Apr - digging out the basement

Ropes and pulleys were required but a hundred years of sawdust needs to be removed.

It's dark down here!

The good news is that there is a sump, the bad news is that it fills with water when ground water levels are high.
Not entirely unexpected, but something else to deal with.

Before

After

After

That's quite a spoil heap!

Mar - new door

Fed up with all and sundry just wandering around to the back of the house, I have requested (and got) a new door, so everyone will just have to ring the doorbell and enter via the front door now like normal people.