Not too much has happened over the last few weeks. For reasons which will be obvious below, I've been in England for a chunk of the time. Anyway, the bathroom has now been plated with plasterboard and we're in the process of finishing the bath. The plumbing is now complete on the ground floor.
After much deliberation and referring to standard practice regarding chimneys, we decided to place the wood burner in the middle of the room. This is to enable the chimney pipe to go through the roof at the apex. It has to clear the apex by 40 cms, so anywhere lower would have required a really long and exposed pipe. To do that we've had to remove a section of plasterboard, raking out and pointing the stone work behind. This is nearly completed so we expect to get the ground floor installation underway in the next day or so. On the first floor we're feeding a section of the pipe into the old chimney cavity and making a new chimney on the original foundations. We'll that's the theory, so watch this space.

My mum's partner, Frank, died two weeks ago. It's been a shock to everyone. It was a shock because although he'd been ill, the hospital had recently given him a totally clean bill of health. It was also a shock because Frank had left such a mark on everyone who knew him that it's impossible to come to terms with the fact that he isn't around anymore. He was such a kind and light-filled human being that his absence hurts like toothache. My brother and I saw him as a Dad and my brother's kids accepted him without hesitation as their new Grandad. Him and my mum had known each other since childhood and they were each other's first boyfriend and girlfriend. They met up quite by chance sixty years later and they have been soul mates ever since. Frank cherished and loved my mum and she blossomed in his sunshine. I believe this isn't the end for them but a brief seperation. All our love Frank.