"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it."

greenbee

Wires are all done. Rose is planted - turned out to be two roses, so that was a bonus. It's ancient, and has been in a pot for months, so who knows how it will get on. 

Mowing is done, although there might be a bit more to do... I'm trying to work out where to expand beds, so mowing at different heights. 

greenbee

Busy week, lots achieved - mostly not by me! I got the three rooms cleared ready for the decorator, and we picked the colours on Tuesday with the help of his much bigger colour cards!

The south-facing front bedroom now has F&B Calamine on the walls and Laura Ashley Pale Cranberry on the woodwork (the curtains are LA fabric in a Cranberry colourway), and the furniture back in. I need to fix the bookcase to the wall (he obviously forgot that I wanted that one hole left!) and decide whether to keep the old metal curtain pole or replace it with a wooden one. The decorator also told me about a local picture framer, so I'm adding that to my list as I have a (or two if they can't match the frame) picture for that room that needs framing. 

The bathroom is all done bar some minor touching up, so stuff is slowly going back in (I love the fact that the decorator puts the blinds back up as I really struggle with that). F&B Dix Blue on the walls rather than white-with-a-hint-of-ice, and dark blue woodwork - we picked the colours from the blind that is there purely because it was the one from the old house that fitted, and they look fabulous. The bathrooms here are hard as they have grey windowsills, floors, vanity units and tiles all of which are different greys (2 different shades for the tiles just to make it even harder!). 

The back bedroom has the woodwork done, and he'll be back to finish the walls on Monday. And I'm booking him for October to do the last bedroom/bathroom, landing, stairs, and hall. Which means getting everything else that needs doing in those done over the summer. 

• Loft insulation and hatch
• Bigger radiator on landing
• Swap battery smoke alarms for wired ones
• Additional radiator in bedroom
• Additional double socket in bedroom and swap two faceplates for ones with USB ports
• Convert giant storage room to walk-in wardrobe
• Find a way to get a radiator on the central heating system into the bathroom
• Work out where lights need to go in hall
• New carpet in bedroom/wardrobe
• Refit landing and airing cupboard carpet to get rid of gaps in underlay (underlay and matching carpet from back bedroom have been stored so we can do this)

Outside there are now huge holes in the patio, which I need to fill with gravel. Which means I need to choose and order the gravel. As the drive needs more, over-ordering won't be an issue.

Puppy prison is down (he still has a crate) which makes a LOT more space in the kitchen. So far he's fine.

Blinds have arrived for the greenhouse, so those need to be fitted today, and I need to get them fitted today. I managed to fit the non-return valve on the greenhouse irrigation system, so need to re-calibrate that as well. And fill the water butts from the hose. And see whether the end-stop I ordered fits the IBC (if it does, then fill that one from the hose and get on with sorting out the connectors for the other two, and the feeds from the downpipes in case it ever rains again).

Veg plot needs the courgette bed prepping and planting, the spaces for the new beds weeding and cardboarding, more compost acquiring, seeds sowing, and seedlings sorting out. 

The rest of the garden needs weeding.

There is also laundry to do. 

kazwookie

Greenbee, I hope you are making time for you, just to breathe and relax.

You wear me out just reading what you are planning / booking in / doing!

The whole house sounds so different from when you first moved in.

greenbee

You'll have to come and visit again sometime Kaz It is VERY different (and most of the carpet has been replace )

End stop doesn't fit the IBC. Plumber is here on Tuesday so I think I'll have to ask him nicely if he can help me at least source the correct parts. And I'm going to need more water butts too once the summerhouse guttering is on.

Dog now has a paddling pool set up, which is making him very happy. The cats aren't quite so sure!

Hopefully I'll get some other stuff ticked off the list today. I need to sieve some topsoil from the builders' bags, and extract compost from the hotbin so I can get a couple more veg beds up and running with seedlings/seeds. And find cable ties so I can set the robot vacuum running in the front bedroom. 

kazwookie

Love to, Dm me when you are ready with a couple of dates etc. (likely to only be me as OH is a bit booked up)

We won't put OH through hoovering the carpets again!!

greenbee

kazwookie said:

Love to, Dm me when you are ready with a couple of dates etc. (likely to only be me as OH is a bit booked up)

We won't put OH through hoovering the carpets again!!

Thankfully the new ones aren't full of dog hair and plaster dust and who knows what else. They stank when they were taken out, so it was the right decision! There are a couple left to go, but they aren't as bad. 

greenbee

Compost liberated from hotbin and used to top up greenhouse pots (to add some microbes and worms and stuff to the commercial compost), as well as going into the courgette bed (which also had sieved topsoil and composted manure added to bury the soaker hose). I've got a bucket of composted manure that I need to mix with a barrow-full of top soil to top up the asparagus beds, and then I'll keep mixing the rest of the manure with topsoil to top up the rest of the beds and prep them for being used.

Everything in the garden is flopping today, so I've got the veg plot irrigation system set up (attached to the hose, not rainwater sadly) and will run it for an hour or so tonight. I'll also need to water all the pots and the borders. I'm not sure whether the dog will get a second walk today - it's certainly far too hot for him at the moment. If he does, it'll be a short one. 

greenbee

Dog had a (short) second walk in the wood next door, and the garden had a reasonably good soak but everything is flopping again at the moment. Including me and the dog! having said that, the asparagus beds are topped up so hopefully roots won't cook and the beds are now (almost) level. The small bed (giant mangetout in case I forget!), bean bed, and beetroot/kohl rabi/chard bed are prepped. The next bed already has peas and spinach in it, and I'll add dwarf beans and mangetout when they germinate. So one more empty existing bed to top up, then the one that currently has cavolo nero in it and some of last year's sowing of fennel. I think I might stick a couple more courgettes in there for now, and then put the broccoli in after the broad beans (I need to start putting their stakes in) or peas... or both... 

Celery doesn't appear to have germinated. Radishes and carrots are starting to come through - no sign of salad yet. I think it's just been too hot for a lot of things.

I have flower seedlings that need homes, and as I've grown stuff without having an actual plan, I need to either a. think about it and make my mind up quickly or b. not think about it and just shove stuff in as I weed. I could think of it as building nursery beds so that I can move stuff later/next year when I have the beds laid out properly. 

Dog is finding the weather very boring as outside is too hot for him, although he is spending time in the paddling pool - hopefully it is up to the wear and tear of him scrabbling at it as he tries to catch his shadow!

greenbee

I think the celery MIGHT have germinated. 

Nothing much happening in the garden at the moment other than watering, although the gardener came (unexpectedly) on Monday so the hedge has had deer fencing put up, and gutters have been cleared and some weeding done, and I have a shopping list for guttering.

The decorator has finished and I've got furniture/curtains etc back in the rooms and am working on books and pictures. He's also been paid, and booked me in for the next two jobs - my bedroom in October and the hall/stairs/landing in November. 

The plumber has been and replaced the dead shower and all the basin traps. He also had a look at the IBC set-up and says he can sort out the bits I've been struggling with and should be able to get it done next week. He's also going to book some time in September to put an additional radiator in my bedroom, and hopefully swap the ensuite radiator for a dual-fuel one as the current one is electric-only and there is no other heating in there, so it needs to be added to the central heating circuit. I must remember to ask him to add swapping the landing radiator for a bigger one to this list (there should be something suitable in the garage that we took out of one of the bedrooms). 

I've put the kitchen corner cupboard back (but not any of the stuff that lives in it), and written emails about dead/mislabelled plants.

I need to go and test the new shower, and then go out and do some shopping for guttering bits before work. 

greenbee

I had a very quick (and positive) response about the mislabelled plant, and the new shower is lovely. 

Shopping for guttering bits was unsuccessful but I came back with two large barrels that I intend to use to make compost tea, and a large number of accidental plant purchases.

Guttering bits and more water butts ordered on line from a local company. I have a growing list of places I'm not going to order from again - the gravel and mulch/compost were ordered at the weekend (from different companies) and while I've had order acknowledgements I still have no idea when to expect delivery. The builders' merchant order was, to be fair, only yesterday, but I haven't had any follow-up from them either. 

The large water bowl has a delivery booked - said it was for delivery by tomorrow but available options were Mon/Tue/Wed next week. I'm guessing the gravel (due by 19th) now won't arrive before it which is a pity. Both websites are delightfully vague about delivery times... if they all arrive at the same time I'll have a lot of work to do before anyone can get in and out, as they're all kerbside deliveries. And I've just realised that one is via palletline who have form for being useless.