After all the trials and tribulations of the last couple of years I thought I’d better do a bit of an update on the house.

We are continuing to try and be as eco friendly as possible. Most of our materials are either reused our recycled. Although we have used blocks to rebuild the structure the blocks are made of ash collected from power stations. The blocks are great in that they have air bubbles in them providing excellent insulation. We had looked at a variety of options but even though the products were pretty kosher they required a lot of concrete.

All of the stone has come from the original barn and the rebuilt areas look amazing. We have used the bricks which came out of the barn as coins around the windows and doors. They are looking rather splendid.

We are now looking at roofing materials, all of them are pretty pricey. Cambrian slates are made from pulverised slate which is reconstituted, they use a horrid system at the end worth plastic, but they are more reasonable than reused Welsh slates. Such a quandary!

So decisions are our daily bread and butter.