GETTING LAID IN THE GARDEN OF ANXIETY

As Summer draws to a close and the good weather could be coming to an end, the weekend work effort has switched to completing jobs in the Garden of Anxiety.  The new sturdy garden gate has arrived and needs to be painted and hung.  But before then, the last of the sandstone paving in the small area at the gate entrance needs to be laid.   The remains of the original, old concrete path have now disappeared and was the determining factor in introducing another step - as the old concrete is beneath it.

Laying the slabs

Old concrete becomes another step.

Almost complete

Frontal view.

Just four slabs left to be laid and a little concrete work to tidy up and the garden entrance will be complete.  Everything is ready for the new gate: A push button digital lock with key override; 3 x 18 inch gate hinges and a custom built gate with tenon joints to prevent sagging.  All that's needed now are a few more dry weekends.

Once these jobs are done, this should complete the hard landscaping and with much relief!  Most of the planting is in place now.  The beauty of creating a Mediterranean style patio garden is the future low maintenance.  Rather than spending my Summers mowing the lawn with regularity, I hope to be out there instead with a good book and a nice glass of wine.  An annual prune of the plants and a heavy duty clean of the patio & furniture should be all that is required.  The other advantage of paving is that you can use your garden during those wet winters without having to wade through a muddy lawn.

A big shout to my sister for gifting me this striking Cardoon which has finally bloomed.

 

This last photo was also taken with her in mind as she loves all things cow.  Moo recycling bins spotted close to Lewisham shopping centre.  What a great way into introduce something reminiscent of the country in an urban town centre.

PEPPER & HER SUITORS or MÉNAGE À CAT

On some days, the Garden of Anxiety may as well be situated in Rome due to the number of cats in it!  Although the Pepper kitty is an indoor cat she does get to go out to the garden two or three times a day.  When she does, the garden is her own personal jungle and amazingly enough she’s good enough to stay within the boundaries.  Her favourite pastime is swatting flies & bees and chowing down on grass.

Pepper

Two other neighbourhood cats now come to visit her:  She first met Toby, (lives two gardens to the right) who is silent and aloof but does drop by once in a while to see her.   She seemed more curious about him than he was about her.   I think he may be an older cat.

Toby

 



















Then she met Snowy, who lives two gardens to the left, and who has become her regular playmate.  I'd guess that they are probably around the same age.


Unfortunately, due to both tom cats getting territorial and fighting a few times, we’ve had to deter Toby from visiting the garden.  We still see him around but the last thing we wanted were both toms fighting over her.   The howling, hissing and fur flying that we've witnessed is not a pleasant sight.  We are keeping the hosepipe on hand.

Snowy

Snowy is a very handsome cat.  All white with blue eyes and resembling a little polar bear.  It’s interesting that 72% of blue eyed white cats suffer from congenital deafness but this doesn’t seem to be the case with Snowy.   As soon as he hears her little bell in the garden it’s only a matter of time before he comes bounding over the fence with quite a thud.  He’s quite vocal too and meows repeatedly to let her know that he’s arrived.

Kissing

  
After their initial greeting or ‘kitty kiss’ of rubbing noses he normally follows her around, overtakes her and rolls around in front of her.  He’s always in the mood to play.  Pepper seems to become all cool and coy and he likes nothing more than giving her a playful swat or push.  She likes to hide behind the furniture and wait for him to find her.  Sometimes she’ll hide in the foliage and spring out at him.  Occasionally, when she finds him a little over-attentive she’ll slink back indoors, unless it's a ploy to try and lure him inside...

The look of love

 

Playful swats

Just chillin'

It’s great for her to have interaction with another cat as she’s very social with a good, friendly nature.  Having watched her behaviour over these last few months, I can see that having a friend is a nice experience for her but she also likes having her own space.   Cats can live together but are not social or pack animals like dogs.  They tend to find ways of sharing a space and try to avoid confrontation with each other.  While she does enjoy playing with Snowy, sadly there are times when she chooses to ignore him.  Perhaps having him around a lot gets in the way of her bug swatting...  Still, I'm hoping that theirs remains a beautiful relationship.



 

INSPIRATION: TIMOTHY OULTON

Every once in a while you come across a designer that grabs your attention:  If you love vintage and eclectic then you'll love Timothy Oulton's collections. 

www.timothyoulton.com

RETURN TO THE GARDEN OF ANXIETY PART 2

After waiting for a week for some decent weather to go outside and finish photographing the work in the garden that we recently completed:-

With all the concrete edges now finished, the Cotswold stone chippings could be poured into the square creating a tidy Zen like corner to house the clothes dryer.  This is the left hand area of the garden path, the right hand area was posted in Part 1.  Once the garden is fully finished, I'll post some wide shots.

Waiting for updates...

The Zen corner.

Without clothes dryer.

Mini kitty

Is that a bug over there?

Springing into action.

Clematis in bloom

Weigela Bristol Ruby

My Father's Fig Tree

RETURN TO THE GARDEN OF ANXIETY

When the sun is shining it would be foolish not to be outdoors getting work done.  The last few weeks have been a cement-fest; finishing off the patio edges in a final push to complete the landscaping of the garden.  It's been just over 3 years now since it was begun but at last it's beginning to look almost complete.  The path is finished and the front section has been edged off ready for the final level of paving slabs before the garden gate.  Of course, the rest of the garden beyond the rose trellis is a complete mess and is serving as a dumping ground for wood that needs burning.  Perhaps one day that it will have a nice secluded Summer house and deck but that's a project for the future.

It's a joy to see plants in bloom and I'm happy the Alliums that I planted in the Autumn have made an appearance.  I definately intend to put some more in - as they add a splash to colour to what is predominately an evergreen garden. 

I also managed to finish and plant the courtyard herb garden, which I made last year from the old fencing.  We have (from L to R) Thyme, Basil, Coriander, Mint, Parsley, Chives, Romemary, Sage and a selection of living salad.  A kitchen garden just outside the front door!

Even the Pepper kitty has been enjoying the sunshine, swatting bees and sniffing plants.   

Cementing the edge by the rose trellis

Bloomin' heck!

Bug hunting in the undergrowth

Completion of the path and closing off the front bed.

Courtyard Herb Garden

LIVING ROOM: ALCOVE INSPIRATION & WINDOW SILLS

I came across this inspirational photograph, which is featured on many sites, and loved how they had painted the backs of the bookshelves with a accent colour.  It's a great way for creating the illusion of depth and adding interest to a room.  I may have to try this myself!

WINDOW SILLS
I'm already thinking of the next job needing to be done after the alcove project is finished.  The interior window sills need attention as they are scratched and gouged, in some places quite badly.  The easiest and quickest option is going to be to adhere a 3mm thick ply wood veneer and then paint white which will result in a good finish.  Decorative wood moulding can applied to the front edge to hide the seam.  The other option would be to fill with wood filler and sand or plane the wood down, which I feel is going to be more laborious and messy.   I think wherever possible sanding indoors should be avoided because of all dust that is created.

Here's the Pepper Kitty modelling the window sill in the Living Room.  It may be snowing outside, but when she's stretched out and hogging the heat from the radiators, she may as well be in the Bahamas!  I'm not sure if that look means 'rub my belly' or 'bring me a Pina Colada, please'.

LIVING ROOM: THE ALCOVE PROJECT #3

An update of where we are with the alcove cabinets & bookshelves:  The right side one is now in situ and ready for painting and to have the edge moulding fixed to the top and sides.

Again we almost couldn't get the bookshelf unit in, and at one point it was jammed into the space leaning forwards and I was having visions of having to take a chainsaw and hack the whole thing out and start again.  Luckily with a lot of brute force it finally moved into place.  I just hope that walls aren't so wavy on the left side and units slide in easily.

Next weekend we should be able to start the second cabinet.  As you can see this one was commandeered quite quickly as a makeshift wine bodega.  I'm just so happy that we are finally getting some storage!

LIVING ROOM: THE ALCOVE PROJECT #2

Well after 10 days of having a stinking cold, weekend work has now resumed on building the alcove units & bookcases in the Living Room.  The carcass of the first unit has been built and was quite a struggle to cram into the space as one of the walls was crooked and slanting towards the right.  After an intensive session of wood planing (towards the back) we managed to get the unit to fit.  Luckily, we are working with 30mm (1 1/4 inch) thick MDF which gives plenty of leeway to trim the sides if needed.

We thought it might be a good idea to run through a dry run fit of the bookcase so that any adjustments could be made before priming.  This is what it should roughly look like.

The central support of the cabinet acts to hold the hinges of what eventually will be a 4 door cabinet.  The long narrow doors should give it more of an illusion of height.  It's impossible to tell from the photograph but the cabinet unit is actually 4ft wide!

The shelves of the bookcase were temporarily supported by pieces on wood on the sides which won't be there when it is finished - including the bottom piece sitting on the top surface of the cabinet.
 

Moulding will close up the space between the top of the bookcase and any on the sides.  That should give it a more finished look.

I like the way that all the TV cables are now neatly hidden in the cavity surrounding the recessed TV.

I can't wait to see it finished and painted white.

    

THE MOTHER OF ALL MOTHER'S DAY GIFTS

There are times when all of us have inadvertently treated our parental home as some sort of 5 star hotel, where meals are cooked for us, our rooms cleaned, our beds made and our clothes laundered and ironed and all we have to do is check in and out.  It's a rite of passage to realise one day that it just isn't so.

For underappreciated entrepreneurial mothers the Hotel Mama doormat could make the perfect Mother's Day gift.  Of course, they'll also need to sort out the letterheaded billing invoices...  Payback time!

Available from: http://www.amazon.co.uk/BIG-DOOR-HOTEL-MAMA-carpet/dp/B002T0SARY

OBJECTS OF DESIRE: #1

Is it wrong to have a inexplicable fixation on the occassional beautiful object that one comes across like this  water buffalo horn & metal ashtray from Graham & Green? 

For the time being the photograph will have to suffice...

Available from: www.grahamandgreen.co.uk