Regular readers of this blog will know that one of my principal objectives when I bought Nettie was to discover how much of the “hard” work involved the renovation I could do myself.

When I say “hard”, I mean the stuff that’s normally done by tradespeople like masons, carpenters and the like as opposed to work like decorating.

I’d already figured out that one of the main obstacles is that most tools (like many things in life) are designed with men in mind. The weight and size of them, in particular handles and grips, are made for masculine hands (and masculine strength).

Not to be too sexist about it of course. Many women have larger hands and are as strong as men. And I’m reasonably fit and strong myself. But the fact is, I’m fairly petite.

For the past week or so I’ve been working on Nettie’s façade, trying to chip away the old concrete render so that she can be repointed (using lime mortar from Mike Wye of course).

For the moment I’ve admitted defeat; the roofer’s scaffold is awkwardly placed as it wasn’t put up to access the façade, and progress is too slow.

I find it almost impossible (and therefore too dangerous) to hold the power chisel above waist height as it’s so heavy. Also, I’ve removed enough of the façade to know that the job is worth doing properly, and that means calling in someone with more experience and better tools to help me complete the job.

This power chisel was very good value at around £80 but is super heavy...

So the façade’s on hold until Monsieur Voisin the mason can come on site and erect a more suitable scaffold. He'll work alongside me to get the rest of the stuff off.

In the meantime, I’ve been busy inside removing the old mortar from the gable end walls on the top floor where the bedroom will be. My intention is to leave these exposed – I’m hoping that I can apply a breathable sealant when they’re finished.

I started off using a small lump hammer and plugging chisel as I’d been shown at Mike Wye, working to remove the mortar joint by joint, but this proved slow work and I kept bashing my finger.

Having watched me struggle for a while, Guillaume the roofer suggested trying a mortar pick instead, and this process was much easier as the old mortar is extremely crumbly. You simply whack it with the chisel end and it comes off easily; you then scrape out the joints with the pointed end.

It took two days to complete one wall, but I hope you’ll agree it’s been worth it!

The eye protection proved essential as did the dust mask, but if anyone knows how to stop the goggles from steaming up I’d be grateful. I’ve taken to wearing them in rotation so that I can actually see what I’m doing.

In other news I’ve taken fifteen sacks of rubble to the tip so far, so have bought a small trailer so that I can load up more slowly and do one trip at a time.

Guillaume has turned out to be a big fan of zinc and he’s trimmed Nettie’s new grey-green slate hat with silver – I think she looks stunning.