S**t happens

So, it’s been a while since the last update and, as you’ll see, quite a lot has happened in the last 3 months.

I think I mentioned last time that the drains were going in and we would soon be connecting to the main SW Water sewer system. That presumed that we had all the necessary permissions and consent from the landowner whose field we had to cross to access it. Oops!

Somewhere along the line between ourselves, the builder, the utilities contractor and SW Water we omitted that piece of the jigsaw and so had a very hairy few weeks as we tried to juggle getting legal consents without losing the timeslot we had for connection. I have to say that we were incredibly lucky that the landowner proved to be so understanding and trusting of us – and was prepared to grant us temporary access across his field while the lawyers were still sorting everything.

We did kick and curse ourselves at our stupidity for not checking everything was in place. But – ultimately – if this project has taught me one thing, it is that you can’t know everything and even if we’d had the most experienced team in the world behind us, mistakes would still have been made. Sounds like a self-help mantra, I know, but we did get ourselves into a bit of a state as the reality hit us just weeks before we were due to move in.

• Who was really to blame?
• Why didn’t someone mention it to us sooner?
• How were we going to find the extra funds needed for the legal costs?

But the actual reality is, we DID get it sorted. We acted decisively as soon as the issue came to light and now we can take the extra learnings and add them to the growing list of “things to remember next time”!

When the contractors were finally able to make the connection, it was a gloriously sunny day with that view that is becoming so nearly “normal”. It changes at least several times a day as the clouds roll in and out and the sun moves round the bay so I can’t imagine we will ever tire of it.

And how did this chapter end? On 12th March when the plumber finally connected everything and I was able to run around the house like an excited toddler discovering the joy of flushing toilets for the first time!! Even now, there is still a little bit of an adrenalin rush each time I flush one of our THREE toilets or empty a sink – where does it all go????

And so on to the final chapter and the push to moving in day – 31st March