Most of today's activity has been up in the air as the promised long pieces of timber needed to create the overhang did not arrive until 5.00pm, so there has been a lot of up and down ladders as our four workmen pressed on with adding the bracing beams to support the extended roof. There was also a little bit of metal work today as the strut that will eventually hold up the overhanging roof arrived without the necessary holes drilled in it. I noticed that Tom's drill bit was not doing the job so I offered one of mine (actually they came from Derrick and Alfie's estate) and they seemed to cut through the steel quite quickly. This steel pole is a change to the architect's plans - although he has not been told about it - he had originally specified a 4" square post but as the beams it supports were 6" across Tony and Simon decided that the support beam should also be 6" square. We objected to this as access around the support is restricted and so a compromise of a round steel support was agreed instead. This goes against my plan of having a house that requires no painting to maintain it but it is a small price to pay to get around the outside of the house.

This first picture is a little hard to decipher unless you know the house, it is taken from inside the old upstairs study and is looking through where the door that led into the attic was. It really is amazing to think that only a couple of weeks ago I was sitting in this very room typing out my blog and now it is open to the elements and of course if anyone was foolhardy enough to climb up there in the dead of night we could all be murdered in our beds! Just joking of course as we do block it at nighttime. The next two pictures are taken from inside that loft space after you go through the old doorway and at least give and impression of where all the timber is going. After the workmen left today and Hilary and I saw all the new timber lying out on the moor we knew that we couldn't leave it there overnight so it was on with the boots and between us we did about a dozen trips carrying two long planks each time. It will be a surprise for Simon when he arrives in the morning but we will sleep happier tonight knowing that our precious and expensive wood is safe.

We did talk to Tom about the new round window (the quote arrived today and all told it will be just under £1,000!), Tom was not impressed and added that now he would have to add another lintel and move the struts on the framing but if we gave him the dimensions he would get on with it. We promptly stuck a few sheets of newspaper together and cut out a circle 750mm in diameter and tried it on the outside wall, next we will have to go into the new room and check out where it comes in relation to the vanity units and mirrors etc, we'll get there. The weather is forecast to be fine tomorrow so perhaps we will get a bit more progress than in the last couple of days and maybe, just maybe we will finally be able to see that gable end that I am so desperate for!