Getting There (2)

A couple more pictures of the 'getting there' stages described in the last post, most of which are self explanatory. The inspection cover is open because having created the soil stack and toilet waste we were able finally to throw some buckets of water down the toilet and flush away all the 15 year old poo upstream from the inspection cover. This we are referring to a "TK Min's last movement". I assume you didn't actually want to see a picture of that floating happily by, so you've got the clear flowing stream that came afterwards as Dad chased 4 more buckets of clean water down the soil pipe.

Deefer

Soft Shoe

At the tail end of last week the build passes a significant milestone, but not a normal 'we built something' one. Sparks (Project Manager) declares that there is now too much new and finished wood in the house (the stairs, the upstairs floorboards) that to continue clomping around in rigger boots would be to risk damage to the surfaces. The boys must, instead, wear trainers or, in Dad's case, flat soled desert boots. They buy a rubber mat for the front door to wipe away any grit from their boots when they come in and spend the first 2 hours of Monday having a massive 2-hour 'square away' clearing up tools, picking up offcuts of plaster board and sweeping up dust and rubbish. Sparks even re-arranges his tools and materials stack. It's like a different house.

Deefer

New Stairs

The second big story of the last week is the arrival of our bespoke flight of stairs from those genii of stair wrangling, Palace Joinery of Tubbercurry in County Sligo, not a million miles from the new house. Mick the Stairs joins our cast of characters as he comes out to measure us up, recommending this that and the other tweak to give us the best possible stairs in the space, giving onto the landing to the right and a step down again straight ahead into the bathroom.

The stairs are due to arrive Monday but we get a phone call apologizing for a 24 hour delay. Tuesday the boys rip out the old stairs. This proves worryingly easy and we wonder how we've been happily tramping up and down them, often heavily laden, since December without fear of them collapsing. Gulp.

The new flight arrives hermetically sealed in plastic wrapping and under several sheets of tarp on the back of a lorry and the boys soon have it indoors, along with all the associated banisters, hand rails, spindles and other bits and pieces. The new flight is wrangled into place and fixed there including having to chisel up a bit of the Midnight Joker's pristine floor to take a bottom post. Sparks fashions the bit of mini landing which gives onto the bathroom through the huge thick house wall. He is treating himself to a new toy, a bench saw which can be pre-set to work at angles for mitre-ing etc to cut the spindles.

In the evening the old stairs are carried round to the bonfire heap to be ceremonially burnt, possibly the last major wood-wormy component going on the fire.

Deefs

Up and Down like a Yo-Yo

Ha! Within seconds of writing yesterday that I couldn't do the top 3 stairs, there I was, like a natural! OK the top 3 are still a bit tentative and careful, but as I approach the bottom, I accelerate, finishing the last 2 in a majestic leap, usually straight into Haggis who has arrived, encouraged by Dad's encouraging cries of "Come on Deefs! One more! One more!, almost there!" etc, knowing I'll get a sweetie as a reward (and therefore by House-Rules, so will he).

House rules are "A Good Thing". Every time we come willingly in from the terrace we also get a sweetie. Haggis, I have noticed, pushes this to it's very limits. "I've been out and come back in" can sometimes be just a couple of steps out, and I've seen him try it on with just the back step, or even, the door opened and i LOOKED out - does that count? Sometimes even - "I watched Megan and the Pup go out.... does that...... No OK, I won't try that one on!

Boys!

Deefer

Them Stairs

Just a quick one today - no time. Dad's been trying to teach me stairs. Puts a "sweetie" on each one and tries to entice me over. I'm not having any of it, though, so I just shout at the sweeties from the top step and wag my tail a lot, hoping that by sheer force of will power, I can attract those sweeties up quicker than Haggis can hoover them up as he climbs. I can do the bottom 3 steps OK, but the whole 13? Too awesome

Mum and Dad eating soft shelled crab tonight following a recipe they found in a New Orleans cook book. What's that all about?

Met another very young Westie out walking today, name of Fleur. Not much older than me

Enough for now
Deefer

Ear Ear

Oh Dear - feeling quite inadequate and inferior. Have heard through the grapevine that brother Archie can go both up and down stairs. I am still in that stage where I can scrurry up them very efficiently...

....but then when I turn round and look down from the top it's like looking over BeachyHead. It's MILES down there. I can hop down the last 2, and (with bribery and coercion) maybe the last 3, but all of them? Think I'll just stand at the top and shout for help

Also - rather miffed to find that sis Ellie (was called Beryl till she moved) who now lives not far up the road, has both ears up already. That seems to be the thing with smoothe coated westies. It must be the weight of all the fluff on mine, holding the tips down like the animation dog Grommit. Ah well, patience. It happens eventually. One morning you wake up and you have one sticky-up ear, then two, then maybe one, two, one... till after a few days they're up and they stay that way, looking like a demented fruit-bat. Wonder how brother Archie is getting on Ears-wise (Molly, if you read this, let me know)

Looking forward to meeting Ellie again. I've had my 2nd jab, Ellie gets hers Wednesday, so we'll be out to meet our public on about the 8th Dec. Can't wait.

Lashin' with rain, miserable cold wet November Day

Deefer