Evolution to a woodshed

When we first moved here the patio by our back door looked like this:

 

 

With a lot of clearance and pruning it changed to this (yeah, still messy but none the less better):

 

then this:

 

 

I always wanted a pergola and was quite chuffed that there was one here, complete with a mature rose. But having lived with it for several years I eventually realised that from a design point of view it was all wrong. The structure was built square to this house but the garden wall is at an acute angle. The result was that as you walked out of the back door your eye would be drawn into the wall not down the garden. It felt very enclosed and claustrophobic. Another issue was the shade,  this was already the shadiest part of our garden, the pergola just made this worse. The final nail in the coffin was that the mature rose is also rather vigorous. After just a month or two of having pruned the plant my partner (who is admittedly rather tall) would have difficulty walking through the area without getting attacked by stray fronds. So I made the decision that I never anticipated, remove the pergola.

 

 

This also had the convenient by product of providing wood to frame up a woodstore by the back door. Something we needed and made entirely of salvaged material from the garden. Whilst it's fairly large it isn't intrusive at all. Now I walk out of the back door, my eye bounces off the garden wall and swiftly moves onto the scene beyond. A massive improvement.

New storage for winter wear

Individual storage

I finally did it, our big old hamper of miscellaneous hats, scarves and whatevers has been sorted into individual boxes for each of us. We are lucky enough to have a utility room and in this space I have a large Ikea Expedit bookcase in which we store all manner of useful stuff. I have been looking out for suitable sized baskets to sit in the spaces but cannot afford the lovely wicker ones that I prefer so was left hunting in Homebase. Alas, whilst they had a reasonable selection some months ago all those available now look pretty but were clearly not designed for durability. Instead a multipack of 5 boxes was purchased and are now sitting very neatly in their cubby holes.

These boxes will not only hold winter extras but also cycle helmets and clips, reflective vests and (importantly) those nerf gun bullets that I'm constantly picking up throughout the house. I still need to sort through each of them but as winter will be coming to a close soon I am putting off that task for now.

I'm not keen on plastic storage boxes. Whilst they have their uses I find that over time my children tend to split them. I was going to cover up some cardboard boxes with fabric for a cheap fix, after all this is what most of those I saw in the shops were. But the thought of investing time into this project when they will have to put up with some heavy use made me decide reluctantly in favour of the cheap plastic for now. I will continue to keep my eyes peeled for a better solution.

This follows on from There is no bad weather only bad clothing

Tripping over no more

Living room floor with most of the floorboards back in place.

I hate cables lying around on the floor. I consider them accidents waiting to happen. When we first moved in cables were laid, temporarily, around the edge of the rooms to allow internet access. Finally, finally, finally something is happening. It is happening slowly but surely. One day I will have a living room without network cables to trip me up.

Having floorboards up also gave me the opportunity to clean out under some of them. There is an area under the stairs which was once used to dispose of broken bottles. With this fully excavated there is no longer any damp there. An unlooked for success!

Planting seeds

Willow cuttings

 I love planting seeds, they always seem to be so full of promise. This year I'm determined to cut back on my vegetable aspirations and get going with other perennial plants for the garden. A couple of years ago I saw an episode of 'Gardeners World' showing a winter/spring garden full of willow, hellebores and other striking plants. I can't afford to fill my garden with these but I have got started with a selection of 17 different willow cuttings. These have all been pushed into my flower nursery bed in the veg patch and I really hope that they will prosper. I have previously attempted this but due to a combination of dotting them around randomly in the garden and helpful children pulling the sticks out, nothing took. My fingers are crossed for this time.

Half price roots

Another item I've not had much success with are purchased roots. However, I felt unable to pass up the opportunity to pick up some of my favourite plants in the form of these half price root packs. These were also planted into my flower nursery bed so that I can keep an eye on them and move them to a more sensible location when they have bulked up a bit.  



Heated Propagator



 Finally I had a fun with seeds. My little heated propagator is packed full and so is my kitchen windowsill. And to think that this is only the beginning. I really hope that the slugs won't be up to the same mischief again this year!
 

Unheated propagator

February review and March planning

So how did I do with my February goals... pretty poorly to be honest but none the less it was a good month for me. The focus shifted from myself towards my family more... which is probably why I wasn't successful with my original intentions.

Home & garden, Wellbeing: Work in the garden at least 3 days a week
This didn't happen, I don't enjoy the cold. Also, as most of my weekends are spent outside I just don't have the time to do this throughout the week too as intended. However, my vegetable patch has been tidied and my compost area has also improved. I'm quite happy with my progress so far.

Health & Fitness: Plan healthy meals and cut out the rubbish
This was an epic failure.

Celebrations: Enjoy Candlemas & Valentines
Did it!!

Arts & Crafts: Complete one unfinished project, start and finish one new project
Did it!! I must take photos though..

Self learning: Continue with keyboard practise
Another epic failure. Much as I love playing the keyboard I need to use my goal setting for new ideas rather than continue a previous goal.


Goals for March?
I'm going to make these more family focused. January was very much about me, February became  a mess because I had to catch up with family stuff. So bearing this in mind I'm setting my March goals with a better awareness of how much time I need for my family, but I hope to swing back to me more in April.

Home & garden: Complete the decor in the front room. Clear out my craft room.
Wellbeing: Post on blog 4 times a week
Health & Fitness: rediscover yoga
Celebrations: My partners birthday. 11th Commonwealth day. 17th St Patricks. 10th Mothering Sunday. 20th Spring Equinox.
Arts & Crafts: Explore art with different materials with my children
Self learning: I need to focus on doing rather than planning.

Let's see how I do.

There is no bad weather, only bad clothing.

My youngest attempting a snow angel

Yesterday I came across a quote that I really like:

There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.

What a true statement! I often let the weather dictate what I can or can't do and I really shouldn't let it happen so often especially as it also impacts on my two little (or not so little!) trouble makers.

Thankfully we do have much of the wet weather and cold gear that we need but it does tend to get jumbled up in a hamper and each time we head out I have to go hunting for gloves. Better organisation is clearly required but how? Something to ponder on but for now I'm going to make a start by clearing out all of the extra pieces we have lying around.