Daydream thread... without the rose-tinted specs

lostinrates

Davesnave wrote: »

It'll be asiatica, or something like that.

I had a goodie when I came here. (past tense!)

Not that one. Cannot remember which google image suggests glomerata but ours has a sort of scented leaf.

ukmaggie45

Thought I should drop by with a little update since OH has gone over to do business stuff for MiL and then visit her in the nursing home.

We're still digging weeds at the allotment! OH decided to take out at least some of the raspberries at the end of the plot - they are choked with bindweed, and we suspect are home for the slugs and snails that have eaten most of our courgette plants - currently we only have one half way decent one, one marginal, and a couple completely gone. Plus the replacements sitting in pots on top of chairs have also been eaten down. :mad:

Went down early on Sunday morning (well, we think getting there by 9.30 on a Sunday is early!) and took our little camping stove with us and had a full English (bacon egg toms and fried bread) sitting outside the shed. :j


allotment breakfast 001 by ukmaggie45, on Flickr


Peaceful Sunday Morning by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Yesterday we had a day off the lottie, GrandTwins came over, and I did a bit of gentle potting on of toms and Sutherland Kale and continued pruning the plum tree (so far it's taken me 3 days and it isn't finished yet!). We had a barbie after they'd left - just a simple one of our butcher's beef kebabs with some salad and then went to lottie in evening to water, and check on the caterpillars.


Caterpillars on nettles by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

Today I'm planning on potting on some nasturtiums and trying to find my french bean seeds so can chit them and then grow them on for the lottie if we ever get enough weeds out to make space for them! Should be dead heading the roses and chopping back the valerian in the front garden, but did a tiny bit earlier and got so hot had to come in to cool off! Might have a go at it in the evening if it cools down a bit and I'm not too knackered.

Itismehonest

:T:T:T More Peacock butterflies to come, maggie.

Why is it Brits overheat in sun but can still manage a Full English? :rotfl:

Your plot is shaping up nicely :beer:

rozeepozee

Davesnave wrote: »

The architect will have been paid by now CTC, but he should have involved a structural engineer if there was room for doubt. This was why we ditched the upstairs idea, as there were to many 'what if?' questions. :eek:

In the end, we literally went for sticking a box on one end and possibly sticking another at the other end, if we can afford it. I call that flexibility, but hardly imaginative! The problem is that the more one finds out, the greater the possibilities of spending money become. Yes, there might just be one or two extra bits, but then there's moving internal walls, with the knock-on for plumbing and wiring, never mind heating...and half the drains need shifting too.

It was a blow that when we found a good, inexpensive father & son team, the brickie went into hospital to have an elbow seen to and was told never to lay bricks again! Otherwise, we'd have started this summer by putting up the basic structure and roofing it, ready to break through and carry on next year.

Hope it isn't a huge extra problem, rozee. Let's hope that after they've looked, it's not a problem at all.

They've knocked the pine end (gable end) windows through now. We have this HUGE space for a window to go in that's begging for a balcony as it's south facing up the meadow. I'm feeling happy, rather than stressed again. It's only money :eek:

lostinrates

rozeepozee wrote: »

They've knocked the pine end (gable end) windows through now. We have this HUGE space for a window to go in that's begging for a balcony as it's south facing up the meadow. I'm feeling happy, rather than stressed again. It's only money :eek:

There was a grand designs repeat on the other night, one of a little house built on a Scottish island and a lesbian couple who are artists? Don't know if you have seen it?

Anyway, they built a modest little home with a mezzanine bedroom with no view of the sea because the could not afford the full height view at the front of the house.

It just seemed wrong to me, the whole point of the modesty of the home was it only needed the beautiful view. Then, you didn't get it from upstairs. I would have left it unfitted out to raise the roofline at the front and have a view. Just as we have a temporary kitchen and no floor here so we can have other things that are right choices.

Remember, it doesn't all have to be done now. Your kids are going to draw on walls and spill drinks. You'll change you mind about colour and style.

Money is important, and you see, itsme wasn't making it up about budgets being crazily unpredictable!

rhiwfield

Lir, I saw that Grand designs and also thought they'd missed an opportunity

Rozee, is a balcony now in the plans?

Maggie, that looks great fun and you even got your OH to cook it for you

Well, the gh solar kiln log dryer experiment is now full on. A lot of the logs had only just been split and were damp to touch with wood damp stained. First logs went into gh 2 days ago and already are dry to touch, lighter colour and starting to show signs of splitting. Ones I'd left in the garage were still damp/darker. Gh has a brick floor and humidity rises during the night. But with the sun out it drops to under 10% and the top autovents are open all day so airflow will be good. I think this should dry really well in sunny weather On the downside it would be awfully easy to smash a pane of glass :eek:

And although I'd prefer toms growing in there at least it's being used

rozeepozee

lostinrates wrote: »

There was a grand designs repeat on the other night, one of a little house built on a Scottish island and a lesbian couple who are artists? Don't know if you have seen it?

Anyway, they built a modest little home with a mezzanine bedroom with no view of the sea because the could not afford the full height view at the front of the house.

It just seemed wrong to me, the whole point of the modesty of the home was it only needed the beautiful view. Then, you didn't get it from upstairs. I would have left it unfitted out to raise the roofline at the front and have a view. Just as we have a temporary kitchen and no floor here so we can have other things that are right choices.

Remember, it doesn't all have to be done now. Your kids are going to draw on walls and spill drinks. You'll change you mind about colour and style.

Money is important, and you see, itsme wasn't making it up about budgets being crazily unpredictable!

We're incredibly fortunate to have a sea view, albeit distant, across rolling fields to the front and this is why we decided to stretch ourselves when converting the loft to add a dormer at the front, rather than just put in veluxes. What we've only sort of just realised is that, with a much larger opening to the pine end window, there is now a stunning South facing view up the fields and hill.... It's not a dilemma I am unhappy to have. I can see a sort of makeshift balcony at some stage. maybe one that "standalone", rather than being integral to the house. Meantime, we are going to see if the window can have something like tilt and turn openings, so we can get out.

Itsme was definately not making it up

rozeepozee

rhiwfield wrote: »

Lir, I saw that Grand designs and also thought they'd missed an opportunity

Rozee, is a balcony now in the plans?

Maggie, that looks great fun and you even got your OH to cook it for you

Well, the gh solar kiln log dryer experiment is now full on. A lot of the logs had only just been split and were damp to touch with wood damp stained. First logs went into gh 2 days ago and already are dry to touch, lighter colour and starting to show signs of splitting. Ones I'd left in the garage were still damp/darker. Gh has a brick floor and humidity rises during the night. But with the sun out it drops to under 10% and the top autovents are open all day so airflow will be good. I think this should dry really well in sunny weather On the downside it would be awfully easy to smash a pane of glass :eek:

And although I'd prefer toms growing in there at least it's being used

We have saved our conservatory that would have been scrapped with the build and intend to adapt a solar kiln. I'll show OH this.

One of the builders has agreed that, if he can have our other scrap windows (he's building his own house and some of our old ones are in very good nick) he'll help Sean build it.

choille

Very humod here & went to paint some windows but it started to rain drizzle drizzle drizzle.

Maggie - greta photos & very organised looking indeed. I'm dead jealous as my garden hasn't been caught up with at all at all.

Architectural technicians are much more savvy than architects & usually understand what you wish to do & explore that rather than impose their egos on a design - I would be biased about that though!

Hope the weather dries up & we can get the roof finished this week - now that would be amazing.

Itismehonest

:hello:Dave
Put it back you naughty boy
http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk/Anti-theft-police-banner-stolen-roadside/story-19495885-detail/story.html