We called our YouTube channel bramblecottageuk

One month before I had just completed my last chemotherapy session at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota and my wife Gill and I had no idea what lay ahead.

What we did know was that there was an empty rundown cottage waiting for us back in the UK.

At the beginning of October 2023 we stepped foot in the UK and immediately started work.

My body was broken. The side effects of chemotherapy were taking their toll but work needed to be done and we weren’t afraid to work.

Progress was slow – very slow, but there was progress.

We did our very best to publish one video each week. Our videos were unpolished and honest. Our YouTube viewers were kind to us. We received positivity and encouragement from around the world – this positivity and kindness helped us through some very dark times.

As we published more videos our subscriber count steadily grew.

People appreciated what we were doing – it made us feel good.

Our children found it hard to comprehend that at our age we were becoming YouTubers.

Our motivation continues to grow from week to week. After almost one year Bramble Cottage is starting to take shape. We have achieved so many small steps forward that we don’t really recognise the progress without looking back at the videos we have posted. We created a playlist that includes all our videos in sequence and we regularly watch that playlist when our morale is flagging.

Renovating a cottage with limited funds and limited energy isn’t easy, but who says life should be easy?

We have good days and we have bad days. We laugh and we cry, but we know that with every week that passes we are making progress towards reviving a small piece of history that has been neglected for far too long.

Our YouTube subscriber count is currently 985, so hopefully by the time we reach our birthday we will have broken the 1000 subscriber barrier…

Best wishes,

Rich

Our original intention was to hide the stone under a new layer of lime plaster but unfortunately (or fortunately as things turned out) we were unable to find a person who was able to replaster the walls for us. Our preferred contractor was unable to do the work because of family illness and another person we approached provided a price that was well in excess of our budget.

After much deliberation I decided on dry lining the room with a stud partition, 50 mm insulation and finally a layer of plasterboard. I had spoken to a neighbour who had done the same thing and also investigated on the internet – it seemed the best way forward. That was until I found a couple of videos online explaining that the dry lining approach may ultimately result in mould as it changes the dew point of the wall and also stops the wall from “breathing naturally”.

Nobody wants mould in their house – it’s not good for your health and it can definitely affect the resale value.

So once again I was stuck…no idea what to do next. That was until Gill came home the next day and said “I actually like seeing the stone walls and I would like to repoint one wall to see what it looks like..” 

I was onboard immediately. I had no idea what the end result would look like but I did know that if it worked out it would be cheaper than any solution I had looked at so far.

So the next afternoon we drove 20 miles to visit the experts at Heritage Lime in Gloucester.

We introduced ourselves and explained that we were complete novices and that Gill would be doing all the work.

I was impressed because they didn’t try to bamboozle Gill with lots of “tradesman talk” in fact it was quite the opposite – they gave her the confidence to take on the challenge and to take on other potentially more difficult jobs.

Having spent a comparatively small amount of money on materials we headed to the cottage to start the transformation.

We started “raking out” the old lime mortar at about 4:00 pm and by 8:00 pm that evening we were finished. It was a dusty job, but much easier than we had imagined it was going to be.

The final job before going home was to blow all of the dust out of the nooks and crannies with my compressor.

Saturday morning was full of sunshine and at first sight we were pleased with the result from the previous evening.

Gill was very persistent – she wanted to do the job herself. So I got the tools, materials and coffee ready and she made a start.

She didn’t have any prior experience – only what she had learned from the internet and the couple of tips offered by the chaps at Heritage Lime, but armed with that she got started – in at the deep end. And in with a smile.

One key point that she had already learned from repointing out chimney breast was to start at the top. This was not for any technical reason but because experience had taught her that by the end of the day she wouldn’t have the strength left to work with her arms above her head.

Step by step and about 5 hours of work later she had finished.

The end result was impressive – really impressive!

Whilst I am sure that a professional would find fault and explain that there are 10 easier and better ways to do the job – that doesn’t matter. Gill did it and she did it her way and the final cost of materials was less than £20 and a total of 10 hours labour.

I would say that’s an excellent return on our investment!

Please check out our YouTube channel @bramblecottageuk

We were at the cottage on Saturday surrounded by jobs but we lacked the motivation to do anything.

The lack of motivation is directly proportional to lack of money…instead of seeing jobs as we look around we see ££££ signs everywhere..

• New log burner – £1500
• Installation and certification of log burner – £1500
• Installation of hot water heater for bathroom – £4000
• New Orangery – £7000
• …the list goes on…
  

We knew from the beginning that things would be expensive, but what we didn’t realise is that almost everything would have to be certified by a trades person – meaning the labour costs that we were hoping to save are now a forgotten dream

Eventually after sitting in the living room for an hour or so we shook ourselves and started work -Gill did a massive clean up and I worked on “Lula” the Land Rover (she had a water leak and needed an oil change).

We soon started to cheer up and by the end of the day we could see a way forward again. Having the house tidy makes a massive difference on how we feel.

For now we have decided on 2 or 3 next steps..

1. Replace the rain guttering at the front of the house
2. Replace the front window of the room that will be the bathroom
3. Order the log burner

I am sure that in a few days our priorities will change, but for the moment that’s what we are going to do.

Let’s see what happens..

Rich

I felt weak

I felt ill

I was alive!!!!