June 2020 – Plaster-Boarded (almost!)

June 2020 – Plaster-Boarded (almost!)

It’s Moses here this time, to guide you through the month’s excitements. Although I have been sleeping for much of the time in June when it has been so hot, I have still been sufficiently alert at key moments to appreciate progress in the new house and, more importantly, the growth spurts in Mr Rod’s garden.

Layla, Freddie and I love to keep him company when he is tending his vegetables. (He should also have been nurturing the raspberries too, but some deer have beautifully ‘trimmed’ the tops of all the bushes!)

One of our favourite views of the new house is looking over the vegetable garden towards the east end.

PROGRESS REPORT 

Having carefully ‘wrapped up’ all the cleaned beams, it has been a long slog this month for Phil, Robert and Tonic to attach all the plaster boards. All the areas on the first floor have been particularly challenging as every section is a different shape, so there is no such thing as a standard template. I expect they will be absolutely delighted to finish this phase of the work!

The ‘blue’ plasterboard is acoustically insulated and is VERY heavy.

No, those black ‘medieval look’ beams will not feature in the final reckoning!

The atrium has been the hardest area to do – and if you do not have a head for heights, then this is definitely not a job for you!

So, the upstairs area is all but complete and the guys will now move down to start on the ground floor, which should be so much easier.

One team out from the upper floor, and another team in!

Bright and early on Tuesday 30 June, Dermot the plasterer arrived with his trailer-load of plaster.

By 16:00 he had ‘prepped’ the upper floor, ready for his team of four to start plastering on Wednesday 1 July.

Having waited nearly a month for a part to arrive from Poland, the wood burning stove was finally fully commissioned on Tuesday 30 June.

Mr Rod and SWhoMBO are very excited because they have chosen the miniature picture (created by Katherine) of birch trees that will be enlarged to become a feature picture on the atrium landing.

POST BAG

Freddie was very proud of the correspondence he received following his May posting and basked in the reflected glory of some complimentary comments:

Pewley Pair: “Love the long view, the house looks as though it has been there for ever.” 

Guildford Girl: “Another amazing account of life in Hambledon, Freddie! Progress has been phenomenal this month, with so many fabulous photos to back up your account. What on earth will you do with yourselves when all the work is finished and Mr Rod and SWhoMBO move into the completed house?”

Silva Soul: The house is really taking shape, and now that all the “boring” parts are taken care of, you all have the interior design delights lying ahead!  The house is very impressive, and sits beautifully in the landscape – a big improvement on its predecessor!   

A number of readers were particularly sympathetic about the annoying tune triggered by the movement detector on the driveway. (Note to Mr Rod – fix, fix, fix!)

The Foundling: “Well done Freddie, and what with having to cope with the sibling pair! Your new home looks fantastic.  I think “ oh dear what can the matter be” on multiple occasions would send me scatty ! Love the jokes as well –  could sadly relate to female coordinating clothes and masks problem as well!  Won’t be long now………….” 

Puttenham Pal: “Well done Freddie! You have been working very hard over the past month……sorting out the builders, the gardener, the heating system etc. Do let us know how the test run goes with the heating after all the trench digging and pipe works! I hope the boss has managed to stop ‘oh dear what can the matter be’….so annoying to have your sleep disturbed!”

As ever, Mr Rod and SWhoMBO are so pleased that our dear Finnish friends continue to take such a keen interest in the new build at Hazels:

Mikal’s Mate: “Delighted to see that lots of work has been finalised. The house looks beautiful (as do the Surrey surroundings) but I could never have imagined the huge amount of work needed  to have an energy efficient house with ground source heating. 

I know it is a long project but not as long as building the Isaac’s cathedral in St Petersburg. It took 40 years (from 1818 – 1858) and gave us the saying ‘rakentaa kuin Iisakinkirkkoa’ – it is built like the church of Isaac, when speaking of long-term construction projects. Let’s see what kind of timeline will match the saying ‘It was built like the oak frame house at Hazels’.”

Tapiola Tap-Dancer: “Greetings from Espoo! Thank you for a fantastic blog. I took a look into the future and saw this sunflower field in front of your new house…………”

Since ‘lockdown’, The Queen has been isolating with Prince Philip in Windsor Castle. Whilst she may not be spending any time in Buckingham Palace, we are pleased to note that she is maintaining the grand display of flowers outside, as demonstrated by the photo below from Fantasy Flat Friend:

Fantasy Flat Friend also sent this sign.  But, what did SWhoMBO mean when she said that anyone not singing ‘wombling free’ after seeing the photo must surely be under 50?

 

SPOTLIGHT ON PHIL 

Please allow me to introduce Phil, the ‘quiet man’ of the Hazels build. Phil has worked on and off for Mr Rod for over 15 years and is a very important member of the team.

…..Phil can turn his hand to many things.

SUNFLOWERS RULE OK

No Hazels-build summer blog would be complete without a section about Mr Rod’s favourite flowers. Those planted in the vegetable garden have gone from strength to strength and some have been measured well over the 2 metre mark.

However, the sunflower plants by the blue container are not achieving quite the same success, but Mr Rod lives in hope ……………………………………………………………

I was amused to see how this pretty pink poppy was thriving in the barren rock pile, without any nurturing whatsoever from humans.

EMERGING FROM LOCKDOWN HUMOUR

Even though this was perhaps a little premature about the date, it does raise a smile.

And if you were wondering how ‘on trend’ our world leaders are with their lockdown tresses, then you need look no further than here:

DEJA VU?

When I was idly looking at Mr Rod’s laptop, I almost did a double-take when I spotted these photos from the Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918.  Has anything much changed in the 102 years since?

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN JULY?

All the plaster boarding and plastering work should be completed,

before the jobs of:                                                                                                                       painting, painting, and more painting;                                                                                               laying the flooring – stone tiles downstairs and engineered wood upstairs;

Before I sign off, I just wanted to share my latest frustration with you. Our very favourite place to be is on the spare bed and, furthermore, to be as close as possible to that sweet spot between the cushions close to the headboard.

But, either Freddie or Layla somehow always appear to achieve pole position, whilst I (the Alpha Male of Hazels) am forced to ‘know my place’.

Ah well, if you can’t beat them, you just have to join them!

However, the three of us felines are all united about one thing – why bother with using the cat flap when you can have Mr Rod and SWhoMBO to open the door for you?