With an eye on long term development Jim and I kicked off work in the stable by taking out half the floor. - A few cracks, some pipes and structural steel rod plus missing roof tiles but never mind all that - OOh that looks high!
So, we thought; while the long term plans are developed and budgeted for, how about a cinema?
Next visit was half term in October. With Carl helping this time, we cleaned it out, hung a screen and built a (steep) staircase from the old joists. The screen is about 12'x9'and hangs off a length of steel that was left over from the piggery works.
The stairs we built at least twice. It turns out that guessing how to measure up and fix steps to achieve even this standard of stair is a bit beyond our carpentry skills at the moment.
We also learnt that estimating how many nails go into a staircase like this is not a strength either. - 2kgs not 1 but the girls found us the last box in 3MMM.
It was fun building them, they're still up (but a bit creaky) and so far nobody has fallen down, so let's call that 'a success'.
With first floor access done, we lifted and relaid the floor-boards to close up the largest of gaps between them, so that too is now mostly safe but best to avoid walking on the cracks if you can.
Next job was the eight foot drop at the front edge and for that we didn't want a wall to interfere with viewing, so lifted the feed rack from downstairs. This was heavy and the scaffolding did collapse a little bit at first but we got it up, so that's safe for kids to play on now too.
Ebay had been plundered for a surround sound set up and projector, which Carl and Tippi drove out with, so we were in business.
Plenty of finishing and set up still to do but the basics worked well enough and the total cost is around £250. This is Otto, fixed to his seat watching the Royal Ballet's production of Alice in Wonderland.
The rest of us just watched Dirty Dancing's final scene.
Magical.