~ snap it...inside ~

I have been desperately trying to file/sort/delete some of the photos on my computer (some 40,000 of them!!)

Came across some of our renovation last year and was amazed at the changes inside my kitchen.  
I'm loving the light and the space but clearly need to work on loving window cleaning a little more.

Today's inspiration word was "inside"

I'm playing along here

~ grateful ~

Today I'm grateful to the former owners of our house who planted the most beautiful roses along the verandah.

They make me smile every time I come home.

They keep our vases full of lovely flowers.

Total bonus - we get compliments from passers-by.

(And they look even better now we have a new roof and a great paint job)

{Roses with new roof, new paint and too much junk on the verandah}

{Roses with new roof but old paint, samples of new paint and hidden junk}

I am also, of course, grateful to Maxabella who hosts grateful posts every week and lets us focus on the little things that make life good.

 








♥

~ a year ago today ~

A year ago today we moved out of our house to start the big renovation.

{the back of our house just before the builders moved in}

Tonight we had dinner on the deck, basking in the sunshine of a beautiful day and enjoying our new outdoor space.  I love daylight savings and the extra long evenings and I'm loving the newer version of our house.

{from the same spot - the newer version}

It's been a long, busy, chaotic and ultimately very rewarding year.  I'm not sure either of us are planning to renovate ever again but we're very happy with what we've learnt and where we've ended up.

We're not completely finished (does that ever happen?) - in fact the painter was here again today finishing the garage roof and painting the bay window (I had thought I wanted to leave as stripped pine but its now a beautiful gleaming white and I can't wait for the curtains to arrive).

We are enjoying living here much more than we ever did. The Doc says he's never moving again...

I'm more of a "never say never" kind of girl....

♥

~ on hollow trees and hollow feelings ~

When we started our renovations a year ago one of the hardest things was cutting down a couple of old conifers on the boundary so we could extend.  I didn't like them but cutting trees down goes against the grain.

I was able to reassure myself that we were protecting the majority of our beautiful trees and that our little green oasis would still be there, even with the bigger house.  

 

The main feature of our back garden has always been the ancient, enormous pear tree.  

I loved it unreservedly.  It had a ladder and a small cubby area.  It provided beautiful blossom and shade to read and play.  It had an old tyre swing that we all loved.  It also produced upwards of a thousand pears a year - all inedible unless cooked and all of which the Doc had to pick up and cart to the compost (or tip).  He didn't always share the pear tree love.  The wombles often picked pears up for pocket money and made enough to keep them in icy-poles for the summer. 

I think it was one of the factors that swayed our decision to buy the house (a decision that took all of 5 minutes - I have long lamented my ability to choose curtains, shoes, what to have for dinner... but show me a house I love and I'm signing before I've hit the back wall).

Last week the rain stopped for long enough for us to get into the garden again.  A bit of weeding, some mowing and a chance to look around.  We found, to our horror, a huge crack along one of the branches of the pear tree and a hollow rotting centre.  The tree doctor confirmed our worse fears and today he came with his chainsaw and razed it to the ground.

 

There wasn't even any time to get used to the idea.  There yesterday, gone today.   

I feel like I've committed a {carbon} crime and I've shed a few tears.  

I feel all hollow inside too.

 

(On the upside we have quite a load of firewood for next year and lots of potential).

What's your favourite part of the garden?

♥

~ house of the book ~

We love books.  We love libraries.  
We have "too many" books (still debating whether this is, in fact, possible).  We certainly have more books than shelves.  
We love to read.  Some of us live to read.

It's one of our "things"

I can't go to sleep without reading something.  Lady L is usually to be found curled up reading one of the 5 or 6 books she has on the go.  Princess G has just got her chapter book "licence" and HRH Little Lord J asks for books more than ABC2!  The Doc is so caught up with work reading that he's lapsing a bit but get him on holiday....

So here's a quick look at what we're reading.

 HRH LL J (2 and quite a bit now) reads anything.  You can tell Peepo is a favourite from the mending down the spine but the numbers and robots get a good go too - and anything by Pamela Allen.

 I've been waiting for this for soooo long (its the final installment of the Earth's Children saga by Jean M Auel).  Read the first one about 25 years ago.  This one is a huge disappointment.  I'll make it to the end but I'm skipping lots (and I never do that).

 The Doc is reading for work.....yawn

 Lady L (8) has just raced through all the Harry Potter books and loved them to bits.  This was the choice from school library this week. ??? We made the Lemon Delicious.  It made her happy.

 Princess G (6) has just graduated to chapter books.  She is loving that she is big enough to read these on her own.  I think the Moody part of this is right up her alley (!)

And the beautiful rainbows I made when we moved all the furniture just recently.

What are you reading and loving?

♥