It's that time of year again and I'm going for a day out with Bibley.  We're leaving the boys at home - YAY.  Well the spa is for ladies only.  We're sitting here quietly looking from the pool to one of the outside spaces, but it's too cold out there so we're staying inside.

Bib then went and had a massage.

And when she came back she decided to read, this didn't last long, she put her book down and had a snooze.  That's what massages are good for, she was very relaxed.

But she woke up in time for lunch !!!

Lunch was lovely as always.  Then it was back to the lounger by the pool for some more reading - this didn't happen cos she ended up snoozing again !!!

Coffee time and present time.  We play a game to see who gets what present - it's always fun as somebody always ends up with most of them.

The presents under the tree.  Can you spot me?

And then it was time to go home.

Another great day.

A bath at last !!!

It's been a long time not having a bath, but eventually it's installed and working and the bathroom is decorated (just a bit of snagging to do now, but Bib's got her list !!!)

This is the outside looking in.  The outside is next years project now.

And this is laying in the bath looking out.

And this is the bath.  Bib had the first bath and really, really enjoyed it, she got out looking like a prune (ha ha ha) !!!  But she said it's been months so she's going to enjoy it and didn't care what she looked like.

And this is the rest of the bathroom.

And the detail on top of the sink and loo.  Bib's sooooo happy, she loves it.

And here we are again playing with another of her taps.

Until the next update Ratters ...

Extreme Decorating

It's about time we showed you some pictures of the renovations so far.

The building works have now finished and the snagging is underway, so we've been decorating, but not just throwing some paint at the walls - oh no, it's much more than that !!!

So we said we'd help.

But Bib said we'd have to climb the ladder and it's very, very high !!!

And the ceilings are over 9 feet high !!!

These are original walls, so they were painted, then filled (as you can see from the pictures, it only took a bit of filling !!!), then sanded, then painted, then filled, then sanded, then painted, then filled, then sanded, then painted ..... and repeat again and again.

The walls are still not brilliant, but there is only so much painting, filling and sanding Bib can do on her own, without our help !!!

Once the walls were more or less finished Bib started sanding down doors, so she could start undercoating them.  As you can see, she didn't need our help because Milo was there.

He couldn't get any closer if he tried and wasn't much help, as he fell asleep !!!
But Bib didn't mind.

As you can see from the bottom two pictures, it's not looking too bad now, all that painting and filling and sanding has paid off.  All Bib has to do now is paint all of the gloss work !!!

While Bib was busy and we couldn't help, we decided to have a play on her new tap -
he he he !!!

Back soon Ratters ...

Look What We Found

We uncovered some more original goodies in the house.

Bib went up into the attic and the only thing up there was the fender.  It really is in a bad state, but Bib's going to make it good again and use it on the first floor.

This is an original gas pipe the Victorians used.  There's lots of them in the walls of the house, but they've been left.

The stairs have all this lovely detail underneath the treads.

This is the door stop under the old carpet by the inner front door, so Bib's going to see what she can do with it.

Bye for now Ratters.

Our Digs

You're probably wondering why we've put a picture of a loo and bucket on here.

Well, we thought it would be fun telling you about our living conditions when we stayed the first time in Portland during the renovations.

We stayed there for four nights, we had no running water in the house but a standpipe type thing in the back garden and we used this to fill the bucket so we could flush the loo. 

Bibley called this the 'Thunder Box' cos it's the outside loo that had a kind of temporary building built between it and the house.  There was an Act in Parliament around the 1930's where toilets had to be inside the house, so lots of people did this type of cheap building.

We weren't allowed out there in case we got scared or flushed down the loo by mistake cos it was very dark at night and with only a torch to light the way - I wasn't scared but Tulip was.

We all slept on an air bed, it was really comfortable, which surprised us and everything was covered in dust.  It's surprising where you find dust you know and being unable to wash properly wasn't very pleasant.  We certainly hummed in the car on the drive back !!! 

As always Ratters .....

Introducing Sir Edward

Tulip and I thought we had better introduce you all to Ted, otherwise known as Sir Edward Bare de Portland (his complete title apparently!!!)

He was really lucky cos he went on an adventure with Bib and her crazy friends and they all went to London and the Clink Museum.

He was a bit too small for this chair !!!

And they all walked past here, The Globe - well that's what we've been told anyway.

AND they all had lunch.

AND they rode in a London taxi.

AND had a super duper hot choccie.

With this lot.

He does need his own jacket cos he is VERRRRYYYY old now you know !!!

The First Floor

All change on the first floor.

The below photo is looking from the front of the house towards the TV room.

Where have all the walls gone?

This is looking towards the front of the house.

And this is looking towards the TV room at the back of the house.

Looking towards the back.

To the front.

And towards the back.

Bib said she offered our services to clear up the rubble, but the builders said we were too little and anyway they had apprentices to do that !!!

And then it was time to strip all the wallpaper off the walls.
We supervised cos that's what we're good at.

But first a cuppa !!!

This was hard work !!!

And Milo just laid in the sun while the rest of us worked.

I don't blame him, I would have done but the walls do not strip themselves.

Until next time Ratters .......

The Windows

The front of the house windows were totally different from the rest of the road as you can see, so they HAD to go.

But the back had all the original Victorian box sashes - Bib really, really, really wanted to keep them, but it was not financially viable - her heart said keep but her head said change.

Below are some of the original windows that have now gone.  Bib has kept some of the weights, they are so heavy, even the lighter ones !!!

This window below, which was above the old loo, escaped, so we're keeping the original (you can imagine how happy Bib is!!!)

One of the new windows is in.

Now to the front of the house.  Before the windows can be installed, the joists have to be extended so the new bays can go in.

Very strange seeing your inside floor joists on the outside !!!

Starting to rebuild the bay.

Looking down from the first floor through the new bays before they put the new roof on.

More or less finished.

Finished - yay !!!

Well except for the very top window - see how nicely it fits ....... NOT.

That will be changed soon, and from the inside you can see they put a square window in.

What fun !!!

Until next time Ratters .......