Sweet Staycation in Suburbia

This is the week that we usually go to Cornwall but we decided to stay at home instead, have a staycation. Both of us felt that we ought to stay this week, to use the time to re-acquaint ourselves to our house and sort a few very minor jobs left to do (they won't go anywhere even if we left, so best get them out of the way soon). And relax in our own turf of course.

Still, the cats get to relax more at home than we do

The changes made in the house were so drastic that both of us are still getting the hang of things even months after everything was finished, as well as enjoying the novelty of the changes (honeymoon stage). Apart from the slight change of layout and total redecoration, we did a major decluterring and updating that made life simpler, calmer, and organised. But a lot of familiarity has disappeared as well, and mostly that's a good thing. It feels like we just moved into a different house altogether, indoors at least.

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Back In The Game

It's been a long time since we've bought any new plants for the garden. Mainly because both of us have been in a 'house mode' for months now that the desire to buy new plants have been pretty much non existent.

Until recently that is when I suddenly found myself needing to buy a plant, not for the garden but for the house to fill up a very important spot in the conservatory.

I've selected many plants before to go in it as featured on previous blog posts but there was one particular spot that I've had difficulty finding a suitable plant to fill it amongst the ones we have already. They either didn't meet the criteria I mentioned before, too flawed to be displayed, or simply they were just the wrong size and habit for that particular spot. 

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The Spark

I had a quick walk around the garden yesterday and I heard the sound of sparks somewhere....

But where? I couldn't see any nor could smell anything that would indicate combustion caused by sparks....

Like nothing happened eh?

I was just being playful with myself (or perhaps I am now losing my mind?). The sparks I heard were figurative sparks. Now that the house renovation is calming right down as compared to how it was last summer my interest in the garden and plants are returning.

The spark is returning and hopefully it will become full on flames again (pun intended).

Insulation going in for the Jungle Hut

Great! And just in time for winter! Perhaps the spark with trigger the flame that will then heat the greenhouse?

Not much change outside but inside...

Anyway, enough of the sparking around. If I want to get into gardening again I better go indoors again and finish painting that door frame.

Mark :-)

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The Madness and Gladness of it all

Someone asked me yesterday why if somebody else is doing the house renovation for us how come we still work so hard in the evening and the weekends. It made me smile, it was asked by someone who hasn't been through a house renovation before and he will be going through one soon. He's going to be in for an adventure...

In theory it is possible to go through one with very little disruption to ones daily living, with lots of forward planning and if you move out. Or if you have a high budget that every little detail can be done for you by somebody else. This is rarely the case though, us included. For one we have pets to tend to and they can't be relocated whilst work is ongoing, and this is reason enough for us to remain in situ whilst the house is turned upside down.

Not the latest and so much progress has gone on since this photo was taken but this is the only unpublished photo of the back of the house I could currently find on our picasa account.

I was about to sit down and extol the virtues of late summer/early autumn in our garden (especially of a particular place that is looking so good to my eyes at least, in an unlikely part of the garden) last night when the tiler gave us a call saying that he will start work in the house the next day. Which means we had to prepare and clear out parts of the house ASAP, starting with the conservatory and the kitchen.

First things first, we had to return 200 travertine stone tiles back to where we originally got them from. This pile of stone tiles were the biggest clutter in the kitchen and it had to go last night. We bought them a couple of months ago and they were supposed to be used for both areas but since then we have changed the design and they were no longer appropriate for use. Fortunately the retailer were happy to take them back but with them being only open till 8pm it meant it was a frantic shifting of heavy stones into the car and out again once we reached the shop. Talk about having an impromptu work out!

A quick bite to eat afterwards, we needed it for there were loads more to do for the rest of the evening. Second big task, shift the fish tank upstairs. Now this one I found more stressful than shifting stones, not so much for the physical labour but for the thought of the stress that we'll be putting on to the tropical fish in the process of shifting their heavy tank. They had to be caught one by one, chucked in a bucket, tank emptied of rocks/plants/driftwood/filter/water, tank carried upstairs, refilled, and fish put back in again....

It's not only the humans that undergo stress when their house are renovated, I think more so for the pets!

So fish tank gone to where it doesn't normally (and ideally should not) live but at least it's now out of the way, what's next? The fridge! That was shifted to the lounge but the journey to get there was not that easy...

By the time we finished and ready to settle down it was half past midnight. Then there's the early start for work the next day. Sounds intense? This level of activity is just typical for us at the moment but we're getting there.

I'm smiling as I write this, the madness and gladness of it all! I thought doing garden projects were intense, but not as intense as having your home renovated even if you're not doing most of the work yourself.

And you know what else makes blogging tricky at the moment? When you have to move pots and pans away from the desk to be able to use the computer.

Mark :-)

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