Ranosys, you're right, I call the house old, only because I compare it to my relatively modern well insulated rented townhouse built in 1997. My new "old" house dates from 1979, but has been upgraded somewhat with new double-glazed Velux windows upstairs & double glazing downstairs throughout. Coupled with a modern Central Heating System & an air circulation -unit, it feels much cosier than it did in the eighties! Oh, and I just realised: a while back I said that the wisteria in the front garden had to go. Anyone who remembered must have wondered why I suddenly mention a pergola for it to climb on. Well, I wàs going to get rid of it, until my boyfriend suggested some kind of structure to add height to the front garden, a pergola or something. Then it dawned on me that the wisteria could stay after all, as long as it climbed away from the house. Can't wait to see all those pretty lilac blossoms along the garden path
You have a very smart boyfriend. The wisteria and pergola will look fantastic....and keep it away from your house. I've never grown one but have heard that they aren't house friendly.
2ofus, the really remarkeable thing is that my boyfriend isn't into gardening at all. He usually agrees with and approves of everything I do to his or my garden. This time, however, he actually mentioned that the front garden was lacking height. I myself hadn't quite been able to put my finger on it, but when he said it & suggested the pergola, it was a lightbulb moment . Kind of weird for a garden surrounded by huge lime-trees to be lacking height, but that really is what's missing. My mum's idea was to have the wisteria grow around the front door, she had someone screw 2 huge eyelets in the wall, and placed a wire through them. The thing is: there is wood panelling above the door, running all the way along the facade of the house. The wisteria would indeed have done a lot of damage, and I suspect that's why she kept cutting it down. I'm leaving the eyelets & wire in place, because I have a few clematis Montana's I grew from seed, ready to be planted
Hoi Gardenelf! It is great to see you and to learn of your good fortune to be able to live in your mum's house. Those piccies revealed what a nice place it is. The outside looked pretty organised as well. The before and after of the front garden revealed what a great job you have done. Do you think that your friend may be secretly developing an interest in gardening, or was his suggestion a one-off observation? At any rate I hope that you will post more pics later on (inside and out). I really like the "Blue Rain" plants. Mine is young and budding and I have great hopes for it. Stay in touch.
Sjoerd, I'm afraid it was indeed a one-off thing, he's usually better at DIY stuff, especially where it comes to electrics. Handy, since I'm scared of anything that has any kind of electric current running through it The past two days we've spent breaking our backs doing lots of DIY around the house, my boyfriend stripped the stairs, using nasty chemical carpetglue-stripper & wearing a special mask against the fumes. Meanwhile I "hid" in the bedroom, painting my mum's old desk. Here are the results: As you can see, not all the carpetglue & backing came off, so a 3rd round of stripping is required The colour on the desk is vintage blue, but you can see why I kind of felt like a Smurf by the time I'd finished painting
Not envious of the job your boyfriend has ... I stripped 80 years of paint off the trim upstairs and that stripper is NASTY stuff! When the job is all done, it sure feels worth it all. I like the color you painted the desk! Is the top the same color or natural wood?
Netty, all the blocks used to belong to one big l-shaped desk that someone made for my mother about 40 years ago. It has since been re- and disassembled 4 times each time we moved house. The material used is cheap plywood & wood fibre board, some of it not even sanded or stained. I think the only reason it is still here today, is because my mum always took good care of her belongings, and also because we never lived in a damp house My idea is to split the desk, making it into 1 larger and one smaller one. The tops of both desks (still to be cut to size) will be high gloss black, to go with the (art deco) vintage blue.
The staircase job looks nasty and your BF did a great job. You are a great handy lady yourself and I like the idea of making the desk into 2 pieces.
My new kitchen was installed today. Needs a bit of cleaning & finishing touches like painting the backsplash, but I'm really pleased with it already!
The new oak floor is almost finished. Shame it's so dull looking, I would liked for it to have been varnished. Unfortunately my finances didn't quite stretch that far, this floor has been stained/smoked.
My boyfriend's neighbour gave me lots of tulip-bulbs end of last year. Usually she takes them to her family in the Ukraine, but this winter she didn't visit them (probably due to the troubles over there). I thought it was very kind of her to think of me, and f course I had to give them a good home. Ideal for the new garden, which was looking rather dull & boring. They came up beautifully (and that's coming from someone who isn't a tulip-fan at all ) Tulips remind me of an illustration I once saw in a book of fairytales by Hans Christian Andersen. The story was Little Ida's flowers, and the illustration that of a very elegant lady in a beautiful ballgown. Arms were leaves, body was stem, ballgown was the upside down tulip-flower.
