, following my enquiry about the strength of the seats due to the unusual leg angles, and my concerns about the seats ability to withstand my weight, did no more than turn one of the seats upside down. Then he proceeded to show me the large steel bolts securing the legs to the base of the seat and the additional wooden inserts used to strengthen the whole structure.
Knowing we were about to embark on the demolition and rebuild of our conservatory we decided, that once we knew exactly how much space we would have, we would visit the show rooms in Salisbury.
And so we duly visited their showrooms late in August where we remade our acquaintance with Hugh after quite the most horrendous journey . Torrential rain all the way with almost zero visibility on the M27 due to the spray. In a country that is known for rain you would think that our road builders would use quick draining surface as is the case on some of the autoroutes in France.
Anyway, back on topic, we were welcomed with coffee and biscuits and tried nearly all the seats in all styles but were drawn back to the Semarang set. Orders were placed, fabrics and patterns chosen, deposit paid and we were advised that the lead time to delivery would be four to six weeks.
A call from Hugh advised that our order was ready for delivery, unfortunately minus the foot stool, Friday was agreed and the new furniture arrived delivered by Igor, the Italian.
Semarang furniture set – The Fair Trade Furniture Company
Our original order was for the two chairs, a foot stool and the “gin & tonic” table. As you can see in the photo, the chairs are lop-sided, left and right-handed. The low side provides easy access to the drinks on the table while the high side provides support for when ones chosen anaesthetic, be it G & T or some other suitable beverage, kicks in.
On Thursday morning we decided to add the lamp to our order. After several missed calls in both directions we eventually linked up and the lamp was added to our delivery for Friday.
The previous photo shows the lamp on but it really comes into its own at night-time, providing a cosier level of lighting and the reflections in the glass and tiled floor are really quite effective.
Semarang furniture set – The Fair Trade Furniture Company
I would like to say that our dealings with this company have been superb. Everyone that we have spoken to has been really friendly and their response to our last-minute addition of the lamp to our order has been first class.
Not much happening since Saturday. Craig and Connor arrived mid afternoon with a barrow load of ready mixed cement and set about laying the final steps and reinstating the side access slabs. Since then the weather has been atrocious with heavy tropical style rainstorms. Yesterday, the final slabs were laid. However, the heavens opened and to quote the song “Down came the rain”. The side access has always turned into a water chute during stormy weather, so much so that we have considered making into a water feature. Yesterday was no exception.
Conservatory – Side access slabs and some erosion from the water that fell from the sky
There was so much rain water and the cement was so fresh that the last paver laid has shifted. The guys will have to come back and re-lay it, when we have a dry day. Then they can also grout the slabs on the steps.
Also putting in an appearance yesterday was Angus.
Conservatory – Door stay fitted.
He arrived and fitted the “stay” for the utility room door as well as making good the soffit that had been cut away to make the connection between the bungalow and the new conservatory.
We are creeping towards completion.
The search for the Scarlett Pimpernel goes on unabated and needless to say we are still minus the radiator for the living space, which in turn is preventing the last strip of skirting from being fitted. The bi-fold doors are still missing their magnetic catch, as well as the last bit of rubber seal and the hidey / slidey door furniture is still to be fitted.
We also have some issues with the final finish of some of the plasterwork around the perimeter ceiling but these are all minor items and shouldn’t take long to sort out.
No, the big issue, and the worst irritant is the missing radiator !!
Day 34 and a bonus day. We had 3 tradesmen working today which was a pleasant surprise since this is Saturday.
Richard, the painter, turned up to add a second coat to the walls and perimeter ceiling and to put a finish coat to the hidey / slidey door. He was also able to put a top coat on the pre-finished skirting boards.
George, plastics and glass, arrived to put the finishing touches to the partition wall glazing. He also installed finishing trim along the top edge of the perimeter ceiling as well as the interior trims to hide the last pieces of the roof framing metalwork.
Conservatory – Partition wall glazing fitted and trimmed
The partition wall glazing is also double glazed !!! Unexpected, but this will help keep the washing machine noise out of the living space.
Conservatory – Apex and tie-bar trimming is now fitted
Externally he has now finished off the guttering …
Conservatory – New guttering and existing house guttering are now finished.
Looks much better than the temporary fix ….
Conservatory – Wall art ? Box gutter and house guttering. Temporary solution.
The ever-present Craig, master of all trades was here to build the steps leading to the utility room door and provide the alternative access to the decking.
Conservatory – Steps to utility room door and alternative access to the decking.
We are still awaiting the radiator for the living space. It transpires that despite our choosing the radiator 2 – 3 weeks ago, it isn’t a stock item but is only available by special order. Has it been ordered ? You guess.
So the project is almost complete. Just the steps and the side access paving to be made good. The radiator and skirting to be fitted in the living space, door furniture to be fitted to the hidey /slidey door and then there are a couple of niggley items to do with the finish of the plaster work.
Today was a smiley day. Lots of progress, both inside and out.
Outside first, the decking has been completed . . .
Conservatory – We have decking, we have steps.
and we have steps.
Conservatory – We have decking, access from the utility room end. we just have to have the steps built to join with this.
Edges have been faced off so we shouldn’t lose any grandchildren underneath. Once the utility room steps are built we will have access to the decking from each end.
Conservatory – Another decking view
As a precursor to the inside works, we now have a tumble dryer vent installed.
Conservatory – Tumble dryer vent installed.
And so to why this is a smiley day… after six weeks without a washing machine on hand, we finally have a fully functional utility room.
Conservatory – Big smile on Gerry’s face. We now have a functioning utility room.
So, a nice new work top and cupboards. Machines lifted in, from their temporary home in the garage, and plumbed in. This moment has been a long time coming and, to Gerry, is probably more important than actually finishing the whole project. Friends and family have stepped forward and offered laundry facilities but it is something that Gerry has found particularly trying.
Had the plumbers turned to earlier we could have made temporary use of our machines while other works were proceeding. But hey, water under the bridge and all that.
Conservatory – Hidey / Slidey (Pocket Door) can be closed now.
With the completion of the tiling, the hidey / slidey door can be closed. Still has to have the door furniture fitted. And there is another smiley moment. Although I tried to get the furniture from our local DIY stores, both B & Q and Wickes failed to come up with the goods.
So I had to resort to the interweb. And what a service I received. I placed the order on Thursday afternoon and the door furniture arrived, by FedEx, by noon the following day.
Also, almost completed was the skirting boards ….
Conservatory – Skirting boards installed.
I say “almost completed” as the final piece of skirting cannot be installed until the plumber comes and installs the radiator. Getting a plumber here for any great period of time has been a major trial. So much so that the plumbers are now referred to as “The Scarlett Pimpernel”.
“They seek him here, They seek him there, They seek that elusive plumber everywhere”
Our particular pimpernel is more elusive than Sir Percy Blakeney, hero of the Baroness Orczy novel. The installation of the radiator is the last major item for the inside and is a major frustration for all parties involved in this project.
Work is proceeding at quite a good pace now and this was one of those days when the changes are significant and obvious.
The tiling in the utility room is complete and what a difference it has made. Still to be given a final clean and buff but the transition is fantastic.
Conservatory – Utility room tiling has been laid and grouted
Still have the work top, cupboard and skirting boards to be fitted but it’s looking good.
Outside is probably where the biggest transition has taken place. The decking guy, Paul, arrived this morning and look what a difference one guy can make.
Conservatory – Decking viewed from side access.
Hand rail posts are in, just the spindles and rails to be installed. That’s a job tomorrow.
Conservatory – Decking viewed from garden
The deck looks to be quite robust. Come the full effects of global warming, when the oceans rise and the A3(M) becomes a canal, I’ll have somewhere to moor a boat.
Back to reality, still to be built are the steps down from the decking, leading to the patio, and the surrounds to be faced off so that the grandchildren can’t hide underneath.
WrAnTz 