Planning officer turned up this morning. He was probably hoping we'd be out, judging by the sheepish look on his face - not quite the same look he'd had when striding round the back garden talking about refusing our plans. Anyway, he had the brick and tile sample he'd requested - we took them into the planning department earlier this week. They're ok, he says. 'Let the fun begin.'
A few developments to report this week. Firstly, the front door that arrived last week is being glazed and hung as I type. You might think that's a good thing, but it's solid untreated oak and we managed to stain the wrong side, so the joiner's hanging the door in the pouring rain and the un-treated surface is about to cop it. 'You can stain the other side when I've gone,' he suggested - quite oblivious to the fact that I'm in sole charge of a two year old chimpanzee and the chances of me making leisurely brush strokes all afternoon are absolutely zero.
The builder's been in touch - he's coming on August 8th, which is a bit earlier than we thought but means we might be finished by Christmas and enjoying our turkey in the new dining room rather than from a camping chair. He's also offered to rent us one of his properties on a short-term let if we pay the bills and mow the lawn, though quite how we'll get that heavy lawnmower out of the build remains a mystery. We rang the council - they said we can suspend our council tax bill once the renovation begins - transfer the bill to the rental property. Not a bad idea. We'll have to take some furniture, but it's do-able. Anything's do-able, and anything's better than washing up in the bath for weeks on end - fond memories of our last project springing to mind.
The only other thing we've done this week is chosen a colour for bi-fold doors. We've had the aluminium door company out quoting for sliders, folders, windows and a glass canopy for the patio. Now that's exciting.
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