the roofers are roofing

a room with a view

can you hear the view?

After looking at the pictures of our new windows and seeing what the view would be like, a friend of mine said that she did not feel the view would be any good, over-looking as it does our courtyard, our garage, other courtyards and roofs and sloping add-ons of the neighbours… It is indeed hardly a room with a view. Living in a cramped downtown medieval village, developed over 600 years could hardly provide a view. A view? How about an Italian landscape? A view of the mountains, a lazy river, glorious summer fields, an African savanna? The vision has to be within, there where the sky is always blue, within. Besides all that, there is only one perfect view and that is the one over our heads.

Our new windows would provide light, mere light. It is essential to escape from the darkness of winter, the darkness of the static life behind the temporary building partitions, to escape from the constant darkness of a Belgian winter.Today the sun shines and I can taste the future.

it's true

You have to take one day at a time. A friend of mine gave me this advice, "take one day at a time". I am ready to move the furniture in and start living in the new area. I have to hold my horses, control this impatience. Today the subfloor is being placed; it is quite jolly to see a level floor, I must say. The old part of the house has no level floors, no 90 degree corners! Joining the old and new floor in the open-plan area will be another challenge.

In my mind, I have the curtains up, rugs on the floor, pots steaming in the kitchen, the dog sleeping in front of the new woodstove in the fire-place and friends coming for a splendid winter stew and a glass of velvety pinotage!

empty shell with windows and glass doors

New wood framed doors and windows have been placed in the extension upstairs and downstairs, but all the finishing has yet to be done. Roof tiles, skylights, plastering inside and outside, ceilings, all still lacking. My other half is apparently starting on installing electrical plugs and all the wiring tomorrow! Such sweet promises. My heart leaps at the thought of 12 plugs in my new kitchen! If you recall, my old kitchen had ONE. Tomorrow the sub floor should be added -- I have already explained about the sub-sub floor in a previous posting. One of the most complex issues was apparently attaching the new structure to the 300 year-old part. An ant infested pillar needed to be upgraded before a steel beam could be balanced. Pictures of the new windows should be posted tomorrow... watch this space.

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