Well, Fi hasn’t posted anything here, so I guess I have free rein to chat away as I please! It’s only 8 weeks to go, so of course we have decided to get the builders in. We have a high double height hallway above the upstairs landing, with a central rooflight. This has leaked on and off for quite a while, and we’ve been meaning to get it replaced since 2001. Finally we found a builder (in London this is no mean feat) who’s doing the work for us.

So phase 1 – install scaffolding to a height of 7 feet to allow access to the sloping ceiling and rooflight. Strip existing wallpaper & remove old window. Replace with new window and wallpaper. Decorate to taste. Except that stripping the old paper revealed a patchwork of cracks, holes and loose plaster held on by experience and boredom. Cue long discussion on how to proceed. So today, all of the old lathe and pasterwork was removed, along with 100 years of dust.

Hopefully this is as bad as it’ll get….