Tuesday 22 June 2021

Time for Some Updates - 1


For my own records and to keep you updated I will try over the course of the next couple of days to upload some photos of the progress we have made over the past couple of weeks.  Things have really ramped up now and although I am out of action Alan, along with all the tradespeople we have employed have been working hard on the house and garden.


Alan and Dave first levelled the area that the paving stones had been lifted from at the back of the house and next to the annexe, poured a layer of small gravel to smooth things out, then laid a sheet of water permeable membrane and then two tons of Berkshire Stone was wheelbarrowed along next doors driveway and brought into our back garden. 


The stone is on around three quarters of the sleeper edged area and the final quarter had a ton of top soil barrowed round and tipped into it, also on top of the membrane, along with six bags of multi-purpose compost.  The blue plastic is just laid at the edge to protect the bottom of the fence from watering that will be done in that area.


Once the groundworks had all been done I came to the house with Alan, perched on a stool made of sleeper offcuts and supervised the planting of the garden area.  With Alan following my instructions ... 'no, turn it clockwise, not here, there, no to the left'  etc etc ... within in an hour we had the start of a new garden and at last some life in what had been a yard of concrete and paving.


For now there is just a small selection of plants to start us off, with the plants that are currently outside the flat about to be added to the bed once we have time.  The tree in the corner is an Apple Tree to supplement the food I will be growing in a small raised bed that will be built once the shed is made and in place.  To accommodate more growing room for the tree roots I came up with the idea of buying a half barrel and removing the centre section of the bottom, hopefully this will give the trees roots some extra space to grow downwards and outwards.

The square metal thing is the small kitchen sink that was taken out of the annexe.  I thought it would make a perfect little pond to encourage wildlife and insects to the garden so I rescued it from the skip.  I will let it naturally fill with rainwater and will place a couple of large rocks inside and around the edges for small creatures and insects to be able to climb on safely to access the water.  It also gives you a sense of scale for the area as it is exactly one foot square (30cm x 30cm).


To break up the expanse of gravel we have a couple of the paving stones on top which will have large plants pots on, which will eventually be planted up.  The second layer of sleeper on the left-hand side in this photo was cut to size and then added to the end nearest the house, so that it can be used as a bench if we have a few people round.  You can see this in the next photo.


A photo taken from Alans office window ... which is now known as 'the purple room',  there will be more about that in the next update  😃


Sue xx



 

34 comments:

  1. it's looking great. Can't wait to see more.

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    1. It's finally all coming together 😃

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  2. Great to have an update, Sue. It's a shame your back is still so bad, must be so frustrating for you (as well as painful). What have you done about it? I've had chiropractic a few times, which seems to help. The square planted area makes such a difference. Oh, and what's wrong with purple?! ;-) xx

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    1. I see the physio therapist every week, it's helping.

      Nothing wrong with purple ... unless it's a solid block of colour on a large wall in an otherwise completely white room. But hey, it's Alan's house, who am I to judge 😁🤣

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  3. Looking good so far. How long do you think before moving in?

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    1. My sofa arrives this Friday and my bed next week, so sometime after that. I can live without a kitchen but I can't live without a bed 😃

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  4. Your garden is going to look splendid once all the plants get going! It's a great idea to remove the bottom of the barrel to give more root room. Hope your back is improving.

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    1. It gives it an extra foot or so of soil, it should help it establish itself. There are a couple of tiny apples already 😀

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  5. It's all so nice! You are doing a great job of making use of every inch! I'm also looking forward to seeing the inside completed. I just hope your back improves soon as I'm sure there is so much you want to do yourself!

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    1. I need every inch to be useful both outdoors and in the annexe, which is quite a small living space even for just one.

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  6. Things are really moving along. I like what you accomplished on your garden.

    God bless.

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    1. It's good to see things taking shape at last :-)

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  7. It's all starting to take shape now - I bet you are dying to get on with things yourself rather than have to watch someone else do it all on your behalf - hope the back is on the mend.

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    1. Oh things would be so much further on if I was able to do more. This has been soooooo frustrating.

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  8. Your new garden and patio areas are very nicely designed. Your apple tree growing in the barrel with the bottom cut out is brilliant. The purple room sounds interesting. Is it bright or deep/dark purple? I admit to never being inside a purple room.

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    1. It just needed some more depth to the soil to keep it healthy, I think it works well ... and of course it looks rustic enough to keep me happy. Happy tree, happy me :-)

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  9. Replies
    1. It's all coming together nicely ... anyone would think I had planned it ;-)

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  10. Love your new space and I especially love the kitchen sink being used as a little pond♥ I do hope your back is feeling much better:)

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    1. It seemed such a shame to see it in the skip when the guy that bought the old kitchen units didn't want it. A garden needs a bit of water to keep the wildlife happy ... and no doubt Mavis will drink out of it too!!

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  11. You have done WONDERS! The role of "Supervisor" is a particularly important one!!

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    1. I've learnt recently that the supervisor role is absolutely VITAL!!

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  12. How lovely to see green and some life in that little area. So sorry to read your back is still not right, sending healing thoughts . . .

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    1. Alan wanted ALL stones, but I put my foot done and had a hissy fit and brought him round to my way of thinking. I NEED plants, flowers and vegetables, and even if he didn't want a shed I decided I did :-)

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  13. It's looking SO good Sue and what a marvellous idea to use the old sink.

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    1. It's just the right size for that space isn't it, and it's going to look even better once I've finished planting around it (or finished supervising the planting around it).

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  14. You are really transforming the place inside and out! Looks terrific!

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  15. Lovely! What a beautiful, calming place it will be for you to relax or to potter with more plants and veggies in the future. Now if your back would just calm down...soon!

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    1. It will be just the right size and with a raised bed for vegetables I should be fine for future growing.

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  16. I love what you are doing in the garden ! x

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    1. Thank you, it's making me happy to see it coming together at last.

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  17. It really looks lovely. I’m going to go back and look at the pictures of how the area looked when you bought it. What a transformation.

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    1. I'll try and find Before photos for all the areas of the garden and houses once we move in and everything is done. It would be good to have a few Before and After photos on some posts.

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