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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The Rebirth

We had planned to go to our local HPS monthly meeting last Saturday but the sun was shining and the lure of the garden was so strong that we abandoned the idea and spent most of the day gardening instead, oops!

Usually Kniphofia thomsonii almost totally disappears in the winter but this time it remained evergreen and the old growth has gone floppy hence it's received a good trimming. White crocus have emerged between it and the Cotula hispida

Now the garden has been pretty much left to its own devices for most of the winter. The areas that were affected by the fire last summer were pretty much untouched from the point when the builders had finished constructing the new jungle hut up until last Saturday when we started clearing and tidying up.

Eremurus have started to creep up, together with Cyclamen seedlings

The garden recycling bin was filled up in no time!

Trimmings get dumped in the middle patio first before they get taken to the recycling centre

How nice it was to finally get stuck in again! We didn't do any clearing out of debris and dead plant materials in the autumn and winter and now that spring is looming we must remove all of them to make way for new growth, and more importantly to make our garden look nice again.

This Dicksonia antarctica fell down during the fire and was never propped up since then. Late in the summer it threw out new fronds much to our delight but as it was lying sideways the growth continued to go skywards...

It was well rooted on to the ground before the event. We'll be propping it up again very soon and bury almost a foot of the trunk on the ground to give it the best possible chance of recovery and make re-rooting much quicker (and make it more stable too). It will be one of the first things we'll do in this month before the new growth comes out so the fronds won't be lopsided in relation to the trunk.

This one wasn't a victim of the fire but of winter 2010-11. It will be used as a pathway edging.

It looks like there are loads to do and it also feels like we are starting all over again. But after spending nearly the entire day clearing out and making plans we reckon it won't take us long to sort things out. 

The gravel is heavily contaminated with ash, broken glass, and other debris that the top layer needs to be skimmed and replaced with fresh gravel

Where a tall Magnolia delavayi once was has now been finally cut down to a stump. Some new growth sprouted at the base and we'll let that take over. Hopefully its growth will be vigorous.

Some surprises - Chamaedorea radicalis sprouting back and...

Chamaedorea microspadix making a comeback after this potted plant was totally burnt to nothing but a charred root ball. The plastic pot was gone and was just a black ball but the rains have washed the soot to reveal the roots and looks like also triggered it to throw out new growth.

We're feeling quite excited on how the garden will shape up this year. The rebirth of the garden has begun.A Phoenix will rise.

Mark :-)

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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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Slowly But Surely

Well not everything is slow, some move more quickly, just like time. Whatever happened to summer? It seems to have just flown by this year and now the signs of autumn are unmistakeable. We have been super busy all summer so no wonder it felt like it has just passed us by just like that, so quick but one thing that did stick and linger in mind is that weather wise, it has been a decent summer.

To be honest we have been so pre-occupied that it never really hit me before that autumn is indeed here until I saw this group of ginkgos earlier today when I got home from work:

Nevermind! It does mean that it's not long now before we really have to prioritise the garden again for a few weeks as we prepare it for the cold months ahead (which we're hoping won't be that cold, mild would be very nice!).

Not long now before I have to cut back the Gunnera tinctoria

And not long now before I put this Cycas circinalis under cover

And now back to the title, slowly but surely we are starting to regain our house again. And last weekend we went full swing with redecoration starting in the lounge where all the work the builders have to do have all been done, yay!

A glimpse of our new lounge...

But work continues in other areas, like on the porch which is part of the makeover of the front garden (which we blogged about recently).

So far so good...

I still like the idea of a pond here underneath a walkway. Gaz firmly said no.

We're definitely getting there! 

Mark :-)

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The Front Garden Makeover Begins

Finally, the part of our property that we have mostly ignored, or if not at least neglected all these years is going to get a makeover - our tiny front garden (or driveway being as it is fully paved).

You would think that we would have prioritised this part of the property being the first one to be seen the moment anyone arrives to visit us and the garden but nope that wasn't the case.

Since we moved in here it largely served as an area to store or even dump materials to be used for the back garden. The back garden has always been and will always be our main priority being a relatively large area for planting as well as being private. The front garden however is tiny, exposed, and functional for parking a car, not the sort of place for hanging around for all of the above reasons. So as we developed the back the front got side lined.

Work in progress and not a pretty sight

But the time has come that the front garden receives some much needed attention. It may not be the biggest of spaces but it is the 'face' of our property after all and is the one that gives the first impression, kerb appeal if you may call it.

The thing is when it comes to front gardens there is almost always a need for conformity to adhere to that will be sympathetic to the type and age of the house and its immediate surroundings. More often than not these are the first considerations over ones creativity and sense of individuality. Unlike the more private 'back' where you'll have more free reigns to do practically whatever you want within reason. Be too creative, wacky, or individual to the front garden and face of the house and you risk devaluing your property.

But before I continue, let me tell about a front garden that I have always admired ever since I've seen a photo of it online many years ago (and fortunately Ian of Pampas2palms featured on one of his blog posts just a few months ago). Once upon a time, Chelsea Flower Show used to have a dedicated category for the design of small front gardens and one of the ones that were built for that category was this garden:

Photo by Ian Cooke of Pampas2palms

I love it! It is fun, quirky, very unusual, and above all it is a pond (as most of you would have deduced by now, I love ponds!!) situated in an area you wouldn't normally associate a pond to be located. Whimsical and totally impractical but I love it nevertheless. I wouldn't mind having something very similar in the future, not in the front of the house of course. But I imagine it in front of a garden outbuilding, a contemporary one, the sort that is marketed as a home office. Something for the future garden (when and where, who knows...).

So when I arrived home yesterday this was the sight that greeted me and I was immediately reminded of the picture above. 

Instead of a pond the entire has been dug up in preparation for the base of what will be a little porch at the front. The existing front door will be replaced by something more simple and appropriate as a secondary front door, as well as the ugly kingfisher stained glass panel. A new front door will be installed on to the porch.

Ironically, with the building of the new porch would mean the ripping out of the existing wooden storm porch which is an original feature that has been there since the house was built mid 1930's.

Conservatory at the back, a porch for the front, all part of the current house renovation. Once the porch is finished we can then decide what else to do at the front and what planting scheme to go for. At the moment the plan is to reinstate metal railings on both sides of the front garden as it was originally several decades ago. And from there perhaps have small raised beds, a thin hedge, or even large pots with specimen plants. Should we go for more traditional planting or grow succulents on raised beds as it's an ideal spot for them with it being south facing, milder, and sheltered? Small space it may be but there are still plenty of options to go for.

The Dusty Miller that bit the dust. It makes me laugh whenever I see the two hanging baskets of dead plants at the front of the house (and the fact that the builders have opted to keep them there till the last minute).

Work has started and will continue in the following days to come. The front garden makeover is long overdue and so glad it's finally happening.

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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