About Me

Saturday 18 October 2014

Autumn Garden clearance

Well, it's now over halfway through October and there is no longer any denying that summer has been and gone.  My veg patch was looking a bit sad as things died off and the jasmine had gone a bit bonkers so we took a few hours this afternoon to tidy up a bit...  Ian kindly took some photos as I'm always behind the camera so it looks like I don't do anything!!

Last courgette of the season:




Couple of beetroot left...



Planted my kale seedlings out for winter


The PSB has been a total disaster this year, really...


Last few carrots


The promise of a tiny bit of PSB if it holds out that long, it's meant to be a summer variety not an over-winter one!


Ian hacking back the jasmine:


The Japanese maple is nearly over, but is looking glorious in the meantime:




Berries:


Berries and ivy:


No idea why my roses are still blooming...



Last few tomatoes and my one and only pepper which has never ripened!


Saturday 11 October 2014

Sunroom no more

We have wonderful friends!  Sophie and Patrick are staying for the weekend and working for their bed and board :)  Today's task was to dismantle the "sunroom" on the back of the house.  It's basically a greenhouse, single glazed panes of glass from floor to ceiling, with a plastic roof.  It's freezing cold in winter and boiling hot in summer, overgrown with passionflower and overrun with spiders.

Here's a photo that shows the sunroom from when we viewed the house in August 2013:


And here's the photos of our hard work today:

Scoping out the situation before clearing the contents:


Cutting back the passionflower:



Taking the doors off took the longest:







Look no glass!


Removing the panes of glass one at a time - they weren't held in by much!  Each side was between 2-4 panes of glass and some sort of board at the bottom.


Tackling the roof was a little more complex:




Aaaand it's down!




Ripping up the edging metal strips, which were screwed into the brick:


Some of the mess:


Last piece, fixed to the wall with a bazillion screws:


View from inside - sunlight!


Hammering down the metal flashing.  We'll probably take this out and patch the mortar in due course:


More mess:


Done!  5 hours later.  Team photo :D


We were so lucky with the weather - a crisp October day, the sun was so hot!


View from the master bedroom:


There are vague plans for a big garden overhaul at some point, so until then this will probably stay as a slightly raised concrete patio...

Thank you Sophie and Patrick you are wonderful friends!!! xxxx


Friday 10 October 2014

Cushions!

Back in June I went to an evening class run by See it. Love it. Make it. (http://www.seeitloveitmakeit.co.uk/) to learn to make a cushion cover.  I hadn't used a sewing machine for over 10 years but it went surprisingly well!

I've been procrastinating over splashing out but I have given in and bought a sewing machine - so exciting!


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Today is a good day :D

A few weeks ago in the Laura Ashley sale I bought a metre of the fabric our living room curtains are made from, and this evening I combined the two and made cushions :)


They have zips and everything!


Chuffed!



In other-things-I've-made-with-my-sewing-machine news, on Wednesday evening I also made a doorstop from felt for the study door, which kept swinging about halfway closed:



Quite proud of myself so far!