Tuesday 8 June 2010

If I go any faster . . .

(The result of painting the wall last year, and then an extreme clear out and scrub-up today . . . Down in what was my mum's kitchen . . . )

. . . . I shall meet myself coming back! It is all hands to the pump here, as we paint the final bits - though I did have a sorry moment yesterday when I painted some needy patches on the stair wall (two flights) and it dried the Wrong Colour Yellow . . . It would appear we no longer have any Right Colour Yellow and so I now have to paint the whole blardy lot again!!! That will have to wait until everything else is done though, as it doesn't show too badly and I don't think a photo of the staircase will be necessary.

It is all coming together, and the most satisfying part of today was clearing out down in mum''s kitchen (her bedroom is still to be tackled). I took several boxes of china to auction yesterday, and have some frames and a couple of hunting prints to go too, and any car boot stuff has gone in the barn, along with anything which shouldn't BE in the room.


Though I say it myself, the garden is looking lovely this year - it has never looked so good in fact, and I am just about keeping on top of the weeds in the main borders. The veg garden looks a bit sad so far, but I have lots to go in - just trying to juggle it with the work in the house.


Foxgloves vie with Aquilegias for prettiness.


My big Oriental Poppies are just starting to flower.

There used to be a little pathway here . . .

This is a lovely little rambler which was given me by a neighbour, who said it was very old. It has the most wonderful perfume. I have some of its babies to travel with us to our new home. I've planted it down by mum's patio garden.


The house-hunting continues, although there is a real dearth of anything suitable for us in the area of Devon we want to move to. We've seen properties we would LOVE but they would take all of the money we would get for this house, and leave us with no savings, and we want to have a buffer in the Bank . . . We are currently looking further afield and saw several possibles in Somerset when searching on-line today . . .

8 comments:

  1. It's such a sad fact of life that our houses never look better than as when we are leaving.....

    Cheers BB, lovely photos. { and NO, you don't need photos of the stair well when you have sights like some of these.} Why not include some of the garden instead.

    regards.....Al.

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  2. It is marvelous what we do in the way of clearing out when we're putting a house on the market!
    It will be so hard for you to leave your garden, but I should think it would have immense attraction for a buyer.
    Oh yes, paint which doesn't quite match: we got into that in touching up paint in our last house at the very last moment--and a trip to town to buy the right color. After all the effort, we discovered one of the first things the new owners did was hire someone to re-paint all the rooms in very "warm" color schemes.
    Never say we didn't try!
    I hope the perfect smaller house will come on the market just at the time you are ready to become buyers.

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  3. The garden is looking lovely :) A lick of paint makes such a difference too, the house looks superb. I hope you soon find the right one for you.x

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  4. We are hoping to view one next week - in Somerset!!! (Next county to Devon, MM) My g. granny came from Glastonbury, so I'd still be amongst rellies . . .

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  5. Somerset is another lovely county where I`m sure you could be happy.We loved our few years on the coast not far from Bristol, but the Mendip villages and the apple growing areas are equally good places to consider.

    Your garden looks beautiful. A tribute to lots of hard work and thoughtful planting.

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  6. Somerset is beautiful, lots of walking as well. Your garden looks gorgeous, my half of the house is in the process of being sold in Bath, and I feel sad for all those fruit trees I planted years ago, its the garden I miss not the house.
    I love that yellow you're splashing around ;)

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  7. Ah the dangers of painting over patches - my kitchen is yellow - first it was daffodil, then aconite and then sunflower - all the same colour, just renamed by the paint company.
    Good luck with the house hunting.

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  8. Wonderful pictures from Devon. Your garden looks so lovely and your mother's flat is so full of character. You must have very mixed fee;ings about downsizing, especially as you are having trouble finding what you want. It WILL show up however and all will fall in place.

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