Sunshine!

Today the sun came out, little white fluffy clouds danced across the blue sky.

In the garden spring is arriving:

crocuses and grape hyacinths have emerged,

hyacinths are in full flower, 

there are daffodils of all colours and shapes,

and the chaenomeles is in flower.

The pond is full of frogspawn :-)

And I have a new front door.  Gone is the warped, tired, wooden one that needed the postman to lean against it at times in order for me to open it,

replaced with a smart new black, composite one.  Looks like wood but won't warp and swell and doesn't have gaps for the wind to whistle through.

Hope you're all enjoying some sunshine too.

Granny's Dresser

When my granny died 23 years ago I was desperate to have her dresser but didn't have a house big enough so it was put into Dad's shed.  About 12 years ago Dad told me they were chucking it out and as I still didn't have a house it would fit into I couldn't really insist they kept it so I assumed it they had indeed chucked it.  But, this summer, whilst moving the swing-boats out of the same shed I found something covered up with a dust sheet and asked dad what it was - it was granny's dresser!

First of all I brought the base home.  In the cold light of my kitchen it looked quite a mess, 22 years of living in the shed as well as many many years of nicotine from her cigarettes had to be cleaned off.

It cleaned up quite well and I could start to see the real 1930's style and shape.

Then I brought the top home.

I stripped off the nicotine stained 1970s wallpaper that my grandpa must have put on the back and discovered some really pretty paper, possibly 1950s, underneath it, but it was too torn to keep so it all came off.

After more cleaning I painted the back boards.

Putting the top onto the base was quite easy as my highly organised Dad had put the original screws (and the key) into the drawer of the base.

Today I put some treasures in it.  Some of my great granny's china,

some Royal Tara china that I bought with the money that granny left me in her will,

and some other bits I've acquired over the years (mainly from charity shops).

It's a little tatty well loved in places, but I'm so pleased to have it :-)

A New Lampshade

When I gave my dining room a new look in the summer I didn't get round to doing anything with this lampshade.

It used to be ok with the cream walls but it really didn't go with the new white or with the new chair covers.

When I was at the Knitting and Stitching show in October I saw lots of stalls selling kits to make your own lampshades but none were the right size so I did some online research and decided to reuse the original frame.  I bought some fabric locally and ordered the laminated backing and sticky tape.

The parcel that arrived was slightly larger than I was envisaging!

This weekend I set about making it.  I pulled the old cover off the frame and used it to make a template.

I cut out the laminated backing and fabric and joined them together (much more easily than I'd imagined).

Then I wound the sticky tape around the edges of the frame.

Winding the frames onto the laminated fabric was quite tricky (now I know why most of the kits sold were drum shades and not angled coolies!) but I got there eventually.  Then I had to fold the fabric over and tuck it under.  If I did it again I'd leave more fabric to turn over as some of mine is slightly short in places.

And there you have it - one new lampshade!

And I have rather a lot of laminated backing left over so if you want a new lampshade you know where to come!

Tidying

I was poorly most of last week so have had to have a very quiet weekend.  However I'm not good at sitting around, especially when all I can see around me is mess.  So I tidied.  Lots.

I tidied the conservatory,

I tidied my bedroom, 

although this still needs some work as I can't get rid of the carrier bags for another couple of weeks, (I'm waiting to collect my Granny's 1930's dresser from my parents' shed) and I tidied my study,

now I can sit down to work tomorrow in a nice clear space!

Very Nearly Finished

After what seemed like months but was just over 7 weeks, my dining room, stairs and landing are almost finished and I love it.

This is what it was like before I started, with dark red paint

and dark pine furniture,

and  carpet.

That's all been replaced now.

The dark red paint has been replaced with a pale taupe,

and the dark pine furniture has had a coat of white eggshell paint to brighten it up,

and the carpet in the dining room has been replaced by a beautiful oak wooden floor the same as in my lounge.

On the stairs and landing the red paint has gone too and the floor has been painted white, the same as I did in the bathroom.

I bought myself a new lampshade,

and a 'new' chair for under the stairs (the chair was actually from eBay so is only new to me).

This is the only bit that isn't finished yet as I've ordered snazzy new covers for it in this fabric and they won't be ready until the end of September.

The only 'slight' snag is that a certain cat has decided that she really likes the chair and is probably not going to be impressed with me replacing the covers. But I will be able to see her better as she's quite well camouflaged at the moment and I've nearly sat on her on several occasions!

Slowly Getting There.

Things are progressing steadily on the decorating front.  The decorator has done his bit and I've painted the floor of the stairs and landing and also painted the dining room furniture.

Before and After

Gone are the dark red walls and carpet, replaced by taupe walls and white painted floorboards.

Before and After

All the pine furniture has had a coat of paint, I've deliberately left the tops etc wood as I didn't want to go to all paint.

Nothing more can now be done until the new wooden floor is laid in August, until then I have to continue living out of boxes and in a bit of a mess!

But whilst the inside of the house is in a state of flux the garden is looking lovely:

The geraniums on Dad's steps are flowering well as are various clematis still.

This hollyhock has appeared from nowhere and is very pretty (I don't think I planted it....)

and I love the expectation that the agapanthus buds bring.

Meanwhile the front garden is doing very well too.  

I dug up some overgrown box balls earlier this year and planted with some dahlias and larkspur that I'd grown from seed.  Whilst this isn't a colour combination I would have chosen, it actually looks good!

And as for hydrangea Annabelle - she's putting on a fantastic show, intact she's encroaching into next door's garden too,

just look at the size of her flower heads!