It all started when I mentioned that it might be nice to have a separate place where I could go and watch TV or read or play on the Wii…I said that I’d also like a second bathroom and I’d like a utility room. I wanted to convert the animal barn on the side of our house (accessed through the kitchen) into a ‘snug’. After a few months of persuasion Peter was in. We looked for a builder (traumatic enough, read the blog post ) we found the one we wanted and work was scheduled for January 2014. In December 2013 I started to take down the old bread oven in the corner of the room. A mass of stones, red clay, and 50 year old soot. I’d come out looking like I’d been down a mine. Our 90 year old neighbour sat on her step and laughed at me. She was still grinning when finally the oven was dismantled and I carried hundreds of stone down the 14 steps to the stairwell for storage. It wouldn’...