An Exciting Day Chez the Wisemans...

We had a late night last night (more like an early morning!) so we didn't actually rise until 8.30am which was a bit of a worry as we were expecting Mum and Dad and Janice and Ray up for the day and I had chicken soup and an apple cake to make.

We got up and got our acts together.  John was preparing for Ray and Dad to help with the very exciting job of joining the two buildings together in a more permanent fashion - I cant tell you how excited I am about this particular project!!!

I got the chicken soup on courtesy of the pressure cooker and made the apple cake using the convection oven part of the microwave and waited for the text message from Mum to say that they were on the way.

In this picture you can see the initial planning meeting between John and Ray and a cup of tea!!!  Apparently the plan is to get a pergola up between the two buildings and then cover it with tiles or, preferably, some perspex or triplex type material, then we will look at the other side which will point towards the swimming pool and for which John needs some metal structure and then ultimately maybe some sliding doors along by the side of the swimming pool. 

This would make a lovely large sun-room and provide complete shelter when walking between the two buildings which will be fantastic.

Fortunately SF was on hand to oversee the whole procedure.  It has been nearly six months since Dad's supervisory skills were called into action.  He may not be up to heavy building work but his technical eye is second to none and his input invaluable - I heard a conversation about the grain of the wood which went right over my head but was, apparently, key in deciding how the structure should be erected.

Whilst the menfolk were on building the pergola Mum, Janice and I had a crafty couple of hours.  We started by painting some Christmas cards and then progressed onto making a Christmas wreath with local fir cones and some of the Christmas decorations that I wasn't going to be using.  The finished article can be seen here on the right.  In the end I think you will agree that it turned out pretty well even if it did cost an absolute fortune in glue sticks!

We all stopped for a spot of lunch - the chicken soup went down a storm as did the apple cake which John had made.  Even though it was dry and bright outside it was quite chilly so the hot soup was welcome and warming.  Still we cant really complain as it will be the first of December next week and I am guessing that people back in England aren't sat outside doing craft!!

The boys got phase one of the building join project completed and it looks absolutely fab even at this early stage - as I said we would ideally like to put some sort of see-through roof to preserve the light and the warmth but failing that we will weave sail material between the wood but obviously we would prefer a more permanent solution but we have to check out on the costs of all these things.

Quiet weekend is planned - maybe a lie-in tomorrow but I am very doubtful!!!