Getting there...

 "In by Christmas" was always going to be a bit of a challenge. I suppose it depends on what you mean by "in" and what you mean by "Christmas". For all intents and purposes we are more or less "in" - in that we have heating, water etc. Most of the rooms are finished (for now) and just need a good cleaning. There is still painting to be done (especially the beams in the gallery - they received a coat of linseed oil paint to prime them but they need the black paint to match the other beams) and lots of acryl/silicone to be used around windows, doorframes, skirting boards etc. All relatively small jobs and nothing which would really hinder a full change of residence. The blockers at the moment are electricity and furniture.

Uli is already working on the electricity issue. All the wall sockets are done and ready. The lights are installed in the kitchen and bedrooms. The wall lights still have to go in and the thermostats for the underfloor heating. The biggest single thing that has to happen is for the main 64A connection to be connected to the mains. Once that is done, the lights come on and we're ready to go.

 I finally got around to getting the big window done. I was kind of procrastinating as much as possible with this one, which was not a good idea, given its height. On the last day I had the scaffolding, I decided to get a window sill from the carpenter in the same kind of material/colour as the other window sills. It was installed quickly and the whole window frame was painted white. I think this was the right choice. Black, to match the beams, would have given it a strange frame effect - like an obituary notice. The off-white colour of the boards in the ceiling would not really have suited either. Two coats of white paint, a cleaning and a dusting and the window is finished. I'm not looking forward to having to clean it at any time in the near future.

 The living room was finished too - you can't really get an idea of what it looks like from any of these photos. It is currently covered in dust, so it looks a lot older that it probably should. Tomorrow, it is going to get a good cleaning and a sealing (a kind of wax does this). We got a table and eight chairs as well - they are made from oak, which doesn't really match any of the timber in the house, but they were a great deal. Maybe we'll find an oak cabinet to match it at some stage.In the photo to the left the table and chairs are actually in the position they are supposed to be (permanently). The light arrived today too. It is to hang down from the purloin to about 2m above the floor. I'm hoping it will provide enough light not just for the table but also for most of that side of the room. We'll see.

 Niedermaier also finished up. He had to re-mount the radiators in the bedrooms (he had already taken them out so we could finish the painting). The bathroom had to be fitted out and the insulation had to be done in the attic (the copper pipes carrying hot water were not insulated, with the result that the attic was unbearably hot). The bathroom is now finished except that a glass shower wall has to be installed. The company responsible for this has already measured it and apparently it will be installed at the start of January. The good thing about it - the most important thing really - is that the shower water is immediately hot. No waiting three minutes, leaving cold water run down the drain (an expensive undertaking) - turn on, straight away hot water. The same applies to all the taps, so it seems as though that has worked out well.