Last push before Christmas

In the last week or so there is plenty going on.  The craftsmen are working towards a Christmas deadline (Ho-ho-ho) and have even been spotted on site at the weekend.

Yesterday the tiles were laid in the entry area and on the floor of the main upstairs bathroom.

Tiles inside front door

After I had wandered around looking for him, the tiler asked me not to step on the first two rows inside the front door.  Aha.

The fire/stove is much more complete now.  The engineers were installing some offset piping halfway up the chimney yesterday.

Fire/stove nearing completion with recess behind for sliding door

Outside, the wall builders are doing their best to carry on, but it is getting pretty cold.

Wall

I guess about 2/3 of the stone has been laid so far.

Things are hotting up (well, not too much)

The fire place has arrived.  There was a lot of cladding and heat-proofing to do because of the sliding door which disappears behind the fire. Yesterday the built-in seating was started around it but the final surface is not on yet.

Log fire prior to installation

Also, because the glazier has still not fitted the big window in the staircase, the heat pump has been having a bit of a struggle.  The engineers were round yesterday trying to coax a few more mega Watts from the national grid through my bank account and into the outside fan.

Engineer looking inside outside part of heating system