We've got the builders in.

We decided on our return to the UK that we'd stay in our former family home until the time comes for us to downsize and possible do away with stairs and a garden.

We love living in Malvern and our location is perfect, we looked around at other properties and even put an offer in one one place, but then we looked a the costs of solicitors, removal firms, stamp duty, estate agent fees plus all the work we'd want to do to personalise the new place. So we decided to stay put.

We had a new kitchen fitted last year, the guttering, drain pipes and fascias have all been replaced. We've done a couple of other repairs and we're having a single story extension built.

Before

After

Back in 2005 we converted the garage to a dining room and converted the loft to make an extra 2 bedrooms. But we've never had enough downstairs space. The conservatory was off the lounge and as the garden is North facing, it never got any sun and was too cold in the winter to use, so it's come down, a new room is off the dining room and outside the lounge doors (which are being replaced also) there will be a covered seating area.

We found these builders at a trade stand at The 3 Counties Autumn Fair in 2022. We paid £500 for plans and drawings up front and the rest is due upon completion around 4 weeks after the build starts.

Before

View from inside

View from outside

The work started while we were away, we came home to this 3 days after the work started.

We then went away for another two days and came home to this:

This was Monday.

This was Tuesday - one week on.

The work went really quickly after that, with two fitters, two plasterers and 2 electricians and on day 13 they were gone. I made the payment over the phone at 4pm, all the rubbish tidied and the skip was collected on the Monday morning.

Now the hard work begins. The plaster and the floor is still drying. Peter is in the middle of laying a new patio. The lawn has dried up a little, then it's painting, tiling the floor and moving the furniture in.

I received no compensation for the post, just want to sign post you to Dunraven for a job well done.

Things to do on August Bank Holiday Weekend in the UK

We certainly won't be going out this weekend, other than walking the dog and we'll even stay away from the Malvern Hills that are on our doorstep, as there are just too many people on them on weekends, let alone a bank holiday one.

We may see our grandchild, either at theirs in the Forest of Dean of they'll come here, but it'll be garden based weather permitting, if not, it'll be indoors where both houses have plenty of room to socially distance in, grandchild permitted.

So what else will we be doing to entertain ourselves?

• BBQ regardless of the weather. We've got a large umbrella outside to BBQ under
• Proper breakfast at the table (there's room for two inside, while we plan our new kitchen and use the dining room for storage)
• Picnic lunches in the garden or conservatory
• TV dinners
• Movies
• Pamper sessions (for me) 5 mins peace and quiet for Peter
• DIY in the shed for Peter
• There are photos and pictures to be hung on the wall
• Hang curtain tracks in spare room and conservatory (Peter) Make curtains (Me)
• Letter writing for Postcards of Kindness
• Eating chocolate, cakes, biscuits, drinking alcohol
• More TV and rest

Do you have any plans?

My garden in July and plans for August

I've really enjoyed gardening in July, finally all the hard work has paid off and now it's just regular mowing and light weeding, in the back garden at least. I still need to do an awful lot of work out the front.

All around Malvern there have been Hollyhocks growing. I'd really like to get some for next year for the front garden, any suggestions on where I can get them from?

The new border I dug is a little over crowded, but I've cut the shrubs back now and have beans growing up the canes and installed on obelisk for my second batch of peas. 

I was given a green house by a friend for my birthday. I've taken cutting from the Bay tree, which used to belong to my husbands grandmother and I've dug the strawberry plants up to put in there for next spring. The tomatoes are growing well and I have cucumber and pumpkins in flower

Family and friends have been sharing their harvests also. Mange tout from a friend and raspberries from my Daughter in Law.

I flavoured some gin with a raspberry infusion

Then ate the gin soaked raspberries with yogurt, they were delicious.

There's still a lot of work to do with the lawn, it's patchy and is really bumpy, but a good mow improves the look.

We've had our house rented out for the past 9 years, apart from major repairs from damage caused by tenants, something has been 'misplaced' after occupancy. Ladders, white goods and on this last tenancy, the lawn mower, lump hammer and some other tools. It would appear no one has a use for a scythe this days, including us.

I've managed to break a few tools that I purchased, but I only arrived in the UK during lockdown and only managed to purchase cheap equipment. I borrowed the neighbours mower before ordering one online and have since replaced the cheaper tools for more sturdier ones

I spent some time helping a friend out with her garden for the kids and created an area for a mud kitchen for the 3 year old twins. The twins helped with the weeding and digging while mum and dad worked.

I came home with a swing and a car for our grandchild, they will be dismantled and taken over on the weekend.

Jobs for August.

A friend dropped off half a tonne of rockery stone from her garden.

I need to tidy this area up and build a screen for the wheelie bins

This are had originally been reclaimed by the lawn which is 90% weed. This will be the third time I've dug deep and weeded. I'll be using the rockery stones to soften the corners.

Wood has been ordered for us to repair the shed, re clad, sand and paint. The weather for the rest of this week is looking good. I had it re felted during lockdown after the storms in January ripped the felt off and the rains in February were pouring through the roof.

I'm not sure if these up cycled cans will stay now. They were fun to do and did brighten up the garden.

My Sunday Photo - DIY in lockdown

There are so many jobs that need doing to our family home after 9 years of tenants, for most of them we hired professionals to sort the major work out, however the decorating and cleaning were of a poor standard. I've spent most of lockdown rectifying this.

Cleaning up the mess left behind.

Changing the screws in the door fittings so so there are actually enough for each hinge and handle.

I was supposed to be back in Dubai this month, to organise the shipping of our furniture so I've had more than enough time to not only finish the decorating but to renovate the garden, clean the sheds and get someone in to sort out plumbing, guttering and re felting the one shed.

Much to the delight of the neighbours I've had time to learn some carpentry and fix the squeaky gate.

I've fixed a flexible curtain track for the bay window and hung curtains

I have new carpets being fitted this week (delayed from the start of April)

I've now run out of things to do around the house, other than read books, blog, general gardening and just waiting for things to (very) slowly go back to normal.

Post Comment Love - 14th -16th February

Happy Valentines Day.

Time is flying by. I've been back in the UK now for 2 weeks. My husband travels back to Dubai this afternoon and I'm returning the car hire and getting home by train. Our local station is a 10 minute walk from our house, one of the reasons we first moved here back in 2002.

I've had a house full of family, which has been lovely but also quite tiring and emotional considering this is now my home and I'm on my own in a 6 bed house, with the furniture from a 1 bed flat and the cat and dog.

After 9 years of tenants we've had to do a lot of renovations, so far mainly repairs and fresh white paintwork, walls, doors and ceilings, giving us a blank canvas to work from. I'm back in Dubai in March and will be sorting out what furniture is being packed into our container and what stays in Dubai when we rent an apartment in the Marina.

Until we decide if we're staying here or going to move on once my husband retires in 2-3 years, we're not doing any more work to the house. The kitchen and bathrooms will eventually need updating, but for now some minor fixes, like a new bath panel will suffice.

What have you been up to this week? Both Stephanie and I would love to hear from you.

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Week 113 My Sunday Photo 2017 - I is for Ikea

For those who know Peter and I you'll realise what a big decision this was to make to actually go to Ikea together.

Last time we were there we had a row in the curtain pole area and he called me a f***ing psychopath.

We've been together 17 years, I sometimes wonder how we actually survived that long.

Anyway the visit passed without incident, however we both scurried past the curtain poles with a quick glance at each other that said 'we can do this'

A table for the hallway was purchased and assembled without incident also.

My Sunday Photo - Week 48

My plan for today's photo was of my view, feet up on the sofa, a glass of wine, a movie on the TV and the Christmas tree.

The reality is this

On my way home from school I popped into ACE DIY to purchase some potting compost and cat food.

I then spent the evening assembling this flat pack dressing table. It's almost 10pm, I've not had dinner, showered, made the bed or watched my movie, but I did have a glass of wine just now. 

Making floor cushions

How hard can it be to make a floor cushion? 

Well the answer is not that hard at all. 

It took me around an hour to mark and cut the 16 pieces.

15 minutes and a lot of swearing to thread the over locker. 

About 20 mins to sew the pieces together.

A lot more swearing to sew the centre piece.

20 minutes to add the base piece.

10 minutes to stuff and 15 mins to hand sew the opening up. I used stuffing but if you're short of space you could use it to store a winter/summer duvet. 

I up cycled a pair of curtains and an old table cloth for the project, unfortunately I cut the material the wrong way (there's a fancy way of saying this, Dias???) and as soon as I sat on it the seams started to rip and after much more swearing and hand sewing. I gave up and will try again tomorrow with a different cut.

And I'll reuse this material to make some patch work smaller cushions after re cutting it the other way. 

Creating a garden in the desert. Part 3 Making newspaper plant pots

My seedlings are growing better than I could've ever imagined. I'm not a gardener and in the past I've tried growing many plants and fruit & veg, to very little success. Usually because I get bored. My biggest excuse comes when it's time to water, but in this garden there are numerous garden taps making it easier to remember to water and with this being Dubai it's too hot in the house so I'm spending much more time outside in the evenings.

I've run out of coir pots, I've used some yogurt pots and cut plastic bottles down to sew the seedlings in, but as I'm planting directly into the sand, I want to be able to plant the seedlings with as much of their root and soil as possible. 

I don't have access to a car in the daytime and the garden centres involve a walk, bus, train and another walk to reach them. i do get a taxi back with my purchases of compost etc, but having googled how to make my own pots for planting I came across several websites and you tube videos showing me how to do it myself, saving time on travel, the stress of the heat and money.

I used an empty drinks can, ribbon (didn't have any string) a box to store them in and newspaper cut into strips (3 strips per pot) 

After that it was simple

Roll the newspaper round the can

Remove the can

Tie the ribbon

Fold the bottom

Fill with soil, transfer the seedling and add water

The garden is doing really well, haven't lost a single plant. The plants are in full sun 90% of the day.

I have been concerned when watering which I only do at night and first thing in the morning as the temperature from the outside tap is 38c currently.

I have some new Petunia seedlings growing, some I planted in pots and there are some in the ground that have started to grow since I've been watering the sand. No idea what they are though.