Property matters - a room with a view

Now you might think that I have been a little quiet about the rectory and the property matters. The repairs from the long overdue quinquennial inspection are slowly being completed. This involves us being available (often at very short notice) to let the varying tradespersons in. Therefore, the saga drags on. I have actually given up in my heart and accept that this is where we are for now – which is what I expect most vicarage families do after a few encounters with the building contractors. But I am disappointed at the lack of care for the incoming families. There was no inspection of the remedial works carried out and, at times, we were surprised by the work quality - but we do have a front door without a hole in it now. We were staggered to hear the amount of money that has been spent on this house so far.  I did put pen to paper to the property department to comment on our moving experience and we then received a visit – for which I am grateful. I hope that some of our comments may lead to other families settling into their new homes more easily. It is things like making sure the septic tank is emptied before we moved in – we lived for weeks wondering if drains always smelled like ours when you had a septic tank – only to find (once located ) that it was merrily overflowing into the rose bed! I won’t divulge the details of the conversation we had with the tanker driver who came to empty the tank – suffice to say it took him an hour and a half instead of the usual twenty minutes. 

On that delicate subject, I did say that I would update you on our smallest room upstairs. I have written about this before (click here forprevious loo observation). We have had a second floor re-laid – which involved levelling the floor due to damage from removing the first new floor.  The question of the hand sawn chipboard toilet plinth is being discussed, as is the ‘decorative’ pipe work. But we have redecorated and should you shut the door and rest awhile, you will be transported to a calm oasis - where you can contemplate in peace. The pipe work may no longer offend the eye as you should be distracted by the view!