Crate expectations

Over on Pinterest I have a wonderful little collection of ideas for recycling pallets and crates, at one point I think it was becoming an obsession! Until recently that's all its been, an obsession - oops I mean a collection of ideas. And then I found Matey in Welshpool. You must forgive me, they all get called Matey by t'hubby and it can be rather confusing but that's off topic - Matey in Welshpool is a wood craftsman who has just made us some new windows for The Hovel but who also has a shed load of crates, quite literally. Ta da, oh how I drooled when I spotted them, oh the ideas that flew around my mind tumbling over each other in their haste to land uppermost. Somehow I managed to convince t'hubby that buying three was a good idea, my intention being to create some wall storage in the kitchen. Two were to be hung on the wall and the third would provide the wood needed for shelves inside the other two.  At £15 for the three of them I was well pleased. These were no ordinary crates, they're  bigger than your usual fruit crates and I did secretly suspect that they'd be too big for their stated purpose. I wasn't worried about that though, I knew I had a mountain of ideas.

Back at The Hovel they were indeed too large to be hung on the wall, they were actually rather heavy, but they were also the perfect height to act as benches around the kitchen table. Voila it would seem. Whilst moving around, giving them a quick spruce up etc, I had them stacked for a little while and of course I remembered that they looked fantastic as bookcases too. Sucker. In all I made two further trips and bought four more crates. I used two in the bedroom in my little corner to create a bookcase/display stand and the rest make up the new kitchen benches. I'm not intending to paint them, I may later on make some cushion pads for them but for now they're actually quite comfortable as they are (we did have to remove a few nails first).

I am so very pleased that I have finally acted upon at least one of these ideas that whizz around my head. And the downside? Oh dear, I did have to buy a new table as the old round one didn't quite cut it but hey, at least my benches were cheap!

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave me a comment.

PS, breaking news, I’ve spotted yet another fab idea and will be buying one more crate next visit, I’m on a roll see.

Wendy xx

And we’re off

Hmm, well we’re possibly off. Long time no blog – no excuses, just life. I’m back because I do get the urge to capture ‘stuff’ and just writing into a journal doesn’t feel quite enough, I like to add photos at the very least. Although that said I did try out another method recently whilst we were away for a long weekend. I bought myself a Pogo on eBay and took it off on our little trip with me. It worked really well, apart from the fact it ran out of battery and I didn't have the charger with me, but lesson learnt there. Each evening I wrote up the day in my holiday journal and added my choice of photo printed straight from my phone. Fab, bit of a grungy/instamatic type thing going on but that suits me just fine.

Been at The Hovel a lot lately, gradually starting to get things updated and the way we want them. We’ve just had it completely re-wired and with that comes the inevitable patching up afterwards. We needed to hide the new consumer unit and the cupboard that had been there previously just wasn’t up to the job. We found a man fairly local to build us one to match the floor standing units we inherited. I chose a range of paints, china blue, to use for the kitchen/downstairs from the Little Greene paint and wallpaper company.  These have some lovely colours and fabulous wallpaper too, I’ll have to share some wall art made with samples from them at some point.

Using the lightest colour I managed to get it finished last weekend. I’d decided to do something a little different on the inside and so when I’d visited B&Q recently I raided their bargain paint shelf. I bought three pots that folk had had mixed as testers then not liked, all for 50p each – I think they’re 200 or 250ml each so there’s plenty there too.

         

The first has been used on the inside of our new wall cupboard and as we paint the old units I’ll use the others on the interior of those. I like the fact that all is serene and grown up on the outside and then as you open the cupboard there’s this loud injection of colour. At the very least it will detract from any untidy jumble one finds inside lol.  Last, but not least, I added a couple of pretty little knobs I had in my collection for the finishing touch. Voila, all done.

I think that’ll be all for now, lets see if I can visit again and report on the update to our stairs shall we – now who won’t be holding their breath lol. Just before I go though I’ll think I’ll share the tune that is currently blasting out as I type.

I hope it doesn’t play unless you want it to–Enjoy xx

Thanks to anyone that does drop by and please feel free to leave me a comment if you’d like.

Wendy xx

I don’t believe it

You need to put on your best Victor Meldrew voice and re-read my title, that’s the clean version of what I yelled as my phone (the all singing, all dancing new one) leapt from the back pocket of my jeans and dived head first down the pan. Now, IF the last occupant of the bathroom had closed the toilet lid or IF I had been in any other room when my phone suddenly leapt into life I may not have uttered those words but they hadn’t and I wasn’t and I did so now my lovely new phone is kaput. I’ll not dwell on my sorry tale, I am insured and I still have a smidgen of hope that after a weekend of drying out it may end well – I know, I’m not holding my breath.

In other news I have crafted! All please take a moment whilst this news sinks in but I have. I can’t show you a photo because, you guessed it, it was on my phone. Actually I think I do have a copy on the laptop but I can’t show you anyway because it was my contribution to Gingers Mail Art Exchange and so I’ll not share until it has arrived safely at its destination. Ginger – thank you. I’m so glad you spotted I was back and contacted me before your deadline, it was wonderful to sit and craft again, although I did struggle a little for inspiration. I am determined though to get back into it.

As I can’t share my crafting at the moment I thought I’d share an odd little shot but one that shows another persons craft. Unfortunately I didn’t think to take a before shot and this is probably the oddest thing I have (publicly) enthused about but take a look at my pitch fork.

What about that then, and the spade too. Both of these items were inherited at the hovel and both had seen far better days. They were pitted, rusted and sporting stubby broken handles. A few weeks ago we happened across a market stall selling similar items and as we chatted it transpired that the owner ‘repaired’ these very implements. A few weeks and less than thirty pounds later and look at them now. I’ve never owned a pitch fork before lol.

But now I guess with that I’ll leave you. Thursday saw the Victor moment, Friday saw me obtain a wasp sting as I’ll climbed over a farm gate (you can imagine where can’t you) but I did get a better harvest from the two remaining potato tubs and Saturday, well lets just wait and see shall we – bring it on! Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave me a comment.

Wendy xx

Under pinning?

After the really high winds over the last week or so we were slightly nervous about what we might find at The Hovel, especially given the number of large trees behind the property and most actually within reach of it! Thankfully, apart from the black bin wedged in the stream, there was nothing to report.

Our main aim this visit was to meet with the structural surveyor, queue ‘uh oh’ or similar cinematic effect please. Yes, after a year of owning the property we have now decided to consult an expert. Personally I would have done this way back, before we actually signed on the dotted line but t’hubby felt that there was every chance it would cause us enough concern that we would chicken out of buying it. Of course that was highly likely and because it had been love at first sight, especially for t’hubby – we went ahead.

It wasn’t long after it was ours that we started to notice the cracks. They weren't new, they’d been there all along it was just that the rose tinted spectacles had hidden them. Now The Hovel was built in 1768 and as it is still standing we didn’t think it would be disappearing down the hill in a hurry but, at some point in the distant future we (or our children, maybe even grandchildren) will want to sell. And so now we needed to know, so that we can take whatever measures may be deemed necessary. My thoughts up to this point have been that if drastic measures were required e.g. underpinning then we’ll take the opportunity to extend, sympathetically of course but to me it makes sense to take advantage of the situation. Lol, my one daft concern was that if that WAS the case it would throw out our lovely new doors, but I guess in the scheme of things ……

……… And so the man arrived.

And he looked

And he walked around

And he looked

And he walked around some more

And he looked

And then he made his pronouncement ………..

Nothing too severe, phew. There is obvious evidence of past movement and we need to take some remedial action to ‘tie’ the front wall to the back wall (not as bad as it sounds I’m told) as it has moved 25mm since the ceiling/floor was replaced – 41 years ago! Then we need to place ‘tell tales’ to both monitor for any further movement and to provide evidence when there is none (fingers crossed). That way we are also safeguarding a future sale. So all in all a reasonable outcome.

And would we have chickened out if we’d had that done in advance. We’re not sure but we may have done. Because we didn’t ‘know’ the hovel then we may have thought it wasn’t worth the hassle. And so I guess t’hubby was right all along and as I sit here typing watching the sun start to burn off the cloud and rain and reveal our view, I am glad, although had the answer been underpinning I might have been yelling at him, right here right now lol.

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave me a comment, oh and yes, the campanulas survived on their house bricks.

Wendy xx

Please note this post was scheduled to upload after the time of writing

Country Living

I was really pleased with Sian’s comment on my last post where she referred to the photo of my poor potato harvest as a ‘country living’ shot lol. Daft I know, but I do like to make the shots I post as pleasing to the eye as possible. I don’t always manage it (often just don’t have the time) but I had secretly been rather pleased with this one even before the comments. And so I thought it might be a nice idea to share how it was achieved.

The photo was taken on my phone in landscape. The original shot was fine but lacking in something.

I then used a photo editor (Photoshop Express for android in my case) to apply the effect ‘vignette blur’ to the shot. Starting to feel a little better here.

This was saved and loaded up to Picnik where I added the ‘polaroid’ frame (choosing to straighten it rather that leave at a slant), I also then added the text. You could add a frame in Photoshop or another editor but to be honest Picnik is so quick and easy to use its not worth it. The choice of the polaroid frame cuts the shot into a square which had the pleasing effect of reducing the ‘vignette blur’ in the bottom corners. Voila! My Country Living shot – now if only they would employ me ……..

Do you like my flowers? This basket and pot set has sat, empty, on the windowsill at The Hovel for a few months now. I found it in TKMaxx at a fraction of the price I’d have paid elsewhere but I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to put in it. I had a vision of something like ‘mind your own business’ I think they’re called. A mass of tiny green leaves with little orange ball fruit. I think I may be confusing two different plants though and suffice to say, I didn’t find any. I did however, come across these campanula’s in Sainsbury's and I knew immediately that they would look good. What do you think?

Now I just need to see if my watering solution of house bricks in a bowl of water with the plants stood on top (apparently the house bricks will wick the water to the plant) works for the period we’re not there.

Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to leave a comment, I love to hear from you.

Wendy xx

Back to school

As summer draws to a close, I realise that it’s been a while since I posted (probably lots to tell so maybe I’ll catch up on some in later posts). Ha, nothing new there I hear you say and you are, of course, quite correct. It’s been so long in fact that I either can’t remember what font I normally use or it has somehow disappeared from my laptop. Uh! If I spend too long faffing about, trying to choose a new one this’ll never get posted at all so I am going with ‘autumn’ – quite fitting I thought.

I don’t really bother much with new year resolutions but I do find myself trying to re-focus a little as summer winds down. I was tempted by Shimelle’s ‘Learn something new everyday’ but I knew that it just wouldn’t happen, so I passed for the time being. But, I am determined to get back crafting in one form or another – I just need to clear my area of our office first that is currently masquerading as a tip lol.

Of course at this time of year, in addition to the girls returning to school – Grumpy into sixth form and Tattyhead into year 10 – it is also harvest time, or should be.

At home we’ve had potatoes, onions, lettuces, sweet corn, carrots, rhubarb, tomatoes and courgettes on the go. The jury is still out on the sweet corn and carrots but the rest have been somewhat disappointing, especially the potatoes and onions. I think our prep and poor soil were to blame and so all my hopes were pinned on the potatoes at The Hovel. After we’d planted at home we had a few left and so we bought a pack of three potato sacks (green plastic tubs) and threw the remainder of the seed in. . Because these were planted into compost, had received plenty of water in the form of rain (we are talking Wales here) and had been able to develop good deep root growth in the tubs I really had high hopes. One bag contained the ‘earlies’, one the ‘maincrop’ and the last a mix of the two. Over the weekend I harvested the bag of ‘earlies’ as the tops were beginning to die off.

Ok, there are perhaps a couple more potatoes per seed than at home but really, is this all I get? I had been working away convincing T’hubby that we ought to get some raised beds in place over the winter so that we could grow more potatoes given that they were obviously doing so well – they DID look like they were – but even I am no longer convinced. I will try again next year. At home we will double dig and make sure we enrich the soil. At the Hovel we will try the bags again. In both cases though I will research and make sure I buy a reputable seed as I now presume this was my mistake.

Ah well, we live and learn ……

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave me a comment, it is nice to hear from folks.

Wendy xx

Techno Scrabble & the CAT

I have to say that technology continues to stalk me a little.  Just when I thought I had it sussed, something jumps and bites me! It’s the syncing of my calendar that is todays frustration – yesterday it worked, today it doesn’t. My blog still doesn't want to show the older shots either and Link Within support have not replied to my email requesting advice. I hereby give up on this particular endeavour for now and have removed the offending titbit of code. It’s not all bad though and I can thoroughly recommend a little free app called ‘Word Feud’. It’s scrabble by any other name with the added benefit of being able to play over a distance. The Boy B and I started a game Friday morning whilst I was loading the car to drive to The Hovel, we finished the game Saturday evening with himself still up in Manchester whilst I was safely ensconced in amongst the green, green valleys of Wales. I must also report that I beat him by a very clear 90 points. He may be on his way to being able to call himself Dr but I am still ‘The Mommy’ it would seem lol.

 

Whilst away, I did manage to re-vamp the barometer – but I don’t like it! I quite like the effect I’ve achieved on it but I don’t like the overall look of it, if that makes any sense? It’s the gold trim and edging on the dials and thermometer you see. I’m not a yellow gold person, I much prefer the metals that are silver in colour be they white gold, platinum or good old silver itself. I did contemplate buying silver paint of some description but the lettering behind the glass etc would remain gold so I don’t think that will work either. At the moment it has been found a home on the hovel kitchen wall and I will leave it a while see if it grows on me, I suspect though that it will be winging its way to a charity shop in the near future.

The hovel, I am pleased to report, had undergone its treatment for woodworm; phase 1 of the water improvement scheme has been completed (remember bad egg smell?) and we’ve agreed upon the work to replace the very wonky cottage door. The only downside is that I forgot to take a photo of the door as it is currently and it will be all changed by the time we next visit. Even though the weather was pretty bad (and believe me, it rained a lot) we still had a lovely long weekend. We also visited CAT – Centre for Alternative Technology, for the first time too. We spent a lovely day, T’hubby, Grumpy, Tattyhead and myself wandering around and debating just how viable solar water heating might be for The Hovel. I loved the demo on the working horses but I don’t think I’ll get away with suggesting we invest in one somehow, do you?

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave me a comment

Wendy xx

‘Holed’ up in The Hovel ……

Oh dear, we have woodworm. I guess it’s not really THAT surprising; 250 year old beams of oak; tell-tale signs of a previous infestation; wood-worm treatment tin inherited along with  the shed! We just believed the previous owners when they said it was long gone and that they just coated a preventative treatment periodically. To be fair they were probably speaking the truth as far as they knew it. Oh well, it makes for an interesting life I suppose lol. We called in the experts and it actually wasn’t as bad as I’d feared, nothing will be collapsing on top of us and, in any case, come Monday all will be treated – not bad service that.

The weather, however, has not been so kind. We had to dash in out of a sudden downpour earlier much to T’hubbys annoyance as he was desperate to play with his new toy. Another major investment in boys toys, this time its a petrol mower. We do need it actually but I much prefer referring to it as a ‘boys toy’ as it allows me to accrue brownie points for not complaining about the cost of it lol. Now that will definitely come in handy at some point!

I have to tell you that we never tire of the view from here and I know we are so lucky to be able to spend some of our time in this beautiful countryside. Last night we watched as the rain swept in from the neighbouring valley and up the hillside to reach us. Within ten minutes though it had moved on, up and over the hill behind and the skies to the front cleared just in time for a beautiful pink tinged sunset.

And with that I’ll leave you. Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave me a comment.

Wendy xx

Nothing can be accomplished until you begin ……

Once upon a time I used to work full time – VERY full time. For years I didn’t manage a normal week in terms of hours and I spent months, possibly years, of my life working away from home. I tried very hard not to let it affect family life, not to miss school productions etc but inevitably some fell by the wayside Don’t get me wrong, I was well paid and I met some wonderful people, many who remain good friends to this day. Throughout this time my house didn’t keel over or anyone become ill due to the lack of either a domestic goddess or a super efficient dust buster. Somehow everything that needed doing got done. Ok, Christmas cards were sparse and the ironing mountain did threaten to collapse on occasion, but birthday cards, presents and food on the table always managed to make an appearance and life was normal - if somewhat manic most of the time.

May 2007 (at the start of this blog actually) I walked away from that hectic life, I’d had enough. Most folk who know me expected me to take a few months off and then get back into work in one form or another, those folk are still very surprised that I haven’t. Not only have I not looked for another job I still have no desire whatsoever to get back on that particular treadmill. However (you knew there was a ‘but’ coming didn’t you), Christmas cards are still sparse and pretty much everything that needs organising is done at the last minute. What the heck! I’ve done all the ‘Organisational Skills’ courses imaginable; I’ve read all the ‘Managing your time’ books that are out there; I have 5 days a week to myself, for at least 5 hours a day – So WHY oh why am I still always playing catch up.  Aaaarrrghhh.

I started Shimelle’s Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers knowing that for a good portion of the three weeks we’d be at The Hovel but I still felt that I could keep up with it. Humph, I should of known better really, this is me we are talking about. The last prompt I actually read was number 7, the last one I followed was a few before that and, as I type, number 13 has just arrived in my inbox. I’m disappointed that I’ve lost the plot on it and want to get back on the forum, catch up on some of the new blogs I’d started following and see if I can make up for some of the lost time. As always timing is everything and so I also managed to sign up for CJ’s new class ‘Advanced Artistry’ and have received my intro info (which probably has homework in it) but have not managed to read those yet either.

I have to admit though, that we did have a glorious time at The Hovel. The weather was wonderful, the company brilliant and we really managed to chill. T’hubby was desperately in need of some ‘down time’ and so it was a wonderful escape for us all. We had various visitors along the way, an impromptu meeting to assess our ‘water’ problem, a 5 hour hike from our door and our campfire area was constructed and tested out as we burnt the grasses that T’hubby had cut down. Ironically I didn’t get much reading done either and so I have a mountain of books awaiting me too.

Now we’re home and a major catch up has begun as well as the final countdown to Grumpy’s prom on Friday. First step is this post, as I always feel a need to explain myself (really must get out of that), next I want to look around at folks blogs see what they’ve been up to and then I must read CJ’s literature. If only this damn housework (that is also way behind) would just disappear. Ah well, I guess its not going to go away so I best make a start on it, as my title says ‘Nothing can be accomplished until you begin’. Onward ……

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave me a comment.

Wendy xx

Hovel in the hills

Pete bought me this book for Christmas and I have to admit to a certain dread to reading it. It’s something Pete read many years ago and loved and he felt that right now, with our own hovel to contend with (yes we did get the cottage in the end, woohoo) that I’d enjoy it too. There’s always an extra element of pressure when you’re reading something that someone close to you has ‘loved’ previously don’t you think? I needn’t have worried though, I did enjoy it and yes I think that right now was the right time to read it especially as it made me feel a whole lot better about the ‘cracks’ I keep on noticing that I swear weren’t there when we first bought the cottage. I really connected with the book and the inevitable problems, small and large, that they faced. And so I am nicknaming the cottage our Hovel in the hills even though it does have its own sweet little name already. Roughly translated to mean ‘clothed in the hollow’ Pant Y Crywni is the name that I’ll have carved into a small piece of slate at some point in the future but for here and now ‘hovel’ will do.

Someone asked me what the hovel looked like now - it looks exactly the same as it did on the first day we saw it, apart from the fact that we no longer allow the sheep to graze inside our boundary. Oh they are wonderful at keeping the grass nice and short but the by-product, well the AMOUNT of by-product to be precise, is just unbelievable and unfortunately means that all that green green grass a) isn’t green and b) just cannot be sat (or walked) upon safely.

Whilst the outside remains the same, and will do for a long time, the inside will gradually change and indeed we have started on that already. Nothing structural, just cosmetic, starting with the 2nd bedroom. The hovel is 250 years old, and small. For many years it was a shoemakers cottage with about 14 family members all sharing those four walls. Those same walls aren’t straight, some have the aforementioned cracks in them and the flooring upstairs slopes at an angle that I’m convinced steepens by the week. Believe me, I know - I sleep on the right hand side of the bed and I find I have to stay facing that way now too. If I turn over I feel for all the world as if I am rolling down hill, most disturbing when half asleep!

There’s no point me trying to turn the hovel into something that might grace the pages of Country Living but I’m thinking that a little Shabby Chic meets Vintage meets junk shop could go a long way. This is where my rummaging really comes in handy and indeed I have a couple of items destined for the 2nd bedroom already in waiting. Alone though it is no good, stage 2 also needs to happen – to Shabby Chic – this is where my creative side needs to kick in and give my chosen pieces a makeover. So far I have only managed this transformation on a couple of stools and my magazine rack but I have been fairly pleased with  my efforts to date. I know you can’t see the shabby chic’ing but it is there, honest.

However, in true hovel in the hills style it just wouldn’t be right without a problem or two to overcome and, shabby chic’ing to one side for now, we do have a slight little issue-ette at the hovel currently. We appear to have a dose of Hydrogen Sulphide in our (private) water supply, don’t laugh – that’s the good old ‘bad egg smell’ when the water is heated. It’s not harmful, so I’m told, but it sure puts you off your cuppa I can tell you. Complicated by the fact that all our waste goes to a septic tank (whose ‘balance’ must be maintained) and any water we run off separately will end up in an open water course on farmland and the little issue-ette starts to become a full blown problem. Now, if in the ether out there known affectionately as Blogland any of you good folk have a solution or an idea (however crazy) that might help me please feel free to share. All suggestions gratefully received.

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave me a comment (bad eggs smell related or not) Can I also just say thank you for all the lovely comments I have been receiving as I try to find my ‘blog style’

Wendy xx

A year ago today

Well well well, I would never have thought to look back into my blog to see what I posted about this time last year. To be honest, I did rather expect to find zilch as my posting, since I started, has been sporadic to say the least. But no, there in front of me was a post from the 6th April 2010. It was just a short one with one photo, full of excited tension and I remember the day well. You can, if you really want to, see the post here but believe me there isn’t much to it and I’ll have to explain it all in this post to make any sense anyway. Lol, the title of it is ‘Long time no blog’ which pretty much sums me up.

The post talks about the fact that we were (im)patiently waiting to find out if our offer on this gorgeous little cottage had been accepted. Gosh I can remember just how I felt; nervous, excited, apprehensive, aaarrrghhhh – I just wanted to KNOW, didn’t that Estate Agent know just how mega important this was?? I guess not because it took them hours, all day in fact, and finally when the office had closed for the day I had to accept that they weren't going to tell us yet. Still once the office had closed I could relax a little, until the next morning that was, when it started up all over again. Phew, it was a nerve wracking time, really draining actually. But on day two we did get the call ……..

……  it was a no. NO, how can that be! Someone had put the same offer in as ours just earlier and, after much deliberation, the vendors had decided to go with the folks who’d made the first offer - there was nothing else to split us. Pete was devastated, he had completely fallen in love with it and although I didn’t blog about just how sad it made us, that too I can remember vividly. We sat around for a while feeling sorry for ourselves but gradually we moved on. We’d been umming and ahhing (how do you spell that, I googled to check and that was the general consensus, well on one site anyway lol) about stuff but now we committed to extensive work at the back of our house and we decided to take a break, just the two of us. It was meant to be Ibiza but we fell foul of the ash cloud and ended up driving across to France. We did have a wonderful time though and little did we know that this would be our last break in our little car – I must come back to that point.

The break was really rather liberating, we had no accommodation booked, we just set off. Above, I think Pete is just about to telephone some hotel, somewhere where we thought it might be good to head. Neither of us had holidayed this way before and I loved it, although we did have one occasion where we’d spotted a nice looking place in a book and were heading towards it but couldn't get in touch with anyone for hours but it all turned out well in the end.

Back home the date was scheduled for work to commence and we’d started tentatively looking at other properties again. The weekend before the work started we had a nosy at this property here – The Old School House.

Isn’t it picture postcard material. It was gorgeous and had a wonderful character inside, even the coat pegs were still there. It wasn’t without potential problems though and so, although we loved it, it wasn’t a dead cert. However, then the estate agent dropped his bombshell - the purchasers had pulled out and the original cottage was ours if we wanted it.

IF, IF – well what do you think we did?

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave me a comment.

Wendy xx

What I’m seeing right now …..

…..  Well about 4 hours ago to be more accurate but I hadn’t wound up my internet connection until just now!

Sorry but I couldn’t resist. Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave me a comment.

Wendy xx