I've filled up my ISPs quota so all new items will be published here (21st Sep 2005). This site only contains older items for the time being.

Attention Internet Explorer users: you might find that some text doesn't appear in the stories. Try scrolling down a few screenfulls, then up again. I'll try to find a workaround. (I hope you can see this.....)

This site is no longer being updated - I've moved here.

[This was prompted by my disk quota filling up on my ISP, but the tools for Blogger are much more convenient...]

Ben has finally gone in the water but it was very anticlimatic after all the times he's teetered on the edge. He just put his legs over the edge and slipped in, quite enjoying himself (he went in several more times after this).
As can be seen, the water isn't very deep at the moment so it remains to be seen whether this is a good thing - maybe he'll get to like it too much! Should I get piranha?

The exterior at the back is now most done. There's a high deck surrounded by oak posts. Steel wires are just visible filling the "gaps". The patio is surfaced with Indian sandstone - I was amazed that this was signifantly cheaper than concrete slabs.

In the foreground is a large sandpit I built, filled with ca. 2 tonnes of sand. This is definately the best thing I've made for the boys, as it occupies them for hours at a time. Hidden from view is a cistern-like container which they can use to make rivers, etc.

This is Ben's current favourite activity. Even better to do it with a hard toy in hand when when Daddy's sitting below.

Playing in the gravel and mud is pretty much their favourite thing.

The garden is starting to get clear and I am gradually building all the things I'd planned. Recent additions are "monkey bars" and a long balance beam made from a felled tree.
Ryan likes the monkey bars but not quite the way I intended. Not that it matters.
Ben likes nothing better than climbing and spends much of his time almost falling off. Teetering on the edge of the river and canal - that does make me nervous.
Ryan is now 4 and just started his "senior" pre-school year. His bashing skills are coming on nicely.

View across the river at night. The camera doesn't take brilliant shots in the dark so this one's been enhanced, but you can get an idea of the potential goldfish bowl we live in. Not too many people pass by here at night, luckily.

Can you believe it, we've moved in! Not exactly finished yet and indeed was barely habitable in the first instance (I'm still not sure if I can legally spend-a-penny yet) but most of the basics are now in place. Ryan is very proud of his "Gigantic" house and Ben just loves a-wandering. (Cries of "No Ben, sharp")

The exterior is now (finally) done, barring a few little details. The picture on the right is from next to the neighbour's house. For most of the year this nice view of the sedum roof isobscured by leaves.
Kitchen. The granite worktops look far more impressive in reality. There's a extra granite "blob" waiting to float over the top (you can see it in one of the photos below)
Living room.
Boys' playroom. Hardly space for the proverbial swinging cat, wouldn't you say. [Prize for the first person to name the children's film on television]

Less than a week to go before we move in and things moving pretty rapidly. The builder knows that any work done after we move in will take considerably longer so he is keen to get as much done as possible by the weekend.

The cladding is finally just about finished. The small silver section to the left has been left until we agree some final details on exterior lights, etc.
A close-up of the recently finished porch. We salvaged the two "staddle stones" from the garden. They look much nicer than the (structural) concrete ones supplied with the frame - it has been suggested they may be from Blenheim Palace.

Today the house was officially renamed from "Brooklands" to "Oldhouse".

Georgina and I spent ages trying to think of a suitable name. Here are some of the ideas:

• Thorong La - the mountain pass in Nepal where I proposed
• Pigeon's Quay - to open "Pigeon's Lock" (geddit?) which is the canal lock opposite.
• The Oaks - too boring
• Gooses' Lodge - and variants

In the end, after Georgina's death, I went for the name that we'd always used with Ryan ("New House" is our rented house in Bladon). I chose "Oldhouse" rather than "Old House" partly because it reflects how Ryan says it, but also because it's ever-so-slightly more interesting. I guess I'll regret it as it will be dictated down the phone as "Oldhouseoneword" for evermore.

I was surprised how easy it was to change the name - one email to the district council did it.

Our move-in date is now set at 1^st February.

Quite a long gap since the last status report, but I'm sure you'll forgive me for that.

The builder has finally committed "on his life" to a moving us in by the end of January so I hope he'll finally focus some serious time on it. That will be a about 5 months late (50% over) which obviously I'm not happy about, but I've only recenly been able to gather the (emotional) energy to confront him forcefully.
At first glance, the external appearance still seems far from finished but this is quite misleading. The builder under-estimated the quantity of cedar cladding and this had taken quite a while to get from the supplier. The scaffolding can come down once the cladding is finished and then the porch can be completed.
Internally we're pretty much there, just a few bits of plumbing really and some painting to finish. The underfloor heating was only recently turned on and some finishes can't be applied until the house has been warm for a couple of weeks.

The biggest outstanding job is fitting the kitchen. Lots of people insist on their new kitchens being "in by Christmas" so the suppliers are flat out in the preceding weeks - the then take 2 weeks off to recover! I'm going totally OTT with granite surfaces throughout - 5 grand just for those. A considerable extra expense is that all the edges are curved so they have to be cut by hand.

The boys playroom. The near side will be filled with a glass/oak wall.

Landing. I took a gamble with black frames but I think they look good.

One of the bedrooms. Pretty much every room has exposed wooden beams like these. Cobweb heaven!