December 21st, the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. It feels unreal, so mild that when the rain stopped at 4o’clock, I went out for a ride on my bike. Not far, only 10 miles, but enough to blow the cobwebs away. I didn’t need to wrap up like the michelin man and even when the rain restarted, it wasn’t cold! Can’t believe it’s nearly Christmas!

Kieran, who, by the way, did finish plumbing the dishwasher in last night (hooray!), started this morning by clearing some of the rubble in the grange into a sensible heap, using his beloved Dougal the digger. He and Nick then removed all the steel reinforcements that were still sticking out of what remains of the cuves, before someone does themselves an injury.

After lunch, the lads decided a lighter job was needed for the rest of the day. The plan is to make one of the bedrooms into a second bathroom, with a corridor running past it, leading to the new first floor above Nick’s workshop. This involves turning the window, which overlooks the grange, into a doorway; so that was the “lightweight” job selected for this afternoon. The bedroom in question is currently a general store room for anything and everything we haven’t housed elsewhere, as well as being where the computer is; in other words, a heap! Most of the stuff is now scattered around the rest of the house and everything on the first floor is covered in a generous layer of dust. My hands are filthy as I type, in spite of several washings! Guess what my job will be tomorrow;-( Still, I did, at last, find the grammar book I’ve been searching for since our arrival here!