A quick update...Stairs, Trees, Jacuzzi

The outside of the house is now painted. Well the main part of the house that is. We will paint the shutters and other places later.

The stairs in the house are now installed. We had to paint the spine of the stairs before the final treads were fitted. The cabinet maker who fitted the stairs did a perfect job. Fitting the stairs against a rugged stone wall was areal challenge. The result is wonderful.

Winter is rapidly approaching, and it was way beyond time to start tidying the garden before winter. The trees have been left to grow wild for a number of years, and need a hard prune. Two of the trees had been undermined by mice. These we just pushed these over.

The removal of the cut branches and trunks took some effort.

The next day saw an opportunity to relax in the jacuzzi. 38 C is the ideal temperature. It is now time to tidy up this area.

We are planning a house warming party for Dec. 12th.

Back to work....

Ok these Saturdays really come around quickly when you have horrible house moving tasks to complete. This morning, it was time to move the sofa bed. Easy..I hear you cry. Not so. The bed is a half round, and needed to be threaded down a spiral staircase. The was a tough and almost impossible task. The upshot is that it is now in place in the guest room.

A few more large items got moved. The Tv, the sub-woofer and Reggie moved more kitchen items.

The afternoon was spent pruning the trees. I gave them a good haircut as they have been left to go wild for a few years. Musangi and myself made 4 trips to green tip to dispose of the cuttings. We actually removed an apple and a plum tree that had been undermined probably by mice. We simply pushed them over. A fun task for three people.

The scaffolding is now away from the house, and it is so much easier to navigate the drive to the garage.

Settling in, and completing the fine details

Not too much to report, but progress is still being made. I am incapacitated today, as I have contracted conjunctivitis. This is rather inconvenient, but it does not stop the carpenter fitting the final stair treads. He is really doing a wonderful job, and the result should be fine.

Once in place the stairs will be fitted with some up-lights, which will be triggered with either a switch from the bottom or a sensor at the top of the stairs.

I have been considering the final tasks for Reggie and myself. We have painted the stair spines, we need to fit a couple of shower curtains. We need to decide on the final colour for the window shutters, and then paint the window shutters mmmmmm scratching my head for more work.....


The weather here in Switzerland is wet wet wet. This has kept the painters away, and they will not return until at least Wednesday.

We are looking forward to the scaffolding being removed.

More moving today....

Another day of hauling and carrying. You know some people go to the gym to use the stair-master. We have it for free. Moving from an apartment with a spiral staircase, and then down two more flights of stairs is tough going, and then adding that to walking the items up the stairs at the new house,....well you get the picture. Buns of steel....

The good news is that we have all of the components ready to assemble inside the wardrobes. We have also transported most of our clothes. Talking of clothes. I have never really considered moths. Sure I have turned my nose up at he smell of mothballs. Well today was a real surprise. I found six of my jackets eaten through. Now for those that know me, this could be considered a good thing. My jackets are long in the tooth.

It is really time to start planning a house warming party. On Dec. 15th last year we had an open barn party where many people came to see the original house, and peruse the plans. It was a bitterly cold day, well below freezing. This year we can offer them a warm house, and even warmer jacuzzi. The major hurdle is to decide on a theme for the event. Suggestions please....

An interesting piece of local gossip came our way today. The recently married daughter from our neighbour and her husband have purchased the house behind ours. They originally wanted to purchase our house, but we beat them to it, and the air turned frigid when they saw us celebrating our purchase on the day of signing. We hope things warm back up. Anyway. Congratulations to Este and Marco.

Some of the vital tasks this week are as follows:-

1. Seal the great wall
2. Paint the underside of the stairs
3. Relocate and position the satellite dish, whilst the scaffolding is in place
4. Establish the office
5. Keep on moving.....

A relaxing few days...

Friday night, and the house is toasty warm. We have enjoyed our first few days in the house. It is great to use the new showers, and sit at the granite breakfast bar.(not at the same time).

We are now connected to the phone system, so we have internet again. I will be posting lots of pics over the coming days.

The jacuzzi is nice and warm, and we have up up a simple screen.

The painters are still painting the exterior, and it is looking lovely and bright.

We have lit the fire several times, more for effect than for heating, as the underfloor heating is wonderfully efficient.

We have yet to really receive any guests, but that will change this weekend, and people will start to look at the result.

In terms of interior work, there has been very little. The electricians worked for a day inside fitting the last two heated towel rails, and the glass has been fitted in the three downstairs doors.

The neighbors have has had their end of the barn repaired. It really was in poor condition, and needed fixing. The mice decide to pop over to our place, but have not been seen for days. Obviously we are way too noisy,

We are IN.......Yeeehaaaaa

Well we are now in the house. We moved in on October 31st, and what a day it was. The week leading up to the move day was incredibly tough, with so much work to complete. The fireplace was receiving its top coat of render as the lounge suite and dinning table.

We had the help of friends in the afternoon with Patritcia helping Reggie in the kitchen, and Marcus who helped me moved the lounge suites, and the dining table and chairs. These proved to be very heavy, and having to wrestle them down the stairs from the apartment was very tough.

The first evening was spent making beds, followed by the first dip into the jacuzzi. What a lovely experience. Bed beckoned at 9.00pm.

This morning was very interesting listening to the rooster waking the neighbourhood.

Today we have lit the fire for the first time, and we have been just taking in the new surroundings.

We will post some more picks once we have tidied up a little.