Whats going on in the garden?

After a week away in the sun I was a little bit apprehensive about what may have been going on in my garden.

We have invested in some new planting for this year moving the focus away from vegetables and moving towards a cottage garden style.  As we have already invested a lot of cash into the summer house I have been trying to pick up plants without paying too much for them.

I lost 4 Lupin plants to the slugs, I was in a dilemma as to weather of not I should buy some little blue pellets to kill the little blighters off but I know they are harmful to the eco system as they are taking food away from birds and hedgehogs so I decided to sacrifice the Lupins on this occasion but I will give it another go next year and I try to grow them in a pot and see if I get better results.

I have tried to select plants that will either come back again or will shed seeds.  There are some bedding plants that have added colour in the short term and they can be replenished next year or replaced with something different.

  I think that it will be at least 3 years before the garden will start to look something like my long term vision and as it is a garden it will continue to evolve.

I am a self confessed haphazard gardener and like Mother Nature to have a hand in my garden so I am looking forward to seeing what survives and what perishes along the way.

What have you been up to in your garden this Summer? and do you have any tips on dealing with the slugs?

Summer house

We have had a major change in our garden this year, we have filled in our garden pond. With baby Esme on the scene it seemed like a good idea, also the lining had been split for a while and it would have needed time and money to sort it.  Out of the blue we decided that a small summerhouse would be perfect to fill the space so savings were counted, a base was laid and a giant "airfix" kit was delivered. We used a company called Garden Sheds they were significantly cheaper than anyone else for the same product, this is their photo of the style of summerhouse we have brought.  I can't get a decent pic at the moment as we are still working on that area of the garden.







I painted the outside in Cuprinol Garden Shades, Dusky Gem, I thought it was grey but it sometimes looks blue and other times takes on a purple haze!  The interior was painted using Cuprinol Garden Shades in White daisy, it is designed so that the grain of the wood shows through, however the light colour also showed all the mish mash of brush strokes that I had made, so three coats later they are less visible but so is the wood grain.  I do like it even if it is not exactly what I had in my head.

It was tempting to go for a beach hut theme but I felt that this lends its self more to the apex roof type summerhouses.  I wanted it to be more of an extension to the garden so I opted for the white interior with green and pink bunting, there will be cushions to follow once we sort out a couple of cane armchairs.  The colour scheme was inspired by the apple blossom on our old Bramley apple tree and I might sort out a sign for it saying apple blossom or apple bough.

We have added some insulation to the roof in the hope that we can extend the amount of use we can get from it and I fully intend to make it into a Christmas grotto and go down and drink mulled apple juice or wine in there or maybe even a "winter Pimms"

I got a cracking bargain with this metal light fitting from dotcomgiftshop,, it was only £12.95 in the sale and comes compete with a vintage style brown covered flex.  It strikes the perfect balance between utility and style and the soft sage green is just what I wanted.  I finished it off with an old fashioned style bulb from Wilko for three quid so less at 20 pounds all in I was very happy.

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I am trying not to fill it with too many nik naks and treasures and there is a huge temptation to just go on ebay and Amazon and buy loads of cute stuff that would look great in there, but it is far more fun to potter round charity shops and such like so I am holding back....for now

I did downloaded these free botanical prints from The Grapics Fairy  there are loads on there and I intend to print new ones off and change them to reflect what is happening in the garden.


All we need now is for the sun to come back out so we can fully test it out or should we just resign ourselves that this is the English summer and so we will be squelching down there to go and sit and look at the rain drops dripping down the window panes

July photo challenge - part one

Hi

Here is the round up of the first few photos I posted on Instagram as part of my July photo challenge


CLOSE

 

WOOD

SHADOW

TOOLS

CLOUDS

If you follow me on Instagram you will notice that there were a couple of other photos published that I have not included.  I have got a small technical hitch that I am working on and I will include these in my next post.

The challenge started very well with me posting daily, however, this week I haven't posted at all, as usual real life got in the way.  Knowing me I will meet the challenge of posting 31 pics in the month with a flurry of activity at the end of the month!

Have a good weekend

July Photo Challenge

I am still shilly shallying about if I should continue to blog so I have come up with a mini project. I intend to post 31 pictures on Instagram over the month of July and I will do a weekly round up on here, I will be using the camera on my phone so that I can snap things as and when I see them.

This is the list, I will do them in no particular order so that I can interpret them as and when an opportunity arises, until I get near the end and panic!

• Tea cup or mug
• Something blue
• Bunting
• Cutlery
• Light
• Cotton reels
• Fruit
• Glass
• The number 7
• Close
• Distant
• Flower
• Something white
• Leaves
• Door furniture
• The weather
• Car
• Shadow
• Stacked up
• Tools
• Clouds
• Buttons
• Wood or wooden
• Path
• Water
• Architecture
• Stripes
• A sign
• Dandelion
• Gate
• Something I have made

Wish me luck you can find me on Instagram classicmini66 if you want to keep on eye on my progress or pop in here for the round up.

I would love to hear what you are up to, do you have any projects on the go or are you chilling out and enjoying the summer?

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Sun, sandcastles and seals, what more can you ask for on your first trip to the seaside?  At 3 months old baby Esme was blissfully unaware of all of these of course?

We rented a fabulous cottage in Wells Next the sea on the Norfolk coast, it was booked through cottages.com (this is not a sponsored post) using the deal though Tesco clubcard by using £30.00 of clubcard points we changed it up to a voucher worth £100 off our weekend away.

I think we must have visited Wells pretty much every year for the last 10 years or so and we still want to return for more.  It is very laid back, has a beautiful big beach, enough pubs, bars and restaurants to give you a bit of choice and is well positioned for travelling to other attractions around the area.

There is still a working harbour and the evidence of this is clearly seen along the quayside.

The tide was a long way out when we took our leisurely stroll down to the beach, but that gave me plenty of opportunities to snap away

I took rather a lot of photos of this boat as I was captivated by its' reflection  and I think I could take a hundred or so more and still not get just exactly what I wanted.

The beach was full of visitors enjoying the fine weather and getting a chance to blow away the cobwebs.

There were plenty of happy dogs enjoying a paddle and feeding my obsession for the day of trying to capture reflections.

A section of the beach had been cordoned off to allow these seals some protection. It is such a thrill to see these lovely creatures at close quarters, they are so clumsy on land and yet so graceful in the water.

This little one was swimming about and I was really hoping it would come up on land so I could get a better shot but it kept coming towards the shore then turning round and swimming away.

The sun was starting to cast long shadows and a baby lead timetable meant we were soon heading back to the cottage for tea and dairy free cake.

What is your favorite place for a chilled out Saturday with the family?

Finding treasure in the spare room

On a high from sorting out the pantry I tackled the other dumping ground in our home - the little box room and what a good idea I found treasure that I had squirrelled away in the form of some old shop pricing tickets.  I knew they were somewhere in the house but the location had slipped from my conscience and they were just the touch I needed to help redress the Welsh dresser post Christmas.

I found them in a little junk shop in Cromer on the North Norfolk coast, it is an area that we love to visit and we have booked a family weekend away in February.  It will be baby Esme's first holiday, at 3 months old I doubt she will be too aware of her changed surroundings, however, I am sure that her Mum and Dad will appreciate the beautiful beaches, the big skies and the open countryside that the area has to offer so long as they can get some sleep in between the night feeds.

We are struggling to book or main summer holiday, I had picked a week in July that worked well with my Hubbys shift pattern but my colleague got in first and booked that very week for her holiday! next year I need to be a bit quicker off the mark. So we are now looking at going away in August, I almost made the mistake of booking something that left the day before my friends wedding! (sorry J) Looking out of the window on a rainy grey day the promise of a week of sunshine is definitely needed to lift the spirits.

Have you started booking in events for the new year or do you prefer to leave it all to the last minute?

Its January so lets tidy the pantry!

With the first "proper" week of January under my belt the festivities are well and truly over and the routine of work has settled us back down into our usual patterns.

The weather has been a bit on the chilly side and snuggling on the sofa in front of the log burner has been pretty much our favorite occupation.

My pre-Christmas to do list was never completed and anything relating to sending cards and wrapping presents has been confined to the bin but there was one job that still needed to be picked up.  Sorting out the pantry!  It is a convenient place to "tuck things away" so becomes something of a dumping ground.  After a few hours of taking everything out, throwing away a few odd bits that have gone out of date, wondering why we have so many packs of olives, knowing that there are several boxes of stuffing because I ran out last May and my family can't function without a regular input and I don't want that to happen again.  I finally got round to putting everything back and it all looks nice and organised.............. for now.

As you can see I have no loyalty to any one supermarket and Sainsburys Morrisons  Tesco Aldi and Lidl all get a look in.

We did see a bit of winter sun this morning and I was keen to capture the shadows it was casting as the bunting was blowing around

I was quite happy to see the snowdrops making an appearance, it is almost like they have waited until the new year to pop up and say hello

I haven't made anything this week, not even a cake which is not like me at all, maybe I just need a break after all my Christmas makes!

How was your return to work?  Have you had a cleaning splurge or are you happily tucked up in front of the fire?

Exploring Hygge - how hygge is your life?

Hygge – (Hoo-gah)

I  was poking about on Pinterest for inspirational quotes to put on my blackboard to celebrate 2017 when I came across this hygge challenge.  I have very little knowledge of hygge so I set about investigating further.  This link to the Danish tourist board has a lovely little short film where the reporter visits Copenhagen to learn more about hygge and the  BBC of course had their own contribution.

It seems to be about chilling out with your friends, being cosy with candle light and snuggly blankets, stepping away from technology and keeping things simple. Embracing the dark nights and finding the light and enjoyment in them.  I tend to find January a bit of a glum month, the weather is uninviting, the days are short and the excitement and fun of Christmas and New Year are fast fading memories. In fact there are some days where I feel like I am sleepwalking around and my mood is low.  The sky is an uninviting shade of grey and there seems to be nothing on the horizon to brighten things up.

So how hygge is my life

• Candles and fairy lights are present in my home all year round, we have switched to battery operated candles as they are cleaner and safer but they still offer soft ambient lighting.  We had a log burner installed a couple of years ago (this was a step up from the open fire we had put in about 30 years ago when we moved into our home) this scores very highly in creating the hygge vibe.

• Unplugging from technology, I have got into a bad habit of watching TV with my laptop on my knee or my phone in hand, giving neither my full attention so therefore not being in the moment an important hygge element. So I am trying to be more aware of this and making a choice to do one or the other but not both.

• I spend quite a lot of my leisure time with my family especially now I am Granny to baby Esme. With Hubby working shifts it can be more tricky to find time for meet ups with friends this an area that I need to make more effort in.

• Being alone and reading a book - I love reading and for some reason tend to only give time over to it when I go on my summer holiday. I treated myself to a book in the January sales, "The year of living Danishly" by Helen Russell in pursuit of learning more about hygge and seeing it in context of the Danish lifestyle. Helen and her husband move to Denmark for a year when he gets a job at Lego HQ, in the book she investigates various aspects of Danish life and queries if these pursuits and cultural references make them the happiest nation.  I am making time to read a chapter a day with a cup of tea and the TV turned off. 

• Living in the moment, to some extent this is something that we all do and don't even think about.  However, I am very much a planner and sometimes I don't give myself over to an experience as I am already calculating how to do things better next time.   I will try and be aware of this and make more of an effort to go with the flow and immerse myself in the moment.

• Connecting with nature - I alway feel a bit brighter after a walk, mother nature usually has something to show us we just need to take the time to look for it. Not to mention that walking helps to burn off some of those Christmas calories! But given a choice reading a book curled up on the sofa is going to be the first choice on a grim winter day, I think a bit more effort is needed from me in this area.

My conclusion is that I already have some hygge in my life and there is room for more and that can't be a bad thing if hygge encompasses feelings of wellbeing.

When I have been trying to learn more about hygge I am a little bit disappointed that it has been hijacked as an opportunity to sell cushions, throws and all manner of other things!  I think hygge is something you feel and not something you buy.

Now it is over to you, how hygge is your lifestyle?  Do you agree with my interpretation or have I got it all wrong? What do you do to beat the January blues?