We're Moving In!

It really seems odd after eight months of work, with numerous contractors and much personal effort, to realise that we can actually move in next week.  It's a sort of end-of-term feeling - relief and deep satisfaction mixed with a kind of hollowness.  Note that I'm NOT saying that the house is finished, merely that things are done sufficiently to allow us to move in (so long as the boiler is commissioned on Monday!).  This pair of photos shows how the public view of the house has changed in the last eight months:

I still have plenty to do as there are many remaining tasks, such as refurbishing the sash windows, finishing the decorating and rebuilding the old "service wing", plus most of the garden/driveway tasks.  For ages I have been giving priority to tasks that get us out of our rented house and into our own place (with no mortgage!).

The last major task was the installation of the newly-made window cill for the new kitchen window.  Chris cast the new cill in cement and did a remarkable job of making a colour which matches the Cotswold stone and pointing.  Although it should have been done before the installation of the window, circumstances dictated otherwise (i.e. Chris broke the first cill, then he broke his foot...)!  It was VERY heavy but it was lifted up by four strong people and slid into place without too much difficulty, leaving me with the task of making good the stonework and pointing around it.  It was a great feeling to realise that this was the last major task and that the house was now effectively finished and secure.  Jane became quite emotional when she saw it - surprising that a cement object could actually be a thing of beauty!
 
The window above used to look like this (below): 

I think that the new wall filling in the bottom of the old door is the thing of which I am most proud of having done with my own hands on this project.

I'm still in progress with my wardrobe which is a major bit of woodwork, and there is still decorating to be done.  However, this week I was helped by Wayne (not Wayne the kitchen fitter, but the brother of Neil the electrician) who has done a sterling job at some of the tasks which I found really tedious like sanding and painting skirting board.

I was visited this week by my son, daughter-in-law and grandson, who last visited only three weeks ago.  Their amazed reaction on seeing what had been accomplished since their last visit has given me a yardstick to show just how busy that time has been.  The list is quite long: front garden cleared, dropped kerb and driveway laid, 30 tons of hardcore cleared, kitchen units, kitchen appliances and two new windows fitted, kitchen floor grouted, bathroom tiled and fitted out, electrics finished, fireplace installed and painted, and lots of decoration done.  Finally, I fitted a net curtain in the new lounge window which made it look as though the house was occupied.

One fundamental thing that is missing at the moment is a toilet seat.  This was an oversight on our part as the soft close type we wanted was about to be introduced when we ordered our bathroom fittings and we forgot to go back in May and order it when it became available.  There's always something that catches you out!

Edit - I'm adding here a few extra photos of the house: