Eight weeks in: open doors, started projects & the promise of plenty of apples

eight weeks of living with creaks, leaks, and more character than a Jane Austen novel. here’s everything we’ve been up to…

July has arrived in full, sticky force. The kind of hot, bright days that turn gardens into a midsummer dream (or an open-air sauna, depending on your mood). Our July has been a flurry of teenage sleepovers and spontaneous gatherings, with friends dropping in clutching bottles of rosé and staying much longer than planned.

There has also been countless netball trials and training sessions for my daughter, but luckily the end is in sight - at least until all the pre-season training starts again. She loves it, and I’m more than happy to be the driver, laundry lady, cheerleader and occasional bag carrier to show my support. Walking the walk rather than just talking the talk.

Women in Sport has found that over million teenage girls (43%) who once considered themselves ‘sporty’ disengage from sport following primary school - that’s a horribly large number. A report on the findings concluded that girls may need more support to stay engaged as they go through puberty. Girls are generally less physically active than boys and are far less likely to take part in team sports.

Stephanie Hilborne, the chief executive of Women in Sport, said:

“Our research has found that 59% of teenage girls who used to be sporty like competitive sport, but they’re being failed due to early-years stereotyping, inadequate opportunities and a complete dearth of knowledge about managing female puberty. Teenage girls are not voluntarily leaving sport, they are being pushed out as a consequence of deep-rooted gender stereotypes. We must all do more to reverse this trend and not continue to accept this as inevitable.”

A recent report from the OECD found that a “generation of young girls” are experiencing declining health and wellbeing - with girls in England the sickest and unhappiest in Europe. According to the study authors, the sharp decline in teenagers’ mental wellbeing is being caused by new factors, such as social media, inactivity and obesity.

Last year, a study from King’s College London found a direct link between exercising as a teenager and improved mental wellbeing in adulthood. The authors found the ages of 15 to 17 were the most critical for staying active. So I’m happy to give up occasional evenings and weekends to show my support. And hopefully she’ll carry on being active — to feel stronger, healthier and also happier.

But back to July

In the background - usually somewhere between cooking, laundry and work - the house has been slowly, stubbornly, coming back to life.

Here are some of the things we have done in the last 8 weeks:

Our very first priority was simply letting the house to breathe. The house had been empty for a while and unloved for even longer, so we have flung open every door and window (that has not been painted shut) like we were summoning ghosts from the corners. Old stone houses love fresh air; it keeps damp, mould and general mustiness at bay. I feel like it creaks and sighs like an old dog finally stretching out after a long nap.

We had some of the chimneys swept - a nerve-wracking process I half-expected to end with a flurry of dead birds or a mysterious old love letter falling out. No such things happened, and thankfully no blockages either. We’ve started lighting fires, which help the house ventilate and give it that instant cosy glow. There’s nothing quite as comforting as a crackling fire, it must be the cave woman in me.

In between it all, we’ve hosted a few parties and casual gatherings too. I’m determined to live my life even if my house is half-unpacked and mostly in chaos. Friends have stayed over too, and I love having the house full of life. Mornings feel especially lovely with guests, with chatter and sleepy faces gathered around the table.

Outside, the garden decided to stage a drama of its own. We lost metres and metres of box hedging to the relentless box moth caterpillar - a true villain if ever there was one. The dry summer didn’t help either, leaving some sections looking thoroughly pitiful, like characters in a Victorian novel quietly dying in the corner. I’ve lost the battle and I’m giving up. I love the look of them but can’t take the stress of fighting the caterpillars.

But it wasn’t all tragedy: I did manage to save a few giant box balls with occasional watering and regular Xentari treatments. I have a dream of creating a box cloud cluster both side of the portico, and I’m embarrassingly attached to each one. Gardening, it turns out, is part battlefield, part therapy session.

We also dug out French drains to lower ground levels around the house so the walls can dry out properly not sexy at all but crucial for the health of the house. Solid wall houses need to have a chance to dry out. If the outside is covered with wet soil it means that the walls stay wet and travel indoors too.

We upgraded some incoming gas pipes that were too small and potentially bad for the heating boilers. We also got massive old water tanks from the loft removed which feels like a weight lifted from our shoulders - not ideal to have hundreds of litres of water stored in the attic.

True to form, I’ve started countless projects and finished almost none. Enthusiasm: 10/10. Follow-through less so. But once started will get finished one day too, surely?

Perhaps my favourite garden thing so far is finding the perfect spot for the greenhouse I’ve been dreaming having for nearly a decade. I can already imagine tomatoes, herbs, and a little medicinal patch. Planting seeds (both literal and metaphorical) might be my favourite part of this whole adventure.

We also repaired some dry stone walls that surround the house. Fascinating skill to be able to do that!

And our apple trees are threatening to overwhelm us this year - pies, crumbles, chutneys, cider… I’ll take any and all recipe suggestions before I disappear under a mountain of fruit.

Couple of quotes for tree work needed nearly made me consider retraining as a tree surgeon, until I remembered my fear of heights.

We’ve booked the roofers for August too. After the tree surgeon idea was firmly ruled out, roofing briefly joined the fantasy career list - until I remembered (again) that heights and I are not on speaking terms. I’ll stay firmly on the ground, cheque book ready.

Inside, the Aga has become my part-time best friend. I love it and then sometimes hate it as I can’t figure how to cook something’s in there (like popcorn seems to not work at all, I’ve seen others do it so must be me).

I’ve been practising cooking on it, and while some meals have been genuinely impressive, others have veered into “creative learning experience” territory. It needs a service soon before it stages a full rebellion.

The first bathroom we’re updating is our daughter’s - petite, but flooded with light from three enormous sash windows and the most glorious views. We’re thinking soft gold and pale peach to complement the glorious greenery outside, but let’s see how the final product will be like!

The kitchen makeover planning is underway too, with cupboards being shuffled about to make room for a built-in seating nook for four. We’re rethinking the colours as well, since the current palette doesn’t do the light any justice. Small adjustments, but I’m hoping for a big, warm impact. Ideally the kind that makes you want to linger over another slice of toast.

Due the state of the house, I’ve also done more cleaning in these eight weeks than in the past eight years combined. The was so incredibly dirty when we moved in. So far one window is fully cleaned inside and out… only about 55 to go. Progress is progress, however slow (and slightly demoralising).

Finally, the first wallpaper to go is in the downstairs cloakroom. The plastic wallpaper and gypsum plaster were trapping an old leak like a dark family secret - both are coming out so the walls can finally breathe again.

Eight weeks in, the house feels less like a grand, slightly intimidating stranger and more like an old friend we’re getting to know - cracks, quirks and all.

If you have any apple recipes, window-cleaning tricks or encouraging words about finishing projects, I’m all ears. Pop them in the comments - it’s always so lovely to read them! ❤️