When you are living in the middle of a huge life change, everything seems pretty straightforward. But I can imagine that, from the outside looking in, our madness can be a touch confusing. So here it is, for the sake of clarity.

1. Roger’s bungalow.This will be Roger’s new home. He bought it about a year ago and we started renovating it about 6 months ago.

Roger’s bungalow, aka ‘the bung’.

We could have given it a lick of paint and Roger could have moved in months ago, but Roger wanted some alterations, and once we started taking down partitions, we discovered that quite a lot of things could do with replacement and repairs.
So some walls have come down and new ones have gone in. Alex has completely replaced the water and central heating pipework. The front door and porch have been moved, and French windows added at the back. The place has been completely rewired and replastered by professionals.
Things have taken rather longer than we expected at the bungalow, but it has all been very useful experience. Now we are at the decoration stage at last. We are hoping to move Roger into his new home at the beginning of February.

2. Westacre.This is the house where Alex grew up. It has been Roger’s home for over 40 years. Alex and Hilde bought it about a year ago, and intend to make our home and our life here.

Westacre

While ‘the bung’ is awaiting completion, Westacre is still Roger’s home. Alex and Hilde are staying here as his guests, and everything pretty much still looks like it always did. Once Roger and his belongings move out, Alex and Hilde can start thinking about making it their own.
The first stage will be to turn the big living room into a bedsit apartment, where we will live while we do the big Westacre eco-renovation project.

3. Harrow. This was Alex and Hilde’s home for 17 years. Once we have moved our belongings to Westacre and done some necessary maintenance, we will let this house, hopefully to some nice long term tenants.

Our house in Harrow

About 6 weeks ago, we replaced the original wooden windows with UPVC and double glazing so our tenants can keep their heating bills low.
When the winter weather clears, we will be taking frequent journeys with the TARDIS and its trailer to transport our belongings up the M40, saying our final goodbyes to Harrow.

Right now, we are working towards a 1st February deadline to complete work in the bungalow. We are making good progress, and are hopeful we will make it. We need to
– finish tiling in the shower room and en suite.
– install the last bits of bathroom furniture.
– put down wooden floors in the living room and hall area.
– paint most of the walls.
– lay carpets.

It’s all very satisfying work and we are still enjoying ourselves doing it all. Which is just as well, because once this is finished, we start all over again at Westacre.