Let's step back in time a little.

While the dogs waited patiently outside....

Bonnie

...and Larry

...we all had a parquet party!

...well, of sorts. A couple of glasses of wine anyway!

You see. Eight months down the line...

...the Hunter's finally have a floor! 

And a lovely one at that! Big cheers all round!

I'm sure mum and dad would agree the hours and hours spent cleaning blocks were worth it!

A few cheeky bits of rogue timber have revealed themselves...

but it all adds to the character I think!

It's amazing to see all the different shades to the timber.

Just one more fine sanding...

...and a final protective layer and it'll be job done. Here's to another hundred years parquet!

Today people...

This is what you'd be seeing if you were here at Briardene (well not this exact image seeing as it was taken a week ago) but yes, Mr Hunter has a smile on his face! Why? Because the parquet has finally been sanded!!! 

Forget what I said yesterday, dad got his thinking cap on in the afternoon and managed to get another bloke to come out and do the job today, and pronto he did!!! 

I'm not at Briardene myself, so I haven't actually seen dad's smiley face but I can tell it's smiley from talking to him over the phone. Yes, it's been a long time coming! The flooring that is, not dad's smile!

I'll get some pictures on here tomorrow night for you after its final sanding. You won't sleep tonight will you?! x

Remember this?

Think it's having serious repercussions!!

The latest - Sanding of the parquet has ground to an almighty halt (after 4 sq yards) as we are told the sanding pads are not abrasive enough for the job and are being worn down at a silly rate! So.....

The solution - More abrasive pads are being ordered but will take up to a week and then they can't come back to finish the job till nearer the end of the month!! At this present time,

Parquet + White Paint + Ian Hunter = Generally not a happy chappy. Oh dear!

He did break the miror though!

A few grainy shots

These are the latest snaps of the flooring, also showing the current mess which is the lounge!

The next big decision is which fabric to use on the sofa once it is out of storage and also the chair in the first picture. For the sofa we're thinking along the lines of a nice rich velvet with a contrasting piping or perhaps even some fringing, and I think making a feature of those deep buttons on the chair would be nice. I'll post some pictures of ideas in the next couple of days. x

Today at Briardene...

Hello. I'm back, and guess what's happening!!!

Eeek!

Did you ever think you'd see this?!

Yes. The blocks are finally going down.

Two more days...

...and it will all look like this! 

Then, out can come the industrial sander and dad can finish painting once and for all.

Very exciting!

Yep, he was definitely a policeman!

'Dad puts his experience of traffic control into practice!'

Wideopen...errr sorry mum...I mean Naaawth Gosfaaawth (said in a posh accent) came to a standstill whilst the plywood was delivered to Briardene. That's been dad's job for the last few days, laying it on the ground floor in preparation for the parquet blocks going down. Who'd  have thought I'd be saying that eh?!!!! 

The hearth...

A few pictures of the new hearth in the lounge for you. Mum and dad chose this a while ago but I don't think I've posted any pictures of it before now. I'm sure it'll look even better after a nice little polish and alongside the parquet flooring.

A momentous occasion!

Yes...THIS happened 10 days ago! Woo-hoo!

Dad finally placed the last parquet block on the pile after hours and hours and hours of cleaning! 

HUGE round of applause!!!

This momentous occasion was slightly overshadowed by Larry however (surprise, surprise), who decided to eat over 200g raisins earlier on in the day and then spent the next 72 hours on a drip! Yes, raisins are toxic to dogs!!!

Let's just say the fizz which was chilling quite nicely wasn't exactly flowing! 

This is what he was meant to look like...not nursing his poorly tummy in the vet hospital!

Mum had kindly provided him with an England collar and sweatband in preparation for the England v Algeria match (which we were meant to be watching with fizz in hand!!!)

This was actually Larry yesterday after their shocking defeat against Germany. He gave me a look which I read as, "Please remove these offending items pretty damn quick!"

Oooh...sanitaryware!!

Did I say on Sunday that I would have these pictures on here by Monday?

 What I actually meant was Thursday!!!! Well, the sanitaryware is now all plumbed in in the main bathroom. We reused the existing basin (shown above) as it's such a good size.

We added some new taps.

...and they only went and sent the wrong fixing didn't they mum?!

This was the heated towel rail that was in the existing main bathroom but it's now been reused in the en-suite. It's fab...and HOT!

Finally, this is the unsanded parquet flooring laid out in our flat... just how it will look at mum and dad's.

P.s - This took Steve at least five hours to clean. 2 square metres. 38 to go!!

The makings of a bathroom

Give yourself a big pat on the back dad!

I think he's done a darn good job, don't you?

The next stage is to seal it which will darken the slate down, but you get the idea!

Dad looking for his screwdriver (again!!)

Oh, and the newly fitted wardrobes...how did I forget?!

I'm not usually one for fitted wardrobes as such, but with a few omissions (ie. handles!) and 

a nice choice of materials, I think these have turned out great. Well done mum!

They just tuck nicely into the corner of the room so leave plenty of space for other furniture.

Oh, and this is mum and dad's pile of timber flooring...

...actually there's more!

I'm sure there will be an entire two weeks worth of posts devoted to this parquet once we start looking to scrape, lay, sand, brush and oil the flooring...phew, I'm tired just thinking about it!