Ever since the horses arrived here, and through all the terrible weather, the lack of stables has really bothered me, and Sherafey, who dashed into hers as soon as it was finished. It also means poor Mel here can eat his dinner in peace without being monstered by the...
After a couple of frantic days activity, we have what passes for a kitchen. It came in a form that I like to call ‘extreme flatpack’ – ie some lengths of 3×2, and pine boarding. The old pine ceiling from the extension has come up well, and forms...
After many years of sitting cold and quiet, and having been tampered with to burn oil, our woodburning range had a proper fire burning inside it, and suddenly the house began to come alive. The sounds of the fire, and of the water bubbling through the pipes gave the...
One of the first questions most people ask when they stumble into the cottage and view the destruction, is “has it got a damp proof course”. Rather than my immediate response, which would be “are you f**king blind, its a 300 year old pile of stones...
Well, thats the end of the second week living here at Lackan Cottage Farm, although it feels like we’ve been here months. Despite my impatience to get the building work sorted, I’ve come to the conclusion that a rest day is pretty much unavoidable once a...
The last week has been a mad whirlwind as we arrive on site. Our truck got towed in on Monday, and amazingly, I managed to reverse it into the little drive and park up in front of the cottage. At this point we discovered just how much the drive slopes…..Cue some...
The end of my first week in the cottage, and already I am starting to know all its little quirks. Where the wet rot lurks – where the damp is – where the fungus is – where the rotten brick is, and which bits of its sturdy, yet delicate structure...
Today we had our first visitor to the cottage, and Sinead did us proud. We tackled the thatched roof in the living room, and managed to pull the old timbers, turf and straw down without burying ourselves. It is amazing how much material was up there – the pile...
When we made the decision not to go to Wales and do our thing under the Welsh One Planet Development planning, I felt rather guilty, even though we had found a fantastic place here in Northern Ireland. A year of planning, meetings, travel, and making new friends, as...
The newly found window on the outside. No horriblepebbledash here. A half day at the cottage today, and I wanted to find the source of the Massive Fungus, so climbed into a little gap between the old house and the Horrible Extension to investigate.It didn’t take...
Well, we finally got started. Not the smoothest of beginnings, as the truck broke a fan belt half way there, and then a mile from the house, I knocked one of the mirrors off on a telephone pole. Brendan and I were there first, and greeted Claire cheerily only to...
