What a difference a few weeks makes

It's the garden again and we are enjoying lettuce, chard and kale - which is amazing when it is picked fresh and eaten within the hour of picking. Looking forward to onions, broad beans and garlic, when that is eventually ready for picking.

The flowering parts of the gardens are coming on, it takes a while to fill the spaces, and some things are doing better than others.

Here are a few pictures:

alliums and grasses

front beds filling up

broad beans, nearly ready to eat, need a bit more sunshine for everything

Garlic, onions, and somewhere some strawberries

Japanese onions???

spicy lettuce

Chard and kale

We have pleached the leylandii hedge, which gives more space and you can see the herb bed 

Can't believe how long since I last posted, but here is a little bit about the garden

We have been so busy living in the house, and the weather has mostly been appallingly cold and wet, that it has been difficult to do anything outside. However some dryer days saw Mark creating a fence above the wall to the side of the house, to give us a bit of privacy, reusing fences that were around the house when we bought it.  He has now finished it and we are in the process of putting in climbing plants to cover it.  However, the last two hole digging work revealed, under the slabs and a little earth, more concrete - we will have to investigate more, to see what this concrete is covering!!!!!

We have been purchasing more plants for the planned black and white garden to the side of the front path, and a few plants for the other side, where the grasses are.  Not sure how some of the grasses are doing, the black ones might go back to the black and white garden.

The plants purchased yesterday have been put into position (after I took these photos), but it is too wet (again) to plant them without solidifying the bed they go into.

So, here are a few pictures of the fence, and the gardens:

view from kitchen window

What, a little sunshine

winter flowers by the front door

you can just make out the fencing.....

and here it has some ivy pulled over, a honeysuckle and some new ivies with pretty leaves

Chair finished

Well, with Christmas coming and presents to make or finish off the photo of the chair has been delayed.  Here it is, and mighty comfortable it is.

Here are a few of the deconstruction pictures!

Well, happy new year everyone, don't know if I will add more to the blog or not as we seem to be finished now.

Just to add a note to the 'anonymous' responders.  Please don't, your responses just go to spam and are deleted.......

Pictures at last..... just waiting for the door closer!

The shelves and cupboard under the worktop and sink are finished at last, here is some of the progress:

starting the construction

waiting for the shelves to dry and the door to be hung

all done!

a new bin and a box for washing materials

Next item on list is restoring the second mid 20th Century chair we have managed to purchase for the great sum of £20.  

Looking forward to using it at Christmas.

This week we have been mostly

building shelves and a cupboard under the kitchen sink,

photos will follow once I have time to upload them, and have dusted off the sawdust.......

Very busy, living life - will be back again soon

The garage painting is now completely finished, and new guttering up.  All very tasteful!  But it really lightens the garden up.  As you can see it was very misty, but it looks good when the sun is shining.

And we have now loaded the wood store with logs from Winton Estate

The replacement Coxdome (the original one has condensation in it) has arrived and is waiting to be installed, now we have the installation instructions.  Not sure if we will attempt to do it or get our roofer to do it for us.....

This is what it looked like when it was first installed 

And how it is now - so the condensation problem has not improved (photos to come once the new one is in place).

Mark's retirement bench from his Training for Care colleagues has arrived and looks very handsome - thanks to www.taylorandgreen.co.uk

and VALUED

well.... that was good news, and we have now had the house valued for insurance purposes, and that was satisfactory.

Now working on the garden to make it more attractive i.e. painting the rather dismal grey of the garage, to liven the garden up, we hope.

Dull day, but dry, thank goodness.

Here are some pics.

RECEIVED

We have the completion certificate!  

We have also had the bottom of the 'garage' harled (pebble dashed) where it had fallen off.  No picture because it is now pouring with rain.

I will add occasional posts to this blog, as we develop the house and garden.

Thank you all for looking, and come back occasionally.

Still waiting

But, have received acknowledgement that the paperwork has been received!

And waiting.......

No sign of the Completion Certificate yet.

But watch this space.  Will be a celebration when it comes.

Still Waiting for Completion Certificate

Have been having some problems with the computer and pictures, so no posts for a while.

We are still waiting for the Completion Certificate, having had the corrected drawings done.  All in due course!!!

In the meantime we have been away and have come back and started on the raised beds, which hopefully will be productive fairly soon.

We have also bought some new rugs, a small kelim for the hall (not much space for opening doors over a rug) and a larger greenish Gabbeh, which is wool, but is not vegetable dyed as this fades with the strong sunlight.  All nice and cosy for the winter!

We have also dug in the cable for the electrics to the garage and studio.

All pictures self explanatory, I think.

Completion Certificate

Just waiting for a drawing, and to send some information re the stove to Building Control, and we should be done!!

Did we ever think the day would come!

Half way through April

As promised, some pictures...........

raising the raised beds 1

2

and 3

bedroom curtains

totally whacky

the bargain IKEA chair with its retro cover

birthday plants!

birthday flowers (from good Friday)

Easter Sunday

Sorry its been over a month since last update.  

Think we have been busy, finished curtains and put them up.
Had a birthday.
Made a cover for an armchair.
Started work on the raised beds (the timber came on Friday)
Mark finished pickaxing the impacted earth in the gardens by the front door and I have planted up the grasses that I had, but am waiting to condition the soil before planting anything else.  

So, not much news really!!

Here are some pictures.

grasses planted up and group turned over

plants waiting to go in second bed

timber and the start of the raised beds

Will put some pictures up soon of the fabric projects.