Funny Bin

Loving this sticker for our Bin, hopefully it will bring a smile or two.

Supposed to be a Camel

Front of House

Chimney Gone!

The leaking chimney has been removed. No point keeping it if there isn't even a fireplace. The Bad News is that it will probably take a few years for the wall to dry out and we will have to take the plaster off one wall in our bedroom. The Good News is that the builder found Wattle and Daub up there which is really interesting as we don't really know how old this cottage is. It's certainly had a couple of extensions but this means that it could date back to the medieval ages. He thinks it could have been some sort of workshop as there is a lot of soot up there. Lee has found an old rock with iron in it in the garden. Could be some sort of connection there?

From Dawn 'till Dusk

Chimney Removed

Lovely Rocks

Another patch cleaned and we found lots of lovely Big Rocks. Really needed to clean this border so that we can plan our archery range. Targets are going to go on the side of the Garage which means we will be shooting down towards the targets. At least now we can see what's going on. There's lots of Crocosmia and plants emerging, which will stay on the left and lots of Ivy and a low Conifer on the right, this will stay also and some of the rocks will be put back once we are finished. We are planning to put some steps down the middle. Lee found 4 frogs!

Lovely Big Rocks

Border Trimmed Back

Pond Border

The cleaning continues in the border by the pond.

Lee has taken the old wheelbarrow to try and fix it up as the wheel has fallen off and some of it is rotten. He's also put in a wooden line edge so the grass doesn't get into the border so quickly and moved some big hefty rocks into the border.

Some overgrown plants were given a hard prune as they were too tall and leggy and I've moved some of the little plants like 'Lungwort" into little groups. There's quite a few ferns in here too so should look nice and full by the Summer.

This border already has a Mahonia, Forest Flame, Fuchsia, Azaleas, some lovely Ferns, Hardy Geraniums, a few Rockery plants and an established Weeping Cherry. Acquilegia is between some of the shrub roots so these will stay and also the little Primroses for the bees. I've planted some Irises, a tiny Magnolia Tree, Witch Hazel and Poppies.  There were a few Lupins in the Vegetable patch so I've moved these over as well. I'm just waiting for some evergreen plants to arrive and then I can finish this off.

There are a couple of not so healthy roses so I've dug these out and will replant them somewhere else as they don't seem to be doing very well here. I'd also like to put some ferns just behind the pond to soften up the back edge.

Before Photo

Before Photo

Before Photo

Rebuilt Wall End and found a Toad

Before

After

Behind the Caravan

This isn't a very exciting area at the moment. I've cleared it and raked it all over and put carpet down to stop some of the weeds coming through until we are ready to turf it when the frosts are gone.

At the back of the caravan I've just plonked some Laurel stems in the ground and I'm hoping for some heavenly intervention. Lee has planted a couple of lovely old honeysuckles from the Little Orchard fingers crossed they recover and grow in their new place.

Before Photo

Carpet Down

Back of Caravan

Nice Clean Path

A couple of Llamas having a look

Old Garden Chairs and Table to be Painted

Have Counted 8 Llamas altogether

Reinforcing the Dog Fence

Luna got excited a while back when my cousin stopped by with her little girl and wanted to come with us for a walk around the rest of the garden. He started to chew the wire fence and tried to stick his head through the trellis gate so a little deterrent and reinforcement was carried out :)

Lee Reinforcing the Fence

Luna supervising as usual

This is Lee smiling

Willow Sticks

Just after Christmas I bought some Willow sticks to fill in the gaps in the hedging. I thought this would be a good idea as we can also used the wood for kindling. They are all shooting lovely, but then I found out that they might interfere with our drainage system so I've had to take quite a few out and replant them into pots. We'll just have to see how these do. I moved them to the Log Store Corner. This could work out quite well as we can chop them back for kindling and it makes the Log Corner a lot more cosy. I removed the Trellis fence as it was a bit crooked and planted a couple of the existing climbing roses here. Nothing much to see here yet but I'll update when they've grown up a bit.

Before Photo

Willow Pots in Place behind little hedge

Bin Sticker

Just waiting for this to come - love it!

Camel Sticker from Ebay

Little Wildlife Border

This little border is just at the end of the Orchard and because the bins are going in front, I've decided to leave it for the Wildlife but tidy it up a bit first. I've planted a lovely holly tree that doesn't get too large (and it has black stems) so the birds can feast on the berries (hopefully it will have berries) a Bleeding Heart bush, some Foxgloves and Aquilegia and a tiny Magnolia and Camelia. There's plenty of Periwinkle, some Primroses, Wild Strawberries, Bulbs and a few Nettles in there too.

Messy Border Before Photo

Messy Border Before Photo

Messy Border After Photo

Messy Border After Photo

Messy Border After Photo

Plant Swap

I joined a few of the local groups on Facebook and as I am over-run with Crocosmia, Aquilegia, Primroses and Strawberries, I decided to put some bags on for grabs. Three lovely ladies contacted me and these plants will be going to good homes. I'm hoping to get a couple of lovely Buddleia's in return.

Presentation isn't wonderful but they are FREE

And some Aquilegia, Primroses and Strawberries

In the meantime I had a brainwave on how to use the rest of the Crocosmia and have decided to plant them all in the grass verge at the front of the house. Another border to dig, but hopefully this border will have Nil maintenance (except for cleaning next Spring) and Lee won't need to mow it - bonus! I think it will look really nice even if some of the grass comes up between the clumps.

Plant Shopping

I've got 3 Big borders left to do (plus the grass verge outside) and there are not enough plants to fill them up so I've done a little internet shopping from a mail order catalogue company called 'JParkers'. Prices are really reasonable and much cheaper than going to the garden centre for the amount I will need.

16 plants

and 13 Free!

The Roses and Quince are going to go on the left hand side of the garden to deter Luna from going too near the fence. The 3 Dwarf Rhododendrons and Free Lillies will go in the pond border. Might put one of the Sky Rockets in there too for some much needed height. That leaves the Black Pussy Willow, 2 Sky Rockets and Free Rhododendron for the border in the open area of the garden that will screen off our archery range.

I spent around £56 for 16 plants so I'm not expecting them to be large specimens or have instant impact. In time they will grow and fill out but I'm secretly hoping they won't be too small.

Really looking forward to receiving these and it's given me some much needed inspiration to carry on in the garden. Better get cleaning and digging those flower beds (no easy task) and I'm still doing the border by the Little Orchard!

Old House Photos from 2012

This is interesting. I found some photos of how the house looked in 2012. Looking forward to the Summer when everything is green and lush.

Decoupage Table

This is my first attempt at decoupage on furniture, so not quite sure how it's going to turn out.

The caravan has a dining table and little coffee table but the tops are pretty worn out. As a temporary measure I thought I would try and save them by giving them a bit of a makeover. I've got some old Pulp Fiction magazines and love the illustrations and advertisements that are in them so decided to use 3 of them for this project.

Selected Images and Text

Small Coffee Table

Pages Glued down

Waiting for Bubbles to dry out

I used Home Made Mod Podge from PVA and Water. 3 parts glue to 1 part water.

I noticed some bubbles during the drying process but once dried these went down except for the glossy pages. I've tried slitting them and glueing them back down but some of them are still there. May have to have another go or maybe get the iron out :) Worse case scenario try and sand them out but I will lose some of the text.

I used Antique Pine gloss to seal everything and give it a bit of colour. I'm not sure whether I like them or not, they are a bit 'orangey' but will have to do for the moment. Hopefully they will look okay with place mats on.

Close Up

Edges Trimmed Off

1st Coat of Varnish

3rd Coat of Varnish

4th Coat of Varnish

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