The lack of updates haven’t been for lack of things happening, just a lack of time to report back on them.

1. We now have planning permission

This is good. The terms under which we received the planning permission were strict, perhaps even draconian. We are not allowed to change the structure or façade of the main building, which means being very limited in where we can place windows. Our upstairs rooms will have few to no regular windows, and we’ll have to make do with skylights. Ilze hates this (and loves sunlight), while my aversion to sunlight and fresh air leaves me pretty neutral on the issue. I believe that light is something you take charge of and control, rather than the other way around.

If this house was somewhere on the coast of Spain I would maximise the size of all windows to make sure we have the best view possible, but in this case the grey of low cloud over Flemish countryside (which I love) isn’t the worst loss in the world. We’ll have a perfect view from the living room, so for the bedroom we’ll just have to make do with skylights, mirrors and artificial sources of brightness.

2. We are now shopping around for contractors

And when I say we are shopping around, I mean we should be shopping around. We have a lastenboek from our architect, which is like a shopping list on which a builder can base his (invariably too low) estimate. Locals have warned us that Belgian builders nearly always end up underestimating the cost by about 15%, so if you’re on a tight budget like we are costs can easily get out of hand.

3. Storm Damage

Our tree damaged in a storm in February still hangs by a thread. I still don’t own a non-electric chainsaw, so perhaps I should invest in one. Any man should own a clean handkerchief, a Swiss Army Knife, and a fuel-powered chainsaw. You should probably carry the first two on you, the chainsaw I’ll leave up to your own discretion.

We also still have a hole in the roof, from where some times blew off. Fixing this has proved harder than I thought, mostly through lack of trying. There’s a public holiday coming up, I really should give it a go. Unfortunately, the kind of days I have free time (like public holidays) are the days the hardware stores are closed. Just my luck…

Categories: General
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