More bleating

The blacksmiths returned yesteday with more large chunks of metal. They drilled the horizontal beams so that the rest of the steelwork can be joined on to them.

Then they stopped and went home.

That was because they had just implemented some safe lifting directives (which have been around for about five years) and need to bring a mechanical lift to lift the beams into position. Monday's a holiday so they'll be back on Tuesday.

Meanwhile we have four guests at least two of whom have stayed before. We're offering guests a fairly large discount while the building work is going on and that, combined with our most excellent breakfast (tho I say so myself) makes up for the disruption.

We expect most of the steelwork to be in place by next Friday. D**** (project manager) will be along on Wednesday to check progress and prepare for the kitchen and bedroom upgrades.

The lack of a final decision on the planning process should surprise no-one who's been through this kind of thing. It seems that if you are told to expect a decision in January you'll still be waiting in May. Very frustrating since no-one appears to have any issues at all with the revised plans; all we need is someone to pick them up and stamp them as "approved" or whatever they do.