We made it – Tarkwa Cottage all finished and our first guests arrived at 3 p.m. on Saturday 2 April. I was still hanging curtains an hour before and I just had time to hang mirrors in all the bedrooms and a very few pictures.

On Friday we had 15 different tradesmen in the house and the atmosphere was great – all were on ‘finishing’ their areas of work and it  was a cold bright and sunny day so breaks were taken sitting in the yard watching the sea action. We only got the use of the kitchen sink on Friday and put the dishwasher on for the first time on Friday night only to discover that it didn’t work. Thank goodness for Google and the emergency repair people from Torpoint who were with us by Saturday lunchtime.

My daughters and granddaughters who came for Easter week were extremely helpful and the cleaning team – Amber and Vicky did a fabulous job not just cleaning all the dust but also heaving mattresses around and sorting all the linen ready for the season.

On one awful morning  mid March one of the Corian kitchen worktops arrived wrong ( even after several phone conversations with the supplier) some of the plumbing was wrong and new beds delivered wouldn’t go up the stairs. It all got resolved in time but that had to be a low point. I retreated to the the Boathouse Cafe for a very necessary bowl of home made soup and a good cry.

Duane the foremen builder asked me on one of the last days  if, given the choice,  I would repeat the exercise  – my answer was YES. The kitchen/ dining space we have created by opening up and extending the basement floor is AMAZING. The spacious sitting room is superb, the new water, heating and lighting systems are wonderful and the house feels so much better constructed .

New photos will be done this week and on the website soon

A job well worth doing and a great sabbatical living in the village for most of the first three months of 2016.

Do come and enjoy it

Well we can see the end at last!

The carpets were all put down last Friday and today the furniture came out of store. There was frantic activity in the kitchen to get it ready for the Corian worktop tomorrow so rather than make people move all the time we queued the items for down there on the balcony in the sunshine and then handball them all down late in the afternoon over the balcony using lots of bodies.

Woody and his decorating team worked an extra day on Saturday and also put down masses of protection for the carpets so that life can go without spoiling them.

We are tired but can really see it all coming together. Very thrilling.

The new photos are being taken next week and we will get them on the website a.s.a.p.

Hello again!

I forgot to mention the big doors – wow! They were fitted 29 February/1 March and are wonderful. They are the windows to the seascape and make the experience of being at Tarkwa Cottage so special. They are a Belgian system imported and designed to order by a Lancashire company. The lads who came to fit them loved being here in the village – they stayed two nights at the Half Way House . We tried to get this type of door locally but UK Bifold beat the SW opposition hands down – such an efficient company too – immaculate paperwork and always so pleasant to deal with. Our neighbours used them as well for their new French window from the kitchen and new bedroom.

Well we’re not far off the end of this major project!

We have a very smart balcony balustrade and the decking was going down today.

The stairs down to the kitchen are in  – beautifully made by Dean – DCL’s head joiner. The posts and rail are in oak with glass handrails. We were going to cupboard in the space under the stairs but that would be a crime. It will still be a useful space.

I am amazed that we haven’t had plumbers yet this week and only one electrician today –  will I recommend this firm to anyone else ? NO.

The German ceramic  radiators arrived today too but another panto  ensued- a wrong size towel rail, lots of trailing wire ( an abomination to me). No drawings re positions in the rooms didn’t help. Will I recommend this company to others? – we’ll see

When all the heat and water systems are up and running I will be able to control it from an app on my  Ipad – how about that!

The kitchen/dining area is not finished yet but you can already see that it is a fabulous space as is the spacious sitting room. Having to compromise on an all  white house  because of the late finish I can see how spacious it makes the rooms feel.

Our decorating team are village legends – Woody and Jim. Woody is a delight and Jim is mainly a sculptor who exhibits regularly but enjoys helping Woody. We are waiting for Mike to rejoin the team – he is currently in Italy with Francesca , his artist wife. Ironically they used to live at the Lookout which is where Peter and I are living whilst the work is going on.

Friday is carpet day, next Monday the furniture comes back from store

HELP!!!

The old beach platform was ripped off in the storms last February

So now there is a new platform and ladder all in stainless steel – it looks very smart!

We were very lucky that this was the only damage sustained – many of the houses by the sea came off much worse. Building work is going on all over the village to get everything shipshape by the summer

What an awful time the village had this Winter . The storms in January and February did a lot of damage  – particularly to the Institute and its iconic Clock tower. Several houses were flooded to the point that their owners had to leave

Clock tower You Tube clip

We were very lucky at Tarkwa Cottage. The platform where the beach ladder goes down was ripped off and there was damage to the back gate and some of the steps from the yard to the deck but the sea did not enter the house.