2015 - the Year of the House Project with a Bit of Writing Stuff on the Side..

I spent some time today trying to order my thoughts as to which projects to work on this year. And I don't just mean writing...

Mr Squidge and I decided to have a multi-fuel stove installed into our yellow room. (So called because our dining room faces north and is always cold - I painted it bright yellow to warm it up.) As a result, we will have a shallower hearth than we currently have with the 50's tiled fireplace, so we'll need new flooring. And the walls will need repainting. And the curtains will have to be replaced. And the dining room chairs will need recovering because the seats have the old curtain fabric on them... 

It'll look something like this to start with...

...and something like this afterwards. Except this pic doesn't have shelves. Or a dining room table and chairs. Or a computer table. Or a 3D printer...

You know the old thing about starting one job and finding loads more? That's us.

We're also hoping to repoint the external gable end of the house and insulate the same wall internally. Mr Squidge has done the maths and it will apparently take only a thin insulated plasterboard to drastically cut the heat we're losing over the vast expanse of double-brick-with-no-cavity wall. 

This is what I'm expecting...along the length of my hall and up the height of two floors...

Then we'll have to redecorate the hall, landings and stairs - might even end up with stair carpet up to the loft. We've only been up there eight years. Throw in a couple of replacement stained glass windows (currently still the original 1930's metal frames, but we're hoping to get the design copied into double-glazed units) and we'll be done.

We might even have to tackle the lounge - the carpet is threadbare in places and the paintwork needs freshening up. That one might have to wait 'til 2016...

In between all this redecorating and inevitable furniture shifting, there's the writing stuff.

I've said before that Granny Rainbow 2 will be published this year. There'll also be another Random Writer's Anthology, but I don't know yet whether I'll have anything to offer for submission or if my involvement will stop at proofreading. 

I need to work on my website, get it up to date. In fact, I'm wondering whether I even need a website... Decided I need a website fairy to do it for me. (Applications in writing please. *winks*)

I've got one school author visit lined up for March, with three other potential visits. I'm hoping that this year I can make more connections with local schools. 

Oh yes...and there'll be writing. New stuff and old-to-be-revamped. But Granny remains my priority at the moment, so I'll pencil in the rest for later.

So what projects have you got lined up this year? I'd love to know. Drop me a line in the comments below and share what you're planning...