inside my hideaway

i know it's taken way too long for me to update this, but i've been having way too much fun playing in my new garden space. and besides, the camera battery needed charging, i hadn't quite finished painting the veranda, etc, etc.......






anyway, le summer house is now partly stocked with some pretty things, some new, some saved for this very occasion, some old and dragged from the depths. have debated whether or not to add curtains, but will think very carefully before committing to cloth.

we had smashing evening in there last night - bubbly on the veranda when i got in from work, then home made chicken tikka and tzatziki inside while the storm raged outside. looked and felt very cosy with candles and lanterns lit, though think the need for a small heater will arise before too long if i'm to spend much time in there during the evening.

our magnificent week off has now started too, so there's nine full days for me to forage through old boxes of goodies and maybe even gather some bits to sell. but most important of all, plenty of time to relax and enjoy quality time on the veranda or lazing inside on the sofa with the papers. bliss x

some more photos.......

looking back towards the house

lovely old mirror i found on ebay

keep calm and carry on? if you insist............

course i loves you! one of my most favourite pics

just love this old chair i rescued from skip-doom. and with evie's scarf adorning it x

veranda and out

the veranda is done! not painted yet as still having a crisis over what colour is should be. all green or all cream or a combination (too contrived i think). and what colour for the veranda decking? hopefully the floor will go in at some point this week, although paul has this annoying distraction called a day job which may slow him down slightly. am off to sheffield for work for a couple of days so will miss looking out of the kitchen window at our masterpiece.

izzy still loves charging up and stealing whatever she can find amongst paul's tools and offcuts - kitchen roll and pliers are always an attraction, however tape measures remain her personal favourite. the pear tree has gone crazy this year and they're dropping like rain all over the flowerbeds - not sure if izzy is the first ridgeback to have a fruit fetish, but i'm sure they do her no harm.

we had first drinks on the new veranda last night with my parents - i even managed to hang some bunting before they arrived - not sure paul was quite as excited about it as me.

bought an old shabby chic shelf unit on ebay last weekend which i have now collected - little worried it's going to be too big for the inside, but we'll see. need to plan my furniture installation carefully - especially as i'm aware paul is already eyeing up any of his less favourite items around the house and planning a removal to my haven!

need to get some shelves put up inside too, for all the nicknacks and books etc (and small bottles filled with fresh-cut flowers from the garden - oh i can't wait!) - though have to say am reluctant to bang anything into the lovely grooved walls.

nothing much on this coming weekend, apart from dinner guests saturday night, so can't wait to play - fingers crossed all will be done by then. paul if you're reading this - love you x

We have a structure!

paul has been working superbly hard and has got on extremely well with the summer house - am v happy with it and can't wait to start painting! it even has the little curly front bit i wanted - clever chap.
just been away oop north (well, coventry is fairly northern to me) for three days, so delighted to be home and best of all, we have little Izzy the puppy now. she's 20 weeks old and we've had her for just three weeks - but already she's turning into a real character.

hopefully the summer house and veranda will be complete by our week off in early september so i can really play and fill it with pretties! watch this space x

change of plan

sadly the summer house we chose wasn't to be.....two days after ordering they emailed to say it would now be 6-8 weeks before it arrived and I got the feeling it would probably be delayed again after that. So, plan B is the original plan A - build it ourselves! When I say ourselves, of course, I mean Paul will build it - though to be honest I now feel much happier with this than I did about the ready made one arriving - it just wasn't big enough!

Anyway, as at today, two of the three panels for the back have been constructed, the concrete base for my pretty little building has been laid and it's all stations go. This weekend we have absolutely nothing planned, which is great, because that means a full two days' construction.

I'm getting extremely excited about the whole thing and hope and pray it will all be finished ready for our holiday week at the end of August.

Until then, it's business as usual...........

summer house ordered!

well the summer house is ordered so hopefully that signals the dawn of a new day.......in three weeks it should be up and painted and ready to fill with lovely things - watch this space :)