The Grand Reveal...

I have been hassled and emailed and asked in phone calls to show what we did to the front of the house and have stalled. I must admit that I was reluctant for two reasons:

Firstly, after I came back from Africa I was embarrassed? felt uncomfortable? felt guilty? I am not quite sure, but the amount we spent on repairing the front of a house that could have sufficed although did need some repairing seemed immoral. I knew that in a British context it was justifiable, but on the grand scheme of things, I wasn't sure that I could justify that amount of money to someone in Senegal.

Secondly, I wanted to wait until the garage door had been fitted which took ages as they ordered the wrong springs. And until the gravel driveway had been restored (thanks Ken and Chris - it looks great!)

Anyway, enough philosophising, here is the house history:

What it looked like just before buying.

In February showing the new roof, smaller window upstairs, brown cladding temporarily replaced by render from the first work in 2011 but minus the porch.

Finished with only a bit of brick work around the porch to be completed. What do you think? Much better isn't it? We also removed the original external wall within the garage which meant it was divided into the original garage and a small triangle thing to the left. It is now all one space and a lot more useful.

To the right of the house you will also see that we are making progress in the front garden - we had to remove the decking in the back garden as it was causing damp. This has now been reassigned to raised beds in the front which are growing veg and fruit. Unconventional but they look fine and are proving to be productive.

So, only one important thing left to do: replace the patio doors in the back as the damp has rotted them. But for now, peace, weeding and painting the porch.