*sigh* of relief

Huge relief as planning application is validated. Yippee!!

Now the building has a temporary door with boarding at the windows and a big gate to keep out unwanted visitors. Meeting with the surveyor and the builder to be organised to discuss the plans, decisions to be reached on flooring, stairs, supports for the mezzanine level and so on.. many, many decisions in fact that I do really need to put my mind to. I have a large holdall containing a collection files of 'stuff'.. planning application consent, architects drawings, dormouse license paperwork etc. In addition there is a large file full of pictures from magazines and newspapers of ideas for every aspect of interior, running concurrently with my Pinterest account, which covers the same sort of thing but in a 21st Century kind of a way! oh, so many decisions!

Having worked the last three nights on a very busy post-natal ward, I was very glad to wake to find a beautiful day, and had a lovely hour walking with the dog in the spring sunshine. Lifts the spirits doesn't it?    

Celandine bringing very early splash of colour to the field

Beautiful day

Bertie meets the neighbours pup, Buster

Work starts

Have had a break and now back....!

Permission to disturb the dormice finally arrived a fortnight before planning permission expired. Big and Little Mike, the trusty builders, landed on site a week last Monday armed with brush cutters and strimmers and proceeded to spend two full days chopping back the undergrowth along the roadway, and a metre and a half around the building to facilitate works. All of this under the watchful eye of the Dormouse Man who was there to ensure compliance of licence. The youngest of my flock, Ezra, spent some hours helping to clear the debris, building a large pile mostly of bramble, willow, buddleia and gorse.  My terrace has also appeared from under a huge pile of bramble!

A small digger was delivered on Thursday (Wednesday was a truly horrible day on the weather front so everyone stayed home!) and the roadway - approximately 200 metres of it - has been cleared and levelled and now has a trench to boot.. It's so exciting, though as it becomes more of a reality it is also quite stomach churningly scary... or maybe that is raw excitement!

Before..

The terrace!!!

A beautiful trench!!

Walk around the top field

Despite all this progress, the planning permission has not yet been validated by the Planning Officer from the local authority, he is due on site tomorrow, but Building Control have paid a preliminary site visit today and seem happy that the activity constitutes commencement of works. So, fingers crossed.

Another day gone!

I'm working nights this week in Singleton Hospital, Swansea.. I'm a midwife and the snow made travelling a bit more hazardous than usual... snow is a fairly rare occurrence here as we are close to the coast. After much deliberation I decided against taking my new little automatic car and travelled by train, walking the 10 minutes to the train station with a gentle flutter of snow falling, clad in walking gear and my long, 17 year old Drizabone coat, thick wool socks and neoprene wellington boots. Warm gloves and a (silly) woollen hat completed the ensemble and I was as snug as anything. Boots are a great investment for this weather, though they are no use in the summer as they are so warm!! 

Station deserted and the train had 3 other passengers. Swansea was virtually clear of snow and traffic, so then I felt somewhat overdressed! 

No further snow over night and the predicted freeze didn't materialise so roads fairly clear but I managed to get a lift home in a smart 4X4 organised by the hospital. About to set out for another shift now so... fingers crossed :)

Deadline looming

The planning permission on the building expires on 15th February.... that's 23 days.... License to work on land with hibernating dormice is still outstanding and I think I may have to take up emailing/phoning on a daily basis - promised thirty five day turnaround of application is already a distant memory.

To add to this worry, phone call to the architects yesterday reminded me that building regulations are also required and for that I needed a call to the builder and to a structural engineer. The engineer who originally assessed the four walls for the planning permission is possibly a casualty of the recession as I can find no trace of him on the internet or phone directory. Fortunately, Big Mike (The Builder) recommended another to me and a call to John The Surveyor quelled my rising stress levels a little. It seems full Building Regs are not required to commence works and validate the planning permission, but Building Notice needs to be submitted as soon as poss.

This is the view from last week and, indeed, there is another frosting to the landscape this morning. Have two nightshifts ahead of me so hoping the snow clears. After the snow last week we had the most beautiful skies and this photo was taken at about 0745 on my way home from work. Don't we live in a glorious part of the world?! 

Annual Visitation

No rain today for a change but grey and cold, due to work tonight so need a kip this afternoon in readiness.. 

The conversion of the new house necessitates the sale of the current abode, the aim is to instigate sale in the spring and have therefore about 10 weeks to prepare. A lot of de-cluttering is needed - Life Laundry as my sister calls it - and also sprucing up and that is what I have busied myself with this morning... painting of doors with little windows in them, fiddly work but quite therapeutic I find. Just as well as there is quite a bit to do!

Whilst having my breakfast sitting at the dining table i had the annual visitation of Long-Tailed Tits, only ever seen them about four times, only ever once in a year and normally there are around half a dozen of them picking at branches of the bushes outside the back door. They are beautiful little things and thrill me each time they visit. Birds around here are in desperately short supply and variety, dominated I guess by gulls as we are so close to the sea. There are starlings, crows, blue tits and a robin. But that's it and is another very good reason to move as the field has a much greater variety and that I've gleaned during fairly short visits over the past few months.. Bullfinches, partridges, jays and loads of goldfinches and I also saw a treecreeper which I've only see a couple of times in my life previously. Going to need binoculars to go with my new bird identification book!!!

Long-tailed tits on the acer tree. Apologies for poor photos!!

Fungus and Catkins

Had another lovely but decidedly soggy walk in the field today and, despite it being January, there is still so much going on with broom in flower, catkins on trees and leaf buds in evidence. I guess a hard frost will put an end to some of it but enjoyable whilst it's here..

Beautiful fungus... going to need a fungus book for identification purposes!

After walk, home to warm toes by the log burner, still a novelty having only been installed just before Christmas. Who needs TV when you have one of these? New house will definitely need one of these, though wondering about having a wood burning stove for cooking too...

Late Start

The walls 

I have big hopes for this year, having bought four walls and some land back in September 2012. There is planning permission for conversion of the building to a one bedroomed house which expires in the middle of February, so there is some urgency to get works started. I can't start until I get a license pertaining to the resident Dormice, currently hibernating. It's going to be a tense few weeks! 

the walls in the field..

on a soggy January 2nd.

The land runs to 15 acres in total, roughly split three ways between pasture, a soggy field containing a great variety of grasses and flowers and the final third has mature trees. Each area has a boundary of  trees, mostly Ash, Oak and Sycamores with a few Beech trees and Silver Birch. There are also a couple of little streams, and the map shows a pond though we have yet to locate it!

The stream, swollen from the considerable rain that has fallen over the last few weeks.

I'm planning to document the transformation of the building and the land, aiming to grow my own food, hopefully living a more sustainable life... looking for a quieter way!!!

Bertie, my Cavashon, 12 months old. He  L O V E S  the field!