Update - Bedroom 2

 

 

The radiator has now been sandblasted and spray painted.

Jon just needs to connect the pipes etc.

I have repaired the chair - but have plans for the rug.

Wardrobe assembled - yet to be organised.

The curtains have been altered.

I have plans for this card - I want to have it framed.

There is an air-vent in the room - behind a picture my SIL bought me a couple of years ago.

Pleased with the new carpet.

My favourite piece is the washstand.

 

Love the new wardrobe.

 

Jon put the wardrobe together over a period of 3 nights - an hour a night I would say, so the DIY/Flatpack skills are once again on the go - so it's a shame not to use these skills so today we are going to Ikea to buy a daybed.........watch this space!

M is for memories.

Whilst I was de-cluttering the second bedroom (27th fast approaching) I came across several rolls of undeveloped 35mm films. We had no idea what was in store but here are a few of the garden back in 1995.

The garden wall before I spent 6 weeks working to get the grass out.

and how it looks now - on the left before an afternoon's work - and after on the right. Now it's just a maintenance job rather than anything like the initial clearing above.

Our beloved geese, Jo, Peggy and Dolly - we had over 15 years with these chaps.

Now we have this - notice the area opposite the chimney pot......

back in 1995 we had the old gate and concrete path, together with a holly bush to the left....

Now the path is long gone and what was the soiled area has been turfed over. The tiny holly bush has now become a 15 foot tree! The birds love it so much we are keeping it that height.

So yes, a lot of happy memories and many changes in the garden.

Sunday was one of the nicest days we have had in a while. I was tempted to go out with Jon on the motorbike as those opportunities have to be taken - but in the end I decided to spent the afternoon working on the front verge. What a lovely time I had - neighbours were stopping and chatting, people were stopping in their cars to comment and all in all I really felt people would be watching in the Spring for the bulbs to emerge.

I am getting rather obsessive with the bulb situation. daffodils are so cheap at the moment - and in such great quantities - I bought a couple of sacks of yellow species, 2 sacks of mixed varieties, some tulips and more tulips are to come. I plan mixing them all up together - oh and a few packets of wild flower seeds too!

Watch this space!

My M contribution for ABC Wednesday.

Progress.

Thirteen stairs make up our staircase - I know this for a fact due to the countless times I have staggered down stairs with a box destined for the charity shop.

Facebook is an excellent instant solution to finding homes for :-

Hatbox
Filing Cabinet
8 shelves
Cat bed

Yes I am on a mission and I am enjoying it all - very cathartic. The room is becoming emptier by the day, the charity shop is happy, my friends daughter is happy due to the boxes of crafty bits I pass over on a regular basis and I am happy.

One slight change to plan - we are just concentrating on the one room now. Jon uses the 3rd bedroom as his office so the disruption that would be caused if we tried to clear two rooms in one go needs to be avoided. What will happen is once the room is cleared, stripped and plastered it will be left a week to dry. Jon will re-locate into it, allowing me to strip the 3rd bedroom and get the plasterer in. Once finished and dried out then we will decorate both rooms.

The third bedroom has the access door to the loft......ahem!

The loft needs emptying too!

Watch this space - must get on!

K if for Kofta, Kheema and Korma

For Mother's Day this Sunday, the family are coming here for a curry festival - a change from a traditional dinner. Curries are so much easier to prepare in advance and freeze, so that on the day itself I can load up the heated trolley next to the dining table and enjoy time with the family. I did the curry festival last year and decided to try a few new curries......Click on the links below to see ingredients.

Kheema Curry (Beef) with Saffron Rice

Kofta Biryani

Korma

This is my K contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Kitchen Stuff

A couple of weeks ago I was at a coffee morning for Macmillan Nurse Fund Raising at a neighbours. It took place in her new kitchen. Like ours the units were white but the entire kitchen felt so much more homely than ours. Artwork hung on the walls and various trinkets and accessories brought the place to life.

So I have decided to inject some "soul" into our kitchen.
We went up to Ikea and bought a kitchen island and I love it. It's a great transitional piece of kit as when the Rayburn is not on ie warm days/summer we use the electric oven so it's good to be able to put pans and dishes onto the surface - on a stand ofcourse, rather than walk over to the granite worktops - ideally placed next to the Rayburn.

The duck-egg blue of the Rayburn is very in vogue at the moment so I have been buying bits and bobs from charity shops and sales.

In sharp contrast I bought this large canvas print for £4 - bargain.

Watch this space!

Meanderings.

For a change from the daily beach expedition a couple of friends and I went for a good old "blow the cobwebs away" walk to Runswick Bay.
 

I parked in Runswick Bay and we went across the old railway track. The views were quite magnificent.
 

Bing was in his element.
 

Once we had passed the old station he enjoyed running around the old tracks.


 

He had a new companion for the day, Lola.
 

As we walked along the track we could see the bay.

 

Further on, the coastal view of the surrounding moorland.
 

Frances grew up in the area and knows all the walks - we will be going on more of these walks in the future.




I picked some elderberries for the gals. Eva, Olwyn and Mabel are moulting at the moment so have stopped laying eggs.
 

 

 Bev however still gives us our daily blue egg.
It is evident from the amount of feathers in the henhouse that the others are moulting.
Not one black feather!

For more M's follow the link in my sidebar to ABC Wednesday.

L is for landscapes on our doorstep.

The opportunities for fantastic walks are endless - a great start to any day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more ABC adventures visit the link in my sidebar.

To Dye for!

The results from my dying adventure! Well pleased.

Oh and the latest one of Bing - Elsie has showed him what he has to do if he wants feeding! What a star eh?

Purple is the new magnolia.

We have lived in our current house for nearly 22 years. I would say for 20 years the main colour throughout was magnolia. Then everything changed when I fell in love with these curtains......

When we embarked on the mammoth updating of the house a couple of years ago I used the curtains as the theme and inspiration for the decoration throughout the house.

The most exciting colour I used was Farrow & Ball's Brassica!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are now working upstairs. The lounge carpet is Aubergine and when we have redecorated all the bedrooms, installed a new bathroom we will be able to have a new hall stairs and landing carpet fitted - and yes it will be aubergine.

 

The bathroom suite will be white, all the tiles will be neutral but the towels will be purple - various shades of purple. Whilst our current towels are still soft and useable for many years to come the whiteness had faded. I have dyed them all! A frugal saving yet now I have a lovely collection of purple towels! Not a white towel or a magnolia wall in sight!

 

Watch this space!