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I really am running out of ideas for titles for these blogs so will probably end up numbering them, hence the question marks.
Another jam packed week or so. My friend C came to stay ostensibly to help pack up the house. well we finished that pdq & then went out in the garden, she also being a keen gardener. We got loads done,stripped the turf off the new border, planted all the cowslips she had given me & divided the shrubs I had to move in preparation for the new car park.
I have attempted to lay the hedge as the front, it doesn't look bad but bit back at me. It is blackthorn & I got a thorn in my knuckle. I didn't think much of it even though it was sore. The next morning was a different story. My hand had swollen to twice it's normal size. I had to go to the doctors about something else so showed her my hand. She said it was common to get blackthorn poisoning But is the swelling didn't go down in a few days to come back. Luckily it has gone done & stopped being painful.
The builders have started & we now have a fine layer of brick dust all over the house. Something you have to live with during building work.It is all shaping up well. I find it difficult to imagine the changes planned, so it is a great relief to see that they do work. The better half has been working hard, removing radiators, skirting board old carpet & anything else that gets us one step nearer the B&B. I have now moved all my workroom stuff over to the new garage. It looks great with it's smart black & white checked flooring. The laundry room will be amazing, a good light clean space for all those sheets & towels that will need doing.
We have had to cut down a lot of hedging & a couple of small trees to make way for the car park(the chain saw is now in use) so had a surplus or branches etc. We decided to have a bonfire & it was so successful that we had one three nights running & have got rid of all the rubbish that is burnable. It saves taking it to the tip. I must add that I will be planting hedging & trees to replace all we have cut down.
You may remember me talking about a duck who used to come round for bread, well we haven't seen him for a couple of weeks & I was hoping that he had found a lady friend. We were telling J of the cider farm next door about him & he said he had seen a squashed duck on the road, so maybe he has gone to the big pond in the sky. I hope up there he has a mended wing & can fly all he wants. Talking of the wild life, while C & I were gardening, there were a couple of pheasants in the garden. I had dug a hole for a plant & had gone to get some bonemeal for it. When I came back this big pheasant was sitting in the hole! They really are stupid birds.
The septic tank has arrived & is sitting on the lawn like a large grey spaceship. They are going to have to dig a very large hole for it, I'm glad I don't have to. Hopefully it will go in next week & there won't be some pheasant sitting in it!
The saga of the fire doors rumbles on. We now have to have intumescent strips round them, the hinges I bought aren't big enough & the locks aren't big enough so they all have to go back. Will it never end?
The cards & flyers for the B&B are just about finalized & look fantastic. I must now knuckle down & work on wording & pics for the web site. This is all getting very real & I am starting to realize that we may actually have real paying guests staying one day. Very scary!
Tomorrow I am having a day off. C & I are going out to a nursery, then a hotel for lunch & to look at their rooms for inspiration. After lunch we are going to Beth Chatto's garden so I can get ideas for my gravel garden. so really it is a fact finding mission & not a jolly at all!
And then on Saturday we are off to the auction again. Can't wait.
With that I will sign off.