January Resolutions

Happy New Year!!!   It is 2017 and Firmount is going to have one “heaven” of a year this year!   New Year’s resolutions are different for us now that we have a firm plan for Firmount.  2016 saw us mired in bureaucracy. I spent every spare moment filling out forms, dealing with planning permission and fighting seemingly endless battles over inappropriate development levies and potential listings.  Restoring any old building can bring long hours with little reward but 2016 seemed to cost us a fortune in reports with no visible signs of change to the house itself.

So how will 2017 be different?  My usual January resolution of getting fit and losing weight (which never happens anyway) is different in 2017. I haven’t resolved to go to the gym this year but rather to shovel and wheel ten barrows of rubble out of the house per day. And that Art class? Well, instead I take up a scraper and scrape down a period window and repaint it. And although I think I look like this when I am doing DIY…….

The unpleasant reality is that I look like this….a mad person with a tea cosy on their head…

David is the same. He has spent January 2017 unblocking windows (doubled cement blocks reinforced with rebar). Each window takes around 8 to 10 hours of drilling so a great general workout for the arms and back!  David is the dot in the ground floor window….

Then I carry those window blocks out and remove the rubble. That is what our evenings look like once the little ones are in bed. Not fun but we have saved on the gym membership and you can see quicker results!! We also had two fantastic HelpXers from Spain helping us and driving us on.

The windows arrived in early February. And boy what a difference they make. Suddenly dark, damp rooms are filled with light and possibilities. Colours I had chosen for the walls now look completely different as the light floods in. You could almost hear the old lady breathe a big sigh of relief…..someone is finally taking care of her again.  Welcome to 2017 Firmount.