The joiners are flat out inside. We have excellent new stairs and the start of fitted wardrobes and cupboards in the bedrooms.The bed orders are confirmed.

The new fence panels arrive in a huge heap and Jeff starts the hard work of removing the stubborn but scruffy old ones and replacing with straight new timbers. Suddenly the garden starts to have a personality and looks less like a jungle. The patio furniture is delivered too which leads us to dream of relaxing over a long lunch in the sunshine - but no time for that yet!

Fantastic shiny new baths and showers and glossy tiling are now being installed. The gloomy old bathrooms are a million miles from these bright rooms. The whirlpool upstairs has the most amazing view of the Abbey so you can lean back and watch the moon through the Abbey arches across the road.Downstairs there is a huge dinnerplate shower head. Its a hard choice which to go for!

Today we see light at the end of the tunnel. At the peak of the day we have eight men working plus one measuring up, The upstairs bathroom has tiles but no bath, downstairs we have bath but no tiles. Outside we have walls and an almost lawn.
We have ordered paint!

Across the road from the romantic landscape immortalised by Turner we are laying out neat stone walls and gravel paths and I am getting in the way planting a lavender hedge. Less than a week since the lawn was re seeded there are green shadows on the lawn and we are already ordering the exterior paint.The plum trees rescued from the jungle by the tree surgeon way back when- was it really only 8 weeks ago!- have ripening fruit! Nibbling on a plum, scented by lavender and seated on the stone bench positioned to take full advantage of the evening sun it is bliss.

Boiling hot on the suntrap terrace this afternoon and the stone wallers are wearing sun creme but still have pink shoulders. I start planting roses ( thanks to the bloggers who have suggested appropriate named varieties ) today The Pilgrim and Rosa Mundi- what else when you have guests to a pilgrimage destination from all over the world. The mechanical digger leaves and the bathroom equipment is delivered bang on time. Bang being the operative word as one of the baths is found to be fractured on arrival, but they say there will be a replacement here on Thursday, which is quite impressive.

A wonderfully warm weekend spent making deep muddy puddles to level the ruts in the lawn and seed them. Hard and mucky work but finally we have a smooth surface and now we wait for the magic of green shoots.(In the gallery is a pic of the glamorous feet.....)

Measurements are taken for fitted wardrobes and builder plasterer and joiner are consulted to make them as "invisible" as possible when fitted. A trusty coat hanger is sent for to make sure things will still fit. Thats the second time this week a coat hanger was seriously useful!

Wonderful newly crafted wooden windows from the joiner grace the front of the house, complete with cosy double glazed panels,and suddenly the house looks "loved". It can still rain in AROUND the windows but we are working on that!
(Seriously UNLOVED is the plastic window manufacturer who could not contemplate sending a salesman to take an order from a mere woman without a husband present at the meeting. Dont order from any Himalayan Peak.)

In gorgeous summer sun, an appreciated change from the wet of this week , our friends Jim and Gerda came to admire our progress and showed us how to dowse for water. They found the water main and the course of the underground stream ( so the culvert mystery is solved) and now we can do it too. Strangely Jim cant work with the traditional hazel twigs but only with diving rods aka old wire coat hangers which are excellently reliable in his hands. Theres magic in them there wardrobes.