Rain stops play...

Before it even starts.  We woke to rain & sogginess; not nice for bonfires or strimming/kneeling in long grass hoiking out brambles, so we did the various bits that needed doing in Maidstone and headed to the house for an afternoon's wrangling with the electrical plans.

In a way, the weather did us a huge favour: whilst it has been so good, we've really felt the need to press on with the exterior work, but with Steve suddenly available two weeks earlier, now the wiring drawings take precedence.

We got to the house about 1pm, and Steve was there dropping off his revised estimate; he's totally OK about re-using the salvageable items already in situ, and has priced for the cheapest 'contractor' standard fittings throughout, which has helped.  Any reclaimed socket/switch we can use will bring the bill down a little more each time.

He says he really does want to work well with us, and if we need him to come back in a fortnight or a month, he will do that; oddly having the pressure removed made it much easier for me to think clearly about our requirements [and, thankfully, my side-effect-mental-dullness does seem to be receding].  I also made sure that David took a full part in the discussion process, rather than just rattling through it in my head; I want him fully involved, and his input will make an invaluable 'sanity check'.

We are currently mulling whether we could add one additional wall light to the master bedroom, and give ourselves the option of placing the bed against two different walls, and how to enable bedroom 2 to become a snug like we have in Maidstone.  The open plan idea [with all the heat escaping into the kitchen (or, worse, up the stairs to the landing) is so daft in an age of increasing fuel prices, and the space never heats up properly in winter, so we moved the bed upstairs and now use the downstairs bedroom as a second sitting room-cum-office; the fact that it's the only room that faces the sun and small means the solar gain and heat given off by the television and computer have been the only warmth we've required this autumn.  Various people have told me for several weeks they've been using their heating as the temperatures drop in the evenings, and we've just finally resorted to putting on a jumper.  If we can achieve that at "Brookside", it will be worth a bit of mental gymnastics at this stage.

We were supposed to see a chap about the woodburning stove [another fuel-saving idea; much warmer & free fuel], but he cancelled owing to ill health.  We were partly disappointed, but it did mean we made good progress with the 'electrickery'.

Early start tomorrow to try to get ahead of it, so that we can have the weekend to reflect and tweak as necessary.

Fingers crossed it doesn't 'break our heads' as the French workmen have taught me to say!