I was going to tell you all about May, the things we've achieved on the house but I know that you'll be scanning down until you find out about the bees so I'll have to start with them. The girls are still in town.
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| Busy bees |
I haven't been into the hive yet but they seem happy and are bringing plenty of pollen in.
We took a half day holiday at the beginning of May to enjoy the Ely Eel Festival. We chose the day that the food & drink fair was on. Converted horse boxes seem to be the choice for a pop up bar.
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| Ely Eel Fair |
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| Ely Eel Fair |
Although there was a great deal of super food for sale I wasn't sure about these suggestions.
Finally the carpet saga has ended and we have a finished hallway and stairs. I found some photographs of this area when we moved in
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| Before |
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| Before |
We've been upping the search for French properties lately and a lot seem to be in this style! However we now look like this
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| After |
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| After |
I spent hours on my hands and knees weeding the drive - thank heavens for trousers with built in knee pads. On the hottest day of the year (so far) seven tons of gravel arrived. Unfortunately I managed to wipe the photographs from my camera but you can imagine that it was a lot of gravel. First we had to redo the flower beds under the bay windows which now have lavender instead of ground elder. Gritting our teeth we just got on with it, Andrew with the shovel and me with the rake and lots of breaks and gallons of water.
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| Finished |
The final external project was the area between the house and the workshop. Slightly out of sight it orginally was home to the old oil tank but even with that gone it was still a pretty nasty area.
Now it's a restful zen garden and nicely sheltered from the breeze.
There seem to have been a lot of 'before & afters' this month which is nice as it means we're finally getting towards the end of our renovation project. We just have some internal snagging to do, some paint patching and a deep clean and tidy. Externally Andrew is in the process of washing the fascias and wants to touch up the previously painted gutters which look a bit messy. Then it's off to the estate agents. Anyone want to buy a house in the country?
Gosh, you've moved mountains since we saw your house, which was looking pretty good then. I can't believe doing that amount of work only to move out. I wonder how your thoughts are going on that front?
ReplyDeleteThanks Margaret - we're quite pleased on hoe the house is looking. I'm not sure I wouldn't know how to live in a finished house in fact I can only think of one occasion when we've stayed long enough to consider redecorating a room! Still planning to put the house on the market this summer, hopefully in the next month and then be in France for the winter - even if we rent first. But of course we still have to sell this house...
DeleteI love before and afters, and the house is looking great. But like Margaret, I'm amazed that you're not going to enjoy the fruits of your labours before you move on. Much as I love renovation I couldn't, in a million months of Sundays, do it for somebody else's benefit :)
ReplyDeleteHi Kalba - lovely to hear from you. Thank you for your kind words. I really don't mind moving on - I enjoy the planning and doing and if it gets me nearer to where I want to be them that's just fine.
DeleteIs there an admission fee for use of the zen garden for Rapid staff having a stressful day at work? :)
ReplyDeleteDid you succumb to any of the cake stands at the Ely Eel Fair? There was one that was selling huge slices of all different flavours. We may have purchased a peanut butter and jam slice and a Ferrero Rocher one and even with my sweet tooth, i could only manage a few bites when we got home! Louise x
Oh Louise you made me chuckle! It's available at lunchtimes as well and all Rapid staff can have an annual pass f.o.c. :-)
ReplyDeleteI did see the cakes stand you mentioned but resolutely walked past - however we did succomb to the caramel almonds that were being cooked fresh to order - delicious!
Wow Sharon, it all looks amazing. Can't begin to imagine how back breaking moving all the gravel must have been. As soon as the ankle has recovered I'm coming for a visit!
ReplyDeleteHi Carole - I hope the ankle is mending (and pretty fast as the estate agent's photographer is round on Monday morning!) and you're getting mobile again. Sx
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