Best wishes for Xmas 2021 & all of 2022

Christmas lights - in the garden and on the tree. 

Keep well and have a jolly time over Christmas; fingers crossed for a fabulous year ahead.

Season's Greetings!

Gardening - a little bit more

The Rockery: we've added some more rocks and placed a few plants in pots to (hopefully) see us over the winter and we might order some sand and more stones to cover the foreground. 

Elsewhere, we have planted some decorative grasses between the house and the workshop, to divide the garden. 

You can see that the soil is not great (we've ordered a soil testing kit - bit late, I know). The steps to the workshop are a temporary measure but just look at the piles of stones raked away from the planted area! 

Between the grasses, we've planted some primroses and a mixed bulb selection for next spring. 

We have also placed some solar-powered lights which look pretty on these dark nights. 

So that's the gardening done for now until the next sunny day over 10° celcius. 

Back to concentrating on interior décor in the run-up to Christmas! 

Featured... Features!

Latest... Our glass doors installation has been featured in SunSeeker Doors' company news https://www.sunseekerdoors.co.uk/news/case-study-new-build/ 

Our garden activities are nearing the end for this year as it's now Autumn and not much fun being out there in the cold and rain. On the subject of rain, we've noticed that a couple of areas of patio have dips and some of our steps from patio to studio are not level - the rain forms puddles instead of running off - so this will be another job next spring - somewhat disppointing.

Lots of hoeing and raking has taken place (so many stones!), we've attempted to set up a rockery and some plants have been donated by family and friends. 

Preparing soil:

Rockery project:

Our intention is to put plants towards the middle and back of the area and leave the front as stones and sand, as a kind of patio extension.

Admittedly it just looks like a pile of discarded concrete at the moment!

More hoeing and raking! More photos of plant gifts:

There may be fewer (if any) posts from now to spring so we'll sign off by wishing you all best for the winter! 

Grey Log Cabin Studio

Apologies for the late, rushed post! We've finished the preservative coats and the studio has had it's first colour coat. The blinds are installed and the electricians should be here next month. 

We've had a lot of rainly days this summer and haven't spent as much time on the garden as we would have liked. We've been attempting to do our own 'landscaping' and tree/shrub management, as the professionals all seem to be booked up. So many large stones! Ah, well, keeps us fit... :) 

Garden Studio

We ordered a garden studio / summer house (call it what you will) a few weeks ago and it has now been been deliered and erected. It was from Skinners - they have a local site at a garden centre not far from us and they will accommodate some customisation. For example, we wanted a side window added - no probem! The windows are double-glazed, tilt-and turn, which we like. 

A series of photographs, below, shows the build process: 

We chose a sturdy option with 44mm interlocking panels for the out-building. It requires two-to-four coats of preservative (we've applied one so far) then we can paint it. We've chosen slate grey to blend in with the house and patio colours - it will be a few weeks before we can show you the results. 

At the moment, there is no electicity connected but we have contacted the electrician who worked on the house. Lights and sockets are needed and we're considering what form of heating is best for the winter. Following the recent heat-wave, we are also wondering about air-conditioning, if we can install a cost-effective unit. 

Well, that's it for now - hopefully more progress to report next month. Wishing you a lovely summer! 

Gates and Lights

 

Aluminium Gates in Anthracite Grey.

Welcome to our home! We finally moved in this month. Still bits to do but it's habitable and very pleasant, especially with Summer just around the corner. Here is a selection of external photographs.

SunSeeker UltraSlim doors in anthracite grey

The image above is of the lounge before we cluttered it with our furniture! You can see the log burner reflected in the door glass and the panel blinds we bought on-line, taking a chance on the colour (neutral), and the grey oak laminate flooring. 

We've taken some night time shots, too, showing the external lights through the gates and on the front of the house.

More still to come, including:

• Internal photographs;
• New out-building (scheduled for July);
• Garden project, ongoing... 

Thanks for taking an interest.

Update: driveway paved, removal company booked

 

Our lovely light grey paviors are now in place on our driveway hardstanding and the gates have been delivered to be installed next week. Our recycling and rubbish bins have been supplied by the local council and broadband is in.

Packing has begun (about 50 boxes so far) and the removal company has been booked for next month. 

It seems like this is happening, at last!