The water-tight milestone!!

Today we achieved a major milestone, the extension is water-tight. Over the last fortnight we have managed to get the bay window roof finished. A very kind carpenter and his brother (James' friend) stepped in to get the roof on after the builder who did the house and the one after that didn't turn up to do it. We decided to put a fibreglass roof on, I love the look of a lead roof with mop rolls, but after our luck with contractors recently we just wanted it water-tight and decided to cover it ourselves until we decided what we want done. We're pretty pleased with it now so it may well stay.

James spent hours routering the wood so that the fibreglass corner pieces would fit flush to the roof. Then came the fibreglass bandage and then fibreglass matting with a resin covering. We sanded the covering once it had hardened, painted the next layer of coloured resin, sanded and painted again over  the course of a few days. Yesterday James fitted the lead flashings, pointed it all in (covering the end of the concrete lintel with lime mortar) and today painted them with patination oil to stop white lines running onto the roof over time.

Today we also fitted the oak plugs into the stable door and used a piece of oak to plug the gap above the door. It means that there are no longer any holes in the structure and we are weather-tight. 

Little man has been at school for 6 weeks now and I cannot believe how well he has been getting on with learning his letters. Today we did a spelling game together and he managed to sound out lots of simple three and four letter words. His writing is coming on beautifully too, it's unbelievable how fast he's gone from only knowing the letters in his name to the foundations of reading. 

James and I have been trying hard to spend a bit more time engaging with the kids in some one-on-one time. It's very easy when you're so busy with work and building to overlook the children and let them entertain themselves. We're lucky that they join in for most building and gardening related activities but we wanted to try and play a few more games with them. I'll be honest at times and say that sometimes it's  a bit repetitive playing holidays or ice cream shop with them but they love it.

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