Winter 2013

I'll get around to some pics of the new floor soon, but in the meantime my terrace now has railings

 

...  a great place to catch the sun in winter or the shade in summer.

The Hot Tub has arrived

I am not joking, we now have a beautiful hot tub in the garden ready for days when its good to warm up rather then use the pool to cool down!

Its now fully installed, full of water and well covered until needed, hopefully not too soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, the local bees are flocking to the hen run for drinking water ... we can't decide if hens can be stung but we are being very careful! 

 

And as you can see Ali still loves her private paddling pool.

Getting ready for the new floor

We've been busy these last few days (and more days will be needed yet) clearing the front of the house for the new floor in what will be the kitchen/family-room/hall. The burner, soon to be tucked away somewhere safe for a few weeks, looks a little lonely now most of the temporary units have been moved.

Up on the first floor my terrace now has plants -agaves, succulents and a number of those ubiquitous spider plants that just seem to go on and on - all capable of surviving in the heat and tolerating only the occasional spot of attention. The handrail is awaited ... so for the moment we keep away from the edge.

Writing this on another sunny and very warm evening  -the tomatoes and figs are ripening, our new hens seem very happy although not all are laying at the moment and the cockerel is slowly finding his voice.

2103 Spring and Summer ... some changes

A brief post to catch up with progress here ... mostly these days the changes are small and subtle. Paul has done lots of work on the electrics, James' room is very nearly finished and the well has been restored.

In contrast, and in preparation for the not small and will be obvious work to replace the floor at the front of the house, due to start  in September, Tracey has fitted a door at the end of the hallway.  Seen here from Paul and Tracey's living room, this door was in our Northleach house once upon another time, so great upcycling. 

The garden has acquired inrernal fences to give the dogs lots of room to play in, and to keep them away from the cats, veg beds and hens.

 

 and further down is the pool and barbecue  - essential parts of this heatwave summer.

The New Year Trench

Its the first poor weather day for a very long time and we’ve hired a mini-digger to run a trench for a second electricity supply to the house. Paul & Tracey were out early so by lunchtime there is a large pile of ‘mud’ and a very deep ditch from here

to here

Macca and Crumble were keen to help and Cookie to spectate but eventually they came in out of the mist and watched me light the burner, take down the Christmas tree and make chicken soup!

 

 

Now I’m thinking about a design for quilting the scrap quilt made last spring and now hanging on a temporary design wall while I wait for inspiration. It will be the largest one I’ve quilted so far so I need a quilting pattern that can be repeated and will compliment al those straight lines.