Serafina buys a house in times of Covid

Kevin did a second coat of paint on the inside kitchen doors whilst Joan went to work steam cleaning the kitchen window. Went for a four and a half mile walk to Smalldale and Hargatewall.  Bitterly cold.

Kevin fitted some kick boards to stop Serafina hiding under the kitchen units.  It also makes it look better. Joan got the hare lamp working.  Just need a shade now.  Joan listened to candidate training in the front bedroom.

Kevin painted the inside of the kitchen doors whilst Joan worked out how many plugs to buy for the rewire. Serafina much more settled. Walked circuit round Peakdale via Longridge and Monkey Brew.  We found the monkey on the end of a short terrace.  Here's a blog about it: Monkey Brew, Buxton - Why DO they call it Monkey Brew, we find out! (explorebuxton.co.uk)

Our house overlooks the former Peak Forest station.   The platforms have gone but the station is used as offices and Deutsche Bahn run freight trains along the Great Rocks Line.   Serafina is very wary so Joan made a cat cave for her from a Dunelm Mill box and an old towel.  It seems to be a hit. Today we put up curtains in the bedroom and put a mattress protector on the bed. We walked to Doveholes and discovered there are no grocery shops.  (Not that we're going in shops or anywhere else at the moment.) At Doveholes, in the snow, we came across Bullring henge, which we had never heard of.  It was covered in snow so the pictures aren't that good.

A repairman came to look at our SMEG range.  As we are nervous about aerosol infection, we thought it would be best to decamp to Peak dale for the weekend.  This is the first time we are taking Apollonia and Serafina. We picked up a meal from the Dev and arrived after dark.  Apple settled in straight away but Serafina was freaked out and hid under the sink.

Kevin made new backs for two cupboards that had holes at the back.  He also washed spare bedroom window outside and wiped down the stained walls and skirting board. The steam cleaner isn't working so Joan tidied up a little outside, mopped the kitchen and dusted the lounge.

Made up the bed with new mattress.  Also brought new curtains but no curtain hooks. We managed to get the central heating working. Hurray!  Kevin made a back for one of the cupboards in the kitchen. Removed old toilet seat and fitted new one.  Very tight to access!! Pies and roast veg for dinner.

Assembled bed which is not an easy task.  Took bedding, gin and other essentials.

The weather was fine as we drove over to SKE. We decided to walk up to Dove Holes first before starting work on the house.  As we set off it began to snow. Initially it wasn't sticking.  The road is quite busy.  It's on a bus route to Manchester Airport and also is gritted. The Great Rocks railway line runs in parallel and then disappears into a tunnel. The entrance to Dove Holes quarry. The snow was beginning to settle as we approached Dove Holes. It's a 30 minute walk. It occured to us that if the snow kept falling that roads may become blocked and we might end up staying the night.  This was not an appealing prospect as there is no bed in the house, and apart from tea, coffee and a half bottle of St Emilion, we have no food. When we got back we packed some more wood from the dismantled wardrobes into the car. We tried to turn just above our house but the car skidded so we carried on up the hil...