A mild panic is starting to set in. After getting watertight in July, August has seen the house suddenly starting to look like you could actually live in it again. So much so that in another few weeks we plan to move the rest of our stuff in. Have we even booked a van?!!

At least one thing has stayed the same, finishing as we started with our eco obsession with insulation. Our final lorry load of insulation in August was for the external solid wall insulation to be wrapped around the bungalow’s three remaining original white walls.

Easy and quick to install, the black foam insulation boards must have alarmed the neighbours as they turned the house a stealth plane black. My god, were Goths who wanted to remain invisible to radar moving into the village? Fortunately the final over coats of waterproof render soon returned the look of the house to normal.

External wall insulation is quickly screwed on, turning the house black, before the weather proof render finish.

And as the outside was being completed, so to the inside started to look habitable, as Emma took charge of the interior design with its mind-bending choices of near identical shades of white paint.

The engineered wood floor went in downstairs finishing the last element of the underfloor heating, radiators appeared upstairs, bathrooms were tiled and appliances installed.

Now, I know we have proselytized the worship of insulation over eco-bling, but in all honesty the male heart could only race on the installation of the solar heating plant.

The solar plant comes with pipes, values and dials worthy of a starship, albeit a sort of Victorian cyberpunk starship.

So it’s on with the dungarees, give a manly tap on the dials, and bring on the removal van!

At last, some big boys toys arrive in the shape of the solar thermal plant!