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329a false ceiling and plaster boarded it. This was not easy as it was high up, and the pieces of plasterboard were larger than UK ones. In fact, I became an expert in moving large heavy bits of building material about. Downstairs the toilet was revamped and a washing machine plumbed in. This required a fair bit of replumbing and at the same time I incorporated a degreasing tank prior to the septic tank. I built a new kitchen. Initially cooking had been on a camping stove, but I eventually put in a gas hob with the gas piped in from a bottle in the barn. The floors were all tiled and much of the walls plastered.Just about the last thing I did was build a staircase. I bought the oak from a timber yard which planed it but did not square it which gave me a lot of extra work. I had designed it all myself and when it was ready collected it on my trailer, but then I found that I could not lift the stringer into position as it was too heavy, so I had to cut it in half and bolteach half to the wall separately. I was not confident that my measuring would be all that accurate and so decided to start it at the top. Thus, and odd step would be at the bottom which would be safer. To begin with I used a ladder to get to the bottom stair which was then halfway up. Harry was most unimpressed at this design as he could not get upstairs where he knew that I had a bed. When it was finished he raced up stairs but then slipped on the oak steps coming down. He was not hurt but was more careful after that. It was eventually finished with spindles to the side.Chapter 29By the time that I retired all our children had finished university. Dickon married Celine in 2003. He was living near Bristol at the time and so they had a small wedding in the registry office there. However, the big more formal affair was in France where Celine%u2019s parents had a