Style

While watching  the million pound television home makeover shows or reading  the glossy magazine adverts  its easy to believe that a major requirement for a house is that it should have STYLE. And the place to show your style is of course in the kitchen !

Having lived with a sleek, white, shiny, easy to clean, quite expensive and modestly stylish kitchen our move to Grove Farm over a year ago was a step back in time. By 2011 standards, our 'new' kitchen had NO STYLE.

 Here it is ...

However , it was at some point (early 80's?) all new and presumably had some of the style of the time. Brown swirly carpet, Artex, floral tiles, lowered ceilings, uPVC windows the whole image presumably replicated across the country.

When we got here I was determined to spend as little money and effort on cosmetic alterations to the house as possible for as long as possible. The whole property needs so much work that changing the style of the kitchen seemed a little frivolous.

But then last winter it was COLD ! Here's a reminder of the insulation effect on the kitchen.

Big icicles usually mean all your heat is going through the roof to melt the snow rather than warm you up inside ! And then we had rats, maybe half a dozen or so leaping about in the compost bin living under the floor. A reminder of the first two in case you missed them...






and of course they were impossible to stop from coming in as is often the case in old buildings . Then there was the damp coming in through the ceiling and up around the floor  which was also collapsing . All coupled with the general gloom of those low, entirely inappropriate, uPVC windows.

So STYLE wasnt really the issue with this kitchen. The real problem is its cold in winter , too hot in summer, easily rat infested, damp, smelly and dark. What the kitchen units look like really doesnt matter !

So at the end of the last blog I had just started being creative (/destructive)...

 ...the plan being to reinsulate the ceiling only.

Well I've never been a great one for sticking to plans , which is just as well, because the plan expanded and expanded and... well, now you know why theres been no blog for six weeks !

Very quickly it became obvious that the ceiling in its entirety needed to come out and the original height of the ceiling replicated - but to modern building standards -and replace several defective sections of roof at the same time ,doubling up some roof beams replacing a window lintel and incorporating two Velux windows  to solve the gloom; partial re-slating and two slate vents.

Quite a big job. Best get started...

The self builders version of the alien in belly scene in the film "Alien" !

Luckily we had a big pile of  barn timber for the recycled beams.

What do you want to do it like that for?

My eighteenth Velux window I reckon.

 Some interesting bits of recent history appeared amongst the crumbling sodden plaster - evidence of the changing taste of kitchen decor of the years, the changing STYLE !

Starting with the beige material look of the most recent wallpapering , underneath it moved to faux tile wallpaper...

 ..and sticking with the natural theme, behind the lowered ceiling, back to brown tones...

In a break towards the "modernity" of its time, a geometric blue/green pattern with five millimeters of polystyrene "insulation" smothers  the natural world of the river fowl who had survived destruction by roosting in the most inaccessible part of the ceiling behind a long-gone hot water tank .

Below that and under more recent crazy paving styled polystyrene super-thick insulation (10 millimeters!) some fragments of the oldest  layer that is ironically the most "modern" looking of all the designs...

Proof enough that STYLE is something that cycles and changes with time as well as owner !

Back on the roof, another section had to come out - half the roof beam and corner had  rotted away...

...which had of course allowed the entire back wall to become saturated from the top downwards over the years,  much of the tiled plasterboard kitchen walls were held up by rotten timber. The lack of dampcourse in the walls  and missing guttering had allowed most of the internal plaster boarded wall to become saturated from the floor upwards as well .

So down it all had to come.

Which exposed the wooden planked flooring edge - which was all rotten around the sides and a horrendous damp smell came wafting up. This was perhaps fortunate, because now we could see what the rats had been eating (other than the food in the kitchen units!) . Because of very poor re-construction of the older part of kitchen, the rats had been able to eat holes in the plastic DPM (Damp Proof Membrane) and chew the ends of the floor joists ( which were saturated wet and rotten of course).

So up it all had to come.

The other end was better built but laughable by modern standards. Half inch floorboards on widely spaced two inch joists resting on two inches of concrete resting on TOPSOIL!  So soft that the rats had eaten a three foot square hole under the concrete next to the radiator - stuffed full of old food wrappers !

So up it all had to come.

Note the rat undermined concrete slab above !

I was getting a little concerned by this point- especially when I realised the ring main for electrics and the cooker wiring had also been eaten by rats through to the copper wire in places and that the boiler and plumbing was all going to need moved as well, partly to ensure there was no way rats could get in ever again along old piping runs.

So I was pretty pleased to be filling it all up again- using locally sourced recycled glass aggregate to help reduce rising damp and keep the costs down... (lets see the rats eat that !)

Lucky I had some help with that glass pile (about four tonnes had to be barrowed in!

 New heavy duty DPM , big slabs of Kingspan insulation and a pefectly flat , 'floating' chipboard floor brought the floor back to its original height. I was actually quite pleased about this - it went from looking like a muddy hole to a proper floor in about... well , lets just say it took as long as it took !

The DPM has been continued right up to the ceiling and well taped to stop the saturated walls ruining the new work. All the 'studwork' previously done in  wood offcuts has been rebuilt in galvanised metal which will have Rockwool insulation with further insulated plasterboard on top. A proper job - well over engineered by me of course ! Should last 200 years  !

 Thats about where I'm up to on that - the boiler has now moved onto the 'blue' back wall and we're ready to get it all plumbed up and new kitchen wiring sorted out next.

Finishing the STYLE theme , I have yet to fully decide what our offering to the history of this kitchen will be. But it will probably (eventually) be a reflection of the Zeitgeist - "the spirit of the time". Or more likely, judging by the rapidly expanding bill for materials, it will be that old kitchen with new worktops since its all I can now afford !   Maybe I could call it "Retro 80's" or "Shabby Chic".

Now wheres my brown paint?

.......................................................................................................................

Ouside the autumn is upon us . Time for looking at the last of the summer flowers...

Time for watching the rapidly growing children...

Time for autumnal damp days...

Only seems like just now we were doing this at our last house ! - 8 years ago!

Time for gathering winter firewood by the river on those shortening sunny days- thanks to Sam and Dad

Removing last winters tree fall damage from the river

Now thats what you call a log ! Wheres my axe !

Time for refreshment and reminiscence...

Cant work, its our tea break Guv'nor

Time for fairies at the bottom of the garden...

I do believe...!

...and even some time for gathering the harvest. From the only remaining big apple tree.

Its not just blogs and kitchens which come to the end of their time ! The last complete apple tree  has just snapped in half with the weight of its apples and the wind.

So this will probably be its last harvest, although it does give me an idea for the wallpaper in the new kitchen....

Just kidding ! I do have some style !

......................................................................................................................

No picture of April for some reason this blog- so by way of apology, heres a photo of the first ever homemade pie with homegrown vegetables that she made me especially for my 41st birthday !

Thank you April!

Mmmmm !   Pie !

State occupation

"What do you do for a job? "

or more formally...

"State occupation"   ___________________X

Most people can answer this in a word or two. I've always felt somewhat ...uneasy... in giving an answer. 

Can you sum up a third of your lifetime in a few words? 

On my entry visa to an African country I once wrote  "Philosopher and Sage" which raised no eyebrows and probably proved that nobody really cares what you do, as long as you're happy with your own subversive answer !

After our house building adventures, I tend to now consider myself (when I must) as a "self-builder". The term "Do It Yourself-er" is lower down the scale - slightly above "bodger". A "builder", which is on the equivalent practical level, has to worry about the monetary return for his time.To a small extent so does the "self builder" though he mainly factors in the other many benefits he gets from his own direct labour.

Maybe I still cannot define accurately what I do. Maybe the real term is not an occupation that is generally recognized, though it still requires more than forty hours a week to become proficient at it over a long time. Maybe I should define myself as a "self-creator"  It is by far a more accurate two-word analysis of how I spend my hours, days, months and years. A "self-creator", expressing their passions and enthusiasms over a whole lifetime of creative effort  that is in keeping with what they genuinely hold as a valid, worthwhile and meaningful purpose.

Its reward is certainly not financially motivated, the reward is for moments , humble as they may be, like this...

 

..the simple excitement of lighting the first match, for the first fire, in the new stove that you just installed (for the first time ever) . Very basic skills really, but at the very essence of creativity.  

"I'm cold...I must do something about it"  equates to  "I have a need...I must create a solution" 

or maybe  "I need to evolve".

Which leads me to what we have spend much of the last month doing.

Part of being Creative is, of course, its antithesis , being Destructive. Its my favourite part of  "Creating" as well as "building". Start with what you have, create the Idea, be Destructive to make some space, then Create the new reality!

This is what we have (or had!)...

 ...the 'back lane'. (or as I referred to it in a previous post (at bottom of blog entry), the secret entrance to "The Bat Cave", a mysterious hidden entrance to my childhood fantasy and imagination ...)

(My Dad trailblazing !)

 ... its rather overgrown to say the least and leads to the equally overgrown lower end of property or "broom corner" as we have called it (on account of the 'broom' plants)...

"broom corner"

The newly created idea is simple.  Stop the walls being destroyed by the ivy and trees and make the back lane accesible again. Not quite as simple as getting out the strimmer. These particular walls are BIG - five meters high and maybe eighty meters longs. Lets take a closer look...

(click to enlarge any picture)

...to the right  of the arch was an old brick shed, maybe six meter square, complete with a 35 year old tree in middle. Nobody had been inside the shed  it for a LONG time...

"Don't go into the cellar!"

...Further right again, up the lane...

(Sam helping )

..another ,much older shed, not very big and probably original 1800's which had been consumed by vegetation...

"There's a  building  under this?"

Although it is still standing here,  the internal skin had collapsed and a large tree had grown right down through the rotten stone walls into the foundations The Northerly aspect and many years of damp had completely destroyed its potential for being saved. It was also preventing access and repair to the more important main wall behind, so it had to go. First the vegetation ...

(careful Henry !)

 

(some of the ivy on the walls was massive !)

(this wall was collapsing towards camera/ footpath at about 15 degrees)

(cousin Henry holding it all up!)

...then the proper demolition could start...

(Heave !)

(a few wheelbarrow fulls for sure !)

I decided that we should save as much of the materials for future use as possible. The bricks, the stone and even some of the lime mortar (for future crushing and reuse in new lime mortar). That added quite  a bit of work to an otherwise straighforward demolition. The brick shed had well over two thousand bricks in it , each needing individually chipped clean for re-use , probably as garden paving.

Eventually it was complete. The stone 'shed' may well have been a cludgie -the only evidence for this being its small size, raised entrance with three extremely worn steps, brick floor and remote location ! 

So what have we created , with all this destruction?  It clearly looks like a transformation!  ...

(The wall on right -in sunshine-  is almost sixty meters long !)

From overgrown ,hidden, collapsing, 'back lane' to ...  not yet overgrown, still round the back, lots to rebuild, 'back lane' !  . 

More importantly the work we have done is (what I believe is) the correct thing to do to ensure the longevity of this historic part of Grove Farm .This will of course create other interesting challenges and opportunities - such as a new vehicle access down the lane to the lower "broom corner" without going via the yard - enabling access to the lower fields and ruin without driving through the yard or past our kitchen - which could therefore one day house an extension... 

Who knows what may yet be created !

"Meanwhile, back in the Bat Cave...", (actually the glasshouse),  the grapes have at last ripened.

The red grapes are edible ,if a little tangy ! They certainly bring  a big smile to your face  after all that work getting them into this condition. The green grapes in middle glasshouse have formed big bunches but failed to ripen- mainly because of the poor, damp summer and drafty cool conditions caused by the amount of glass missing  in that section. Better luck in the future - the glasshouse only has about two thousand panes that need removed and sealed back in - maybe it would be easier just to buy sweet grapes at Tesco !!

One of April's projects was growing the melons , hopefully  they will soon be large and ripe enough to eat..

I have learned lots about how to tend the grape vines this year -April is here demonstrating how to find the juciest ones to eat herself. 

Or maybe Lundy will get them. 

Or the chickens !

Yes, we have acquired three recycled chickens to help add colour and entertainment to Grove Farm. I'd quite forgotten quite how odd chickens are if you look carefully at them. 

"You lookin' at me?"

They certainly  have been fun for the kids, as have growing all the different vegetables...

Other people having fun included my brother Sam - sawing up that pile of tree trunks...

The first slice of many!

...and cousin Henry who spent some of his holiday posing on the tractor ;-)

As the winter approaches (what ? already ?), I have decided they next project is to insulate the kitchen which was really cold last year.  

The first step is, as always, "Create the idea". 

 Last week it looked like this...

Step two is - " Get Destructive, and clear some space"

Here I go again !    :-) Woo hoo !




"State occupation" ___________________________  X