This gallery contains 12 photos.
Been busy making things, blinds for the dinning area and office, replacing incredibly long radiators 3m!!!! in the dining and sitting area for smaller nicer ones that actually give off some heat and installing the first of our hand made new windows/doors. I say I, I really mean Mark as I have been full of […]
I have joined the flower club in Fownhope, this is a once a month meeting in the village hall and usually consists of a visitor giving a demonstration and talk (on a theme) while they create 5-6 displays of all sorts of different inspiring shapes and sizes
So far I have been to 3 of them and really enjoyed the tales and life stories that they have shared and the flowers were all right too!
They raffle off the displays created, which causes much amusement to me, as some of them are huge and you see little ladies carrying them off the village main street!, I have yet to win!!
In January they held the first Workshop lots attended and we got to make an arrangement…. such fun!!
Another word from Mark….
This week has also been busy- shed building! It took two ton bags of ballast mixed with cement to build the concrete base. Then half a day to build the 10′ x 6′ shed. The idea is that garden tools, garden furniture and garden machinery will live in here. Vic thinks I’m going to become an obsessive ‘man and his shed’ now, but have promised not too….well, at least until I get electricity down to it!
Marks first post…….
Today I have removed our bar. It was built in the mid seventies. How do I know this? Because I found a magazine from 1974 inside the stonework. Since we moved into Kingswell Cottage in November 2011, many visitors have commented on the bar, most of them in favour of us keeping it, and particularly intrigued that it seemed to double as an indoor well! Though there was a well winding handle hanging above the bar, this feature has never been a well, or since our arrival, not much of a bar either! We have decided to create a library snug in it’s place- heated floor, bookcases and a comfy chair to sink into. It will also double as the music control point.
So, step one has been achieved. Next we are replacing the old half window/half door with a new full length double glazed window. Then we are going to design and build the shelving. Then I hope by the end of the year we will have reached the stage where it will be finished so we can sit in our snug and read a Sunday paper or listen to music on headphones. Can’t wait!
Looking forward to seeing out a busy 2012, catching up with friends and family and wondering hat 2013 will bring for us!!
On the 12th of the 12th on the 12th year at 12.12 we celebrated a very special wedding of two very special ladies…. Nina and Fiona….. a frosty gorgeous event up in Shropshire with yummy food and plenty of tears.
I was honoured to make the button holes for them (first time of making)
Quite chuffed
…. and there’s more …….Not to mention we had a very rare wkd together and as I was the winner of a local competition, we got to spend the day at Manor Farm by the river fishing….. never been fishing before and strangely always wanted to go. We were so lucky and spent a restful day in the glorious sun shine, away from all the things that need to be done! No fish caught, but thats not the point really…such fun!
Been meaning to write for a while but work on both house and business has put pay to that…..
In the meantime, Mark has been super busy re-landscaping the garden (on his days on fire duty), we now have a super cool 8ft back fence, made from a locally felled Oak tree, from a sustained forest and installed by the very man (Clive) who felled it and planked it, it’s really great to be able to use local resources as they should be.
See photos of muffin and I taking a walk to check out our new boundry line …. More photos of all Marks hard work, ……. and BIG news the compost is nearly built, ohhhh heady dreams of my very own compost….. I don’t know how to use it but just want to fill it!! I do know leaves are very good for a compost and as our beech tree is SOOO big we will never be short of leaves!
I have been making blinds for the bedroom, and hall and very soon you will see a before and after of that! Plus some more up-cycled furniture sourced from a local charity recycling centre….. finally getting some cupboards to put all my crockery in!!
Were did the time go….. and what have we been up too….
I will try do a brief recap:
We did a mad dash of painting the kitchen and bedrooms stripping out all the old carpet were we could assisted by mum and dad!
We replaced the rotten “sole” plate to the rear wall and varies rotten oak posts on the same wall assisted by Pete
We replaced all soffits and fascias and installed the best guttering money could by… dad again!
While the scaffolding was up we made good the windows and did some pointing (not with a finger) but with lime render, big up to Dad on the chimney
We got fixed up to mains gas and had a new boiler installed (after much debate to combi or not)!!
We got a lovely wood burning stove thats fab for cooking on too
We threw paint on the downstairs loo as a temporary fix (for a bit of fun) and painted/sorted out the tilly area a bit more
We planted 200 odd beech hedge trees and installed a fence to the right
We fixed the shed (part of the garage roof) by fibre glassing and making it the water tightest roof ever. Dad too!
We kitted out the shed (above) to have proper shelving a storage
We rescued and up-cyled various bit of furniture for a second lease of life
We made our first proper window blind for the house (main bedroom)
We ordered some replacement key windows to be delivered in the new year
We did an awful lot of tree pulling down and relocating soil in the garden……. and plenty more to come
Some photos attached before can after one year on!! watch this space of more developments
Mark and I have been very lucky to have inherited/be given/donated/scrounge some fantastic bits of furniture.
I am always on the hunt for the next thing to “up cycle” and give new life. The best think about having more space is that it gives me the space to get messy.
So far I have given new life to our bedside tables, 2 little bedside tables for the guest room which were rescued from a bonfire, a broken table and a lovely knee stool.
The big job was the dinning room chairs. I fell in love with fab material that was both modern but with a strong nod to the 1960’s feel of the classic dinning room set mark has. Sadly, the fabric was well over my budget. £300 to do the job
Needless to say I have kept my eye out for any bargains and came across a fantastic one from good old Abakhan in North Wales. A huge role of a delightful teal wool weave plain fabric, perfectly compliments the teak wood and period of the set. and it cost less the £2. A serious bargain for 25m!
Here is my attempt at re upholstery, the buttons were the hardest bit :-)….
The Adventures of Stinky...... 