If you’ve seen this post (and I recommend you do before proceeding :o)) then you’ll know that hubby and
I are currently in the middle of renovating what was once a horses stables into
a house. It’s what we have been spending our time/energy/money (and everything else) on since our return from Japan, earlier this
summer.
Some back ground on our building - historically, the two part building was a stables along with
a gardener’s house. Together, these two properties belonged to a large estate
home with its own fruit orchard and gardens. Unfortunately the large estate
home was, at some point, knocked down and replaced with a small apartment
block. The land has since been turned into public parks
and gardens. All that remains of the original estate are the stables (which we own) with the
gardener’s house (which our neighbour lives in), and another building nearby
which has been converted into a house. From talking to our neighbour and some
of the local residents who have lived in the area for decades, we understand
that over the years the stables was used as some kind of storage building, and
then a vehicle depot before being left vacant for many years.
The old stables block
The stables building we bought is near the beach, in a conservation area which means that the area,
and buildings with in it, are considered worthy of preservation or enhancement because
of their architectural/historical interest. What that meant for us was that we
had numerous restrictions/conditions on how we could renovate the building and
the materials that we could use. One such condition was that before any work
could begin we needed to call out the batman to conduct a bat report. Luckily for us no bats or evidence of bats was
found, otherwise no work could have begun until the bats were safely removed
and rehoused, as bats are a protected species in the UK. Other conditions focussed on restoring the building to the way it
would have traditionally been. We've had to replace all of the plastic guttering
with traditional cast iron guttering, and all of the windows with traditional
handmade wooden sash windows. The local authorities want our building to be
preserved as close to its original state as possible, so we couldn’t create an
opening for a front entrance. To access our property we have to go round to the
back and use the entrance that the horses would have traditionally used.
Our neighbour has the upstairs, whilst we have the downstairs
As you’ll see from the Youtube video below, there is a
natural divide between our building and our neighbours due to the height
difference, with our stables block being the shorter building. However, our
building also came with half of the ground floor space that sits under our
neighbour’s bedrooms. It’s quite strange because we now own half of what looks
like her downstairs space and she owns the upstairs. Our neighbour has lived here for over 30 years so we
assume that this is how the buildings were originally split. Perhaps because
traditionally, more of the ground floor space was used to keep the animals, with
people occupying more of the upstairs sleeping space? Who knows!
When we bought the building it was very much derelict with
just the roof and outer walls. The inside was dirty, rundown, damp and falling
apart. On the ground floor there were two stair cases, two toilet cubicles
(random!), and the space had been subdivided with some rooms bricked up and
partitioned off from others, and some of the windows had been boarded/bricked up.
Upstairs there was a large room, and a smaller room with a kitchenette. There
was also an old garage in the garden. I have inserted photos of what the inside of the building used to look like in the above video.We bought the property with plans to turn it into a
family house. We subsequently gained permission to convert the old garage into
living space, on the condition that we matched the exterior to the existing
building. We had a little bit more freedom to make
changes at the back of the building as it is out of public view, so we were allowed to
brick up one of the doors and turn it into a window.
The old garage
The old garage being renovated
We have completely
changed the layout upstairs by turning the two rooms into three bedrooms (one
with an ensuite) and a family bathroom. The upstairs rooms are built into the roof space with low sloping ceilings and small windows. Luckily we were able to insert
skylights into a couple of the rooms as skylights are quite a
subtle addition. Downstairs there is an ensuite bedroom/study, a living room and
an entrance hallway in the double storey part of the building. At the single
storey end (the part under next door neighbour’s bedrooms) is an open plan
kitchen and dining area which lead on to the main living area (that used to be
the old garage).
Dining area (to be) with kitchen area blocked of by the grey bricks to the left
Dining area with bricks removed to open up the kitchen area
The building work started on the property whilst we were in
Japan but when our time came to an end there, we decided that it was an ideal
opportunity to come back to the UK and live onsite, so that we could manage the
project ourselves. It wasn’t easy to manage the project when we were living
on the other side of the world, especially with the time difference. Putting
our trust and faith into the hands of strangers doing the work was also quite
difficult, especially when it involved all of our life savings and more! Plus,
with it being summertime in the UK, we thought living onsite in a caravan wouldn’t be too
bad.
We’ve been onsite all summer so far and whilst work has been
progressing steadily, the renovation hasn’t been smooth sailing that’s for
sure! As is often the case with such projects, there have been delays,
unexpected costs and problems that just could not have been anticipated.
Needless to say, it is costing a lot more and taking a lot longer than we
expected, but with all of the structural work now complete, we are finally
getting to the stage where we can actually see the progress. This has been
tremendous in giving us the motivation to push on. As the temperature begins
to drop, and the novelty of living in a caravan wears off, hubby and I can finally
see the light at the end of this very long tunnel :o).
I hope you enjoyed this blog post and vlog of our renovation
journey. I will share more as things progress over the coming weeks. Have you ever done a renovation or restoration project? What did you
renovate/restore? What was your experience?
I thought I'd do a little update post telling you what hubby and I have been up to since leaving Japan. After a stopover in Singapore (vlog to come soon), we arrived back home to the UK in June.
Never ones for a quiet life, we jumped straight into our next adventure. This one wasn't quite as glamorous as moving to Japan, in fact it was a bit of a step back when it came to our living space... a caravan! We bought Cora the caravan (that's right we named her) the same Saturday that we landed in the UK. We picked her up on Sunday and come Monday morning hubby drove her to her new location, and that's where we currently live!
Change is always on the horizon
Hubby and I are currently in the process of turning what once used to be a horses stable into a house. This may sound a bit random, especially compared to our recent expat life in Singapore and Japan, but it's not too random for us. In all the time that hubby and I have been together we've had a tendency to jump from one adventure (and at times disaster) to another, with little time in between. I'm not sure why, but our lives never tend to remain stable, calm and routine-y for long. Change is always just around the corner. I know change is the only constant in life but we just seem to go through more change than most people we know. It just seems to be our thing!
For example, a year after I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis and realising that it was spreading quite aggressively, we decided to simplify and re-prioritise our lives.... by moving half way across the world to a country where we knew no-one, Singapore. It sounds crazy, but in reality and with hindsight, it really was one of the best decisions we've ever made#NoRegrets! I'm not yet sure I'll be saying the same about the horses stable but you kind of get the idea of how our life tends to work.
So what possessed us to buy a building in
a part of the UK that we'd never been to before, miles away from
friends and family? The fact that it was a beautiful blue sky sunny day on the day that we went to view it might have had something to do with it. I'm not sure the outcome of that visit would have been the same had it been typical British weather of rain and drizzle. Also, the fact that the building is less than 30 seconds from the beach, surrounded by beautiful public gardens with a little stream running in front of it may have played a part. The setting is very idyllic and I promise you, the fact that the building came with it's own teeny tiny bridge taking you over the stream had absolutely nothing to do with it- honest! Although, it does make our friends chuckle when they visit and we tell them to park their car on our bridge. OK, so the bridge, even though it's very small, is kind of cool ;o).
I'm going to be doing a series of vlogs on YouTube as well as blog posts here sharing our journey from stables to house very soon, and in the meantime, here's a little taster of what's to come.
For those of you that enjoyed the Japan vlogs/posts, don't worry I still have a few more of those to come from the end of our time there :o).
I am so very sorry that it's taken me so long to conclude our Mount Fuji trip. I have been struggling so much with my arthritis riddled body this past month that I literally feel like life has passed me by. My arthritis has spread to my jaw which has been causing severe head, ear and teeth ache, as well as making it difficult to chew food. I'm also having difficulty using my right hand as the joint damage and deformity is getting worse. This has been very frustrating given that I'm right handed for everything. I have an appointment to see a rheumatologist next month and recently I've taken a few steps to try and manage my pain levels better. I'm finally starting to feel like I'm living again (rather than merely existing) and so I'm looking forward to sharing more vlogs with you all :o).
Now back to our Mount Fuji trip. After spending a wonderful morning at the Shibazakura Festival (which you can see here), we headed back to Kawaguchiko where we bought a pass for the Kawaguchiko sight seeing bus. The pass cost ¥1,200 per person and is valid for two consecutive days. Even though we were going to be using the pass for just one afternoon, it was definitely worth it because by this point my arthritic joints were starting to hurt quite a lot and the hot humid weather was starting to get to me. The sight seeing buses cover two main routes; one around Lake Kawaguchiko and the other around Lake Saiko, another one of the Fuji Five Lakes. Both routes depart from Kawaguchiko station and when we purchased the tickets we were given a route map along with bus times. It is worth noting that these sight seeing buses only run from around 9-5/6pm and some of the stops along the routes are quite remote so its important to plan your return journey.
In the interest of giving our feet a rest we hopped onto the sigh seeing bus and decided to head quite far out past Lake Saiko so that we could enjoy the scenic views whilst keeping cool in the air conditioned bus. On the bus we met a group of young lads from Singapore who were on their way to the ice caves. Hubby and I thought that that sounded pretty cool and decided to do the same. Once off the bus we followed the signs that led us into a woodland. The woodland was absolutely beautiful with tall trees that had the most amazing root structures all over the ground. It was the kind of place that you'd expect to see in one of The Hobbit movies.
Loved the bamboo hand rail
After a short walk, we came across a ticket counter where we asked about
the ice caves. The elderly Japanese lady at the counter gestured that
it was a 25min walk away through the woodland and when we looked, we
realised that there was no defined path and the terrain was very uneven.
Hubby and I decided to leave it, as not only were we not wearing the
right kind of foot gear for that terrain, but we would also be cutting it
fine when it came to catching the last sight seeing bus back to
Kawaguchiko. Seeing our disappointed faces the elderly lady pointed to a
poster on the wall which was for a wind cave that was just a few minutes
walk away, so hubby and I bought tickets for that and headed further
into the woodland. You can see the vlog of our afternoon in the video below :o).
We climbed down a flight of steps to the entrance of the wind cave. Once
we came to the end of the first set of steps, we noticed that the
temperature dropped all of a sudden.
Entrance to the wind cave
As we
walked further into the cave we saw icicles hanging from the rocks. It
wasn't long before we were shivering from the cold, and the bamboo hand
rail that I was once so pleased to see was redundant because it was ice cold.
There was no way I could hold onto it for more than a second or two. Not ideal given how wet, icy and slippy the ground inside the cave was.
Icicles
At various points within the cave, the head height was so low that even I had to crouch. Further inside the cave we saw collections of ice blocks and structures. Aside from the ice, there wasn't much else to see inside the cave. There certainly wasn't anything to suggest that this was specifically a wind cave. As we reached the end of the cave, we saw the same group of lads from Singapore. It transpired that they also had the same concerns that we did about the terrain and catching the last bus back.
Inside the cave
Once we made our way back out into the warmth, hubby & I were both kind of glad that we made the decision not to go to the ice caves as we definitely weren't wearing the right clothing. Poor hubby's arms were freezing as he was in just a t-shirt. After catching the last sight seeing bus back to Kawaguchiko, we caught the first of four trains to make our way back home to Yokohama. Although we came to Kawaguchiko on the coach, there were no seats available on the return coach. It was a long 3.5hrs back home. Had the weather been dry for the next day then we would probably have stayed an extra night at Kawaguchiko, but sadly rain was forecasted. Plus we had shipping boxes waiting to be packed in preparation for departure from Japan.
I hope you've enjoyed these blogs and vlogs of our trip to Mount Fuji and Lake Kawaguchiko. Aside, from the wind cave, I would definitely recommend the other three activities/sights that we did. Had we had more time then we would have liked to have gone to the Fuji-Q Highland amusement park, even though we're not thrill seekers.
I can imagine Mount Fuji and the surrounding mountain area being absolutely stunning during the autumn/fall as the maple leaves change colour. Spring would be another great time of year to visit with the cherry blossoms and that was when we originally intended on going, but unfortunately that 2-3 week period when the blossoms were in bloom, was very wet this year. Nonetheless we really enjoyed our time and would highly recommend a visit, if you're ever planning a holiday to Japan :o).
I've been MIA (missing in action) recently as I've had another arthritic flare which has been really frustrating. Aside from the pain and associated insomnia, a flare up tends to restrict my movements and ability to do simple everyday things from walking to taking a shower. As a result I haven't been able to post any Japan vlogs even though I have a backlog of video footage accumulated. It wasn't until I started my YouTube channel that I realised just how much work goes into producing a 10-15min vlog, esp. when you work at a snail's pace like me courtesy of my arthritic hands!
The good news is that I seem to be over the worst of it and back in the land of the living.... and Instagram :o). Me not posting on Instagram is usually a testament as to how bad my flare up has been!
The other bit of news that I have to share with you is that hubby and I are moving. Our little adventure in Japan is coming to an end soon. We are not yet sure where the next chapter of life is going to take us, but what we do know is that we will be spending a week in Singapore (our previous home) in June, before we head back to our real home, the UK for a bit.
These days we are immersed in bubble wrap and shipping boxes as we pack up our lives for the second time in 12 months, and try to sell furniture that we only just bought a few months ago! We are also trying to make the most of the time we have left in Japan and recently spent two days at Mount Fuji which was a fantastic little trip. I have lots of exciting vlogs to share with you over the coming months but things might be a bit slow. When I'm having a good health day I'll be wanting to spend it outside enjoying the last bit of Japan, rather than sitting in my bed editing vlogs, as I'm sure you'll understand :o).
We are very much looking forward to our stay in Singapore. After the stress of packing and sorting everything out in Japan, we will be in need of some downtime. Also it will be lovely to catch up with our old friends and eat lots and lots of fruit ;o).
On a final note, whilst living with chronic illnesses can be soul destroying at times, it's not without it's perks.... yes perks. Thanks to my pain induced insomnia I was awake at 4.30am to watch this breathtakingly beautifulsunrise - these photos are completely unedited! It almost reduced me to tears and made my heart swell up with so much gratitude for the beauty my eyes see. In that moment, for just a short while, I forgot all about my pain :o).
