Home & Garden Updates

Just so you don't all think Ive been sitting on my backside watching TV and eating bon bons I thought I'd post some update pics of what I've been doing :-)

We'll start with the garden.

All of the flagstone is laid in the back garden. We still have the side garden to do but, as that is barely seen let alone used, that will be done once we'll used all the rock for the more decorative stuff.

It is actually a little further along than this. All the gaps have been filled and I've planted some elfin thyme. That is as pretty as it sounds. It is going to be pretty pricey to fill all of the gaps with thyme so I decided to just plant 2 flats to start with to make sure it will grow in my garden. I'd be really annoyed if I planted the whole lot and it died on me.




We plan on putting in a pond and making a waterfall with flagstone. However, there is a slim possibility we might not be staying in this house as long as we planned so until I know one way or t'other we're going to hold fire on that one.

When we moved into this house there was a hole in the wall between the room that will be the library and our living room. You can see how close it is to the front doors in this photo.

I never liked it at all but one day Aydn said that it reminded him of a doctors or hotel reception check in desk. He was right and that was it...now I really hated it lol

Mick, on the other hand, didn't care one way or another and it has taken me almost 2 years to convince him it had to go :-)

And go it has :-) I now have to plaster over the entire thing and make it invisible lol. I've started but that will take a while as I am learning as I go along. You can see I've also started painting this room. The wall on the right looks darker but only because that has only had one coat of paint around the edges. Took me a long time to decide on colors and I love how the color has turned out.

Then in between all of this I started the guest bedroom. My Indian room :-) I hadn't planned to have taken this on just yet with all the other things I am doing but friends from Australia are coming to visit mid August and need somewhere to sleep. So I had to add this into the mix. I don't mind as this will be my favorite room :-)

The colors in the guest room are the same as the library. As a lot of our house is open plan, I will have a very simple palette of no more than 3 or 4 colors throughout the house. This is part of the reason it took me so long to decide on colors....they have to be suitable for all rooms in the house.

And the guest room needs curtains. You might recall me buying all this fabric over a year ago. Time to dig it out and get sewing. A task made extremely hard by the fact this fabric is twisted. The stripes are not straight so it took me forever to cut the fabric just so the stripes laid straight. I am not a seamstress at all but figured curtains were just a square right so how hard could it be....famous last words.

This is me trying to battle 19 yards of heavy upholstery weight fabric ugh. It is cut out now and I spent the best part of yesterday hand sewing the 4 hems. That was hard...2 layers of this fabric plus heavy lining. My fingers are very sore now...and after I'd done I found I had a thimble lol

You can see in this photo that I'd started cutting in the red color for this room. That was before I knew I had to do the guest room so that is on hold for now lol.

And now I need an opinion. I have this wonderful Indian screen that I no longer have a place for. I planned on using it as a headboard. I am not sure if it is too high or not. My friend loves it. And Mick hates it. What do you think...does it work or look silly.....yay or nay.

So as you can see I've been a tad on the busy side of late :-) I have one mini I have to finish then that is it for a while while I carry on with the house.

I interrupt this blog for a proud Mama moment :-)

As some of you know, my Son Aydn is in college studying fine art.

Aydn is way, way, way more artistic than I can ever hope to be. I like to think can appreciate art but I am not arty enough to understand the depths at which some artists work.

Aydn set up a blog as a way to electronically journal his work. When I read it I am struck by how little of it I understand. And even worse, how grown up and smart he seems. I am not one of those Moms who babies their child and I understand that he is growing up, but even so it sometimes takes me by surprise to know these words come from my boy. At times he is so philosophical. Guess it is time for the tables to be turned and for me to start learning from him.

Aydn has just completed this years work and received his results today. I am so proud to say he got 6 distinctions and 2 merits and an overall grade of distinction.

And on top of this he received the Student of the Year award.

And if that wasn't enough, he has just finished exhibiting some of his work at

Walsall Art Gallery.

While I was there he went for the interview with them and had his work assessed. He was over the moon to be chosen as an exhibitor.

I am sad I was unable was able to go to see his work in the gallery but I have no doubt that this won't be the last time.

When I was 19 I was dawdling along with no idea where I was going in my life and certainly hadn't achieved anything as cool as exhibiting in a major art gallery.

The theme of the exhibit was about unfolding angst, hidden layers of excessive regulation, rigid conformity and mass persuasion.

Aydns piece was titled "Our guardian, our frame" and this is how he describes it.

My work portrays new direction and hope; often it’s hard to find an escape or somewhere to hide. I aim to point out the fine line between opportunities staring us in the face yet commonly appearing transparent.

If you are curious, you can read more about the concept and ideas behind this on his blog

Well done Aydn.....

I am so proud of the man you've become and I love you loads xxx