Chapter 6 - And then… weather!

It is almost a year to the day that Husband and I drove down to Bexhill to view a building in St Leonards Road. Enthusiasm? Very little. But with the view that one should always keep an open mind. As recounted in Chapter 1 of Beginners Bexhill, it was not the best of days to see this property, indeed any property and my immediate reaction was….NEXT!

12 months later, we have rented out our house in London for a year in order to get to grips with the extensive repair and restoration work on our building that has been neglected and unloved for many years. All was going pretty smoothly actually, we had progressed slowly but surely with the aim of getting my shop open before Christmas.

And then, we encountered weather! The first massive downfall with whipping winds revealed holes in the roof, walls, floors, windows, doors…..everywhere you could imagine. Yep, we had grossly underestimated the elements when living by the sea. But, we will not be downhearted. As I write this husband is outside clearing gutters and repairing leaky bits. All will be well!

Actually, there is one very grown up thing we have had installed in the shop recently to combat every kind of temperature variable. AN AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM. No, don’t laugh, this is going to be the answer to the damp, the condensation, and will create a warmy shop in the winter and a cooly shop in the summer. Grown up? Well yes, because we have never had to think long term before and buy such a big piece of expensive equipment that is part of the fabric of the building. When you rent it is always someone else’s call.