Our original plan was to keep the old staircase, and renovate/restore it, but sadly it was beyond help. It was a shame as the workmanship involved in its structure was superb, but the neglect it had suffered over the years had contributed to its downfall.
We asked for a quotation from a company to replace 'like for like', but sadly this cost came in out of our reach, so we sat and thought about the changes for a while before deciding to move the position of the stairs completely, and redesign the layout of the two rooms involved.
Once a decision was made, we shopped around, and bought a new straight staircase with a small turn at the bottom. Craig had to install extra supports and joists to strengthen the existing walls, and of course, the new one had to be fitted before the old one came out, otherwise we would have been climbing a ladder to go to the loo ! It wasn't an easy job - it was very heavy and very awkward....but we did it !
Arthur was very unsure about it. He'd got used to running up and down the old set with no problems, so we blocked off the old set, and carried him upstairs. Then put him down, and came down the stairs. He spent a few minutes running around the edge, crying, before realizing that he could come down as well, and now he runs up and down with no problems.
Next...the old staircase had to come out. We had help from some friends, and in fact it took longer to clear the mess up afterwards, than it did to remove it. The dust was awful - years of rot, mud, dust, cobwebs etc - you can imagine. BUT it was done ! The space looked weird, and the wall looked horrible, but we could see through that, and imagine what a great space for a study/office this would eventually be.
One day, I spotted an advert for staff needed at a local restaurant, and decided with trepidation to apply for a position. It was run by a lovely English couple who have since become good friends, and although very small, served customers of varying nationalities, lunchtimes and evenings. I was lucky enough to get a job there, and it gave me the opportunity to practise my new language skills. I had never really done this sort of work before, but it was good for me and my confidence. The disappointing side to it, was that I was only needed 'as and when' - if they were very busy, or if one of the owners was away, so it wasn't as regular as I would have liked - or as regular as they would have liked as well !!
All this work continued, and at the same time, we extended our animal stock. We bought two Gloucester Old Spot female piglets (not to be named ), and a dozen day old chicks (to be brought on, fattened and....).
We buy the chicks locally, and what amazes us, is that you can ask for all the same sex - in our case, we ask for males, as they grow bigger. How on earth can anyone sex a day old chick ??? They are so cute at this age. We keep them in an enclosed pen that Craig has made, with a heat lamp to keep them warm. After a couple of weeks, we start to wean them off the lamp, and eventually we move them outside, but more of that another time. Arthur loves to watch them at this stage - we obviously never let him be with them alone, and its the same with the rabbits and other birds, but we could leave him secured all day with them just to sit and watch - we don't, of course, but always laugh that he'd be more than happy !
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