December Newsletter
Hello from a very cold, white and snowy Lake District!
We’ve seen real progress on the B&B front since I last wrote to you. We completed on the house, collected the keys and got straight to work.
Our first challenge was getting the house connected to gas, electricity and water. As it had been previously repossessed and unoccupied for 18 months, everything had been shut off and capped at source. British Gas weren’t the most helpful, but finally, on the 4th call out, they actually turned up and we now have a working meter and gas supply!
It’s been just over a month now and the builders are in, destroying the place! We’ve ripped out the downstairs toilet to make a bigger kitchen. The existing kitchen and three bathrooms have also been ripped out and skipped and we have the whole house being re-plumbed. That means no boiler and no heat, even though we have gas! (and it’s been -10 degrees at night recently!)
And although it looks like a war zone right now, the end is in sight and it’s a hive of activity with plumbers, electricians, tilers, joiners and plasterers all buzzing around!
We’ve selected our kitchen and bathroom suites, designed room layouts, picked the wall and floor tiles, light fittings, paint colours, furniture, curtains and more. I’m making approximately 16 decisions a day, but enjoying every moment of it!
We’re desperately waiting for this snow to subside as we’re also getting a new driveway laid and dropping the kerb outside the property to enable four cars to park on the front. They can’t start this work until the 4 inches of ice has melted! I’m starting to worry that the Lake District winter might last 3 months and we may not see tarmac again until February!
I’ve also been working with a website designer on the new website. I’ve approved some drafts and he’s currently working on creating the new site. We’ll let you know when it’s launched.
Even though the new website isn’t ready yet, we are open for bookings. And as an email subscriber you get a special discount. Plus, we’re offering an extra £5 off per room per night for the first 20 bookings. They’re being snapped up fast, so get booking! All the details of the discount and booking process are here: http://lakesblog.weebly.com/october-newsletter.html
Last and by no means least, you’ll notice that we’re only open from February 10th until the end of May. Now it might seem odd to you that we’re closing for three months during the peak summer season… but it’s for a good reason. I’m due to give birth on June 21st 2011! You’re more than welcome to come and visit, but the B&B will be officially closed whilst I recover and we get used to having a new family member in the house!
Thanks for your continued interest in our journey, we’re almost there now! And we can’t wait to see you in 2011.
Love
Sarah and Chris Wilson (and bump) xx
We’ve seen real progress on the B&B front since I last wrote to you. We completed on the house, collected the keys and got straight to work.
Our first challenge was getting the house connected to gas, electricity and water. As it had been previously repossessed and unoccupied for 18 months, everything had been shut off and capped at source. British Gas weren’t the most helpful, but finally, on the 4th call out, they actually turned up and we now have a working meter and gas supply!
It’s been just over a month now and the builders are in, destroying the place! We’ve ripped out the downstairs toilet to make a bigger kitchen. The existing kitchen and three bathrooms have also been ripped out and skipped and we have the whole house being re-plumbed. That means no boiler and no heat, even though we have gas! (and it’s been -10 degrees at night recently!)
And although it looks like a war zone right now, the end is in sight and it’s a hive of activity with plumbers, electricians, tilers, joiners and plasterers all buzzing around!
We’ve selected our kitchen and bathroom suites, designed room layouts, picked the wall and floor tiles, light fittings, paint colours, furniture, curtains and more. I’m making approximately 16 decisions a day, but enjoying every moment of it!
We’re desperately waiting for this snow to subside as we’re also getting a new driveway laid and dropping the kerb outside the property to enable four cars to park on the front. They can’t start this work until the 4 inches of ice has melted! I’m starting to worry that the Lake District winter might last 3 months and we may not see tarmac again until February!
I’ve also been working with a website designer on the new website. I’ve approved some drafts and he’s currently working on creating the new site. We’ll let you know when it’s launched.
Even though the new website isn’t ready yet, we are open for bookings. And as an email subscriber you get a special discount. Plus, we’re offering an extra £5 off per room per night for the first 20 bookings. They’re being snapped up fast, so get booking! All the details of the discount and booking process are here: http://lakesblog.weebly.com/october-newsletter.html
Last and by no means least, you’ll notice that we’re only open from February 10th until the end of May. Now it might seem odd to you that we’re closing for three months during the peak summer season… but it’s for a good reason. I’m due to give birth on June 21st 2011! You’re more than welcome to come and visit, but the B&B will be officially closed whilst I recover and we get used to having a new family member in the house!
Thanks for your continued interest in our journey, we’re almost there now! And we can’t wait to see you in 2011.
Love
Sarah and Chris Wilson (and bump) xx
