Sunday...

... was definitely a fine day to sample fine tipple. It ended up being one of those rare boozy days that T & I sometimes have. We celebrated T following his heart to do something that he loves with a few glasses of poo. In the garden. In the sun. Happy days!

Discovering Hendrick's gin and other things

Sunday brought glorious sunshine and high temperatures. Light relief after the typically British weather we've been having. T and I spent the morning boxing off odd jobs in the garden.

At the moment we are mostly tackling the garage cum potting shed at the end of the garden. It has potential to be a cute little hide-away (although I'm maybe leaning more towards a cheeky shisha den for double apple delights), but right now it's a bona fide dumping ground for junk, scavenged furniture and tools. That's all for another post though.

Bristol was hosting Foodies Festival.

Was this ripe foraging grounds for two DIYers in need of good food and refreshments? Alas no, not really. But we did discover some gems that are worth talking about.

First up were swordfish patties care of this amazing lady. No, sorry no photos. We were too hungry by far and wolfed those patties down!

I followed this with bay leaf ice cream. Dangerous... I'm seriously thinking about getting an ice cream maker so that I can try this again.

Post-prandial drinks were our next prey... and we snagged some fine ones care of the "Hendrink's Kiosk of Curious Concoctions". A little oasis of civilised drinking in amongst the mediocrity.

Gin infused with cucumber and rose petals was music to our tastebuds.

Here's to some bloody fine tipple!

A bottle may have somehow found its way home. Really not sure how! I found it nestled between some vinho verde, white port and game pies. A happy coincidence as I read this homage to Hendrick's over at "Not without Salt" later in the evening. I now have an urge to try a Bee's Knees. Honey, lemon and gin? Sounds like a winner to me!

Flowers everywhere

Just add sun.

Whitewash...

So Sunday I got the bit between my teeth. I've been eyeing up this nasty brick mess ever since we moved in and last weekend was its day of reckoning.

This was back of the house last spring.

There's not a great deal going for it and the faux wood UPVC windows just add insult to injury. Can't do anything about them, the wall, however, is a different story. Now normally I wouldn't dream of painting a lovely brick wall, but seriously this needed to go.

The purple garden walls were also on the day's hit list.

I threw in a bit of demolition into the mix and took out the water butt as well. That's going to be relocated to the far end of the garden with the compost heap.

No going back now!

A quick word about prep. I brushed the walls down and got rid of as much dirt, dust, and moss as possible. I then painted the walls with a 1:5 mix of PVA glue and water. This helps to seal the brick and make it less porous so it doesn't soak up all the paint.

After the first coat.

I managed to get two coats on before I had to call it a day. It needs at least one more coat, but I've put everything back for now as it's going to be a week or two before I get chance to finish this job.

I'm really happy with the result. What took me so long?! Shame the conservatory roof isn't as straight forward to sort out. It's still a hot mess.

Sods law...

Says that when you have time off from work so does the sun! We spent a chilly morning in the garden sowing seeds and building a table for the allotment out of scrap wood, so T and I consoled ourselves with a late lunch at the Souk Kitchen.

Lamb kofta tagine.

Rosewater flavoured cous-cous, caramelised onions and pomegranate syrup.

Chicken, green olive and fennel tagine.

The lush food we found there put a smile back on our face, but I'm hoping the sun comes back and puts some hours in soon.

Got one of these...

Weekend to do list:

• Sell sofa on Gumtree
• Make some oat & raisin cookies for T
• Make fat rascals
  
• Finish sowing seeds that need to be started off in March - indoor/outdoor [update: almost!]
• Tidy up back garden - made a start...
  
• Finish raking/prepping the beds on the allotment
• Feed the blackcurrants & raspberries with chicken poo pellets
  
• Buy a tonneau cover for the car on eBay (Tonneau? No idea why! Funny name for the bit of material that is used to cover the soft-top when it's down and stops it getting sun-bleached.) [Update: got it! Should arrive this week.]
• Paint wood preserver on garden trellis
• Order cycle helmet
• Fill in 2011 census
• Fix laptop
  
• Do laundry

It's been a gorgeous day. I was going to check out a new second-hand shop I'd been told about and poke around the reclamation yards, but with sunshine and blue skies it's a day for being outside.




Got to the allotment to find this bad ass standing loud and proud in the middle of the plot.


Somehow T is creating the mother of all compost heaps from this pile of crap. I'm feeling it deserves a special post when he's done.


Elsewhere on the plot:

Garlic.


More garlic!


Raspberry canes.


Broadleaf sorrel.


Itsy bitsy beetroot.

Ruby came to supervise, but got distracted... the slow worm was relocated to the safety of the rhubarb.


PS. Look what arrived on Thursday.

Angelica

Source: Laundry etc.

42°C in the conservatory...

... so we escaped into the more shaded parts of the garden and DIY'd out little hearts out over the weekend. We got quite a lot done despite the heat:

• Prepped and painted the new planter that Tony built
• Finished the making the water butt lid... still can't work out how to re-site the butt so it's less intrusive :/
  
• Fixed the gazebo and painted with wood protector - it almost looks like new.
• Removed the sink and capped the water in the potting shed and cleared out all the crap "stored" in there.
  
• Squeezed in two trips to the local tip
  
• Cleared out the allotment shed in preparation for fixing it up. It won't survive another winter without making a bid for freedom and sliding down the hill.
• Finished off the shelves in the utility room. Hurrah almost done - just need to caulk and paint.

Herb garden eye candy

Wanting to gently tame the front garden stop it being such a haven for bindweed.

Potential ideas/wishlist are:

• Redo path... funds/time not available for this yet so it will have to wait
• Remove paving slabs in main bed and replace with a smaller gravel border similar to the one in the image below
• Dig! Redistrubute the grape hyacinth and lily of the valley which have taken over

Source... not sure where I found this one.

Then with all the minor landscaping done, the fun bit! Choose some new plants. The garden is south-west facing and sheltered. The focus is on kitchen herbs and we already have the usual suspects, i.e. basil, oregano, thyme, lavender, rosemary, mint, sage, etc. So thoughts are:

• Lovage, tarragon, bergamot, borage, chamomile, chives, caraway, dill, coriander, marjoram, meadow sweet, hyssop, lemon balm... ummm is there room for all of them?
  

Also thinking that angelica, wild garlic, chervil, sweet cicely, and comfrey can go in the back, more shady garden.

Garden colour schemes

Source: via Remodelista


Source: via Remodelista




Source: http://roomenvy.files.wordpress.com

iwantoneiwantoneiwantone...

The Hero 365 RC-1 Rain Collector...

Source: www.bau-outdoors.co.uk
Sooo much nicer than those horrible green plastic monsters used to collect sky juice. Can't afford the nearly £400 price ticket... could we make one?!

Fencing

source: www.gardentrellis.co.uk

Black/dark grey trellis fencing...

Garden riot

We've got a fab back garden, but it's looking really bare at the moment. Stuck with existing landscaping structures (I think?), but thinking that a riot of colour would detract and help soften the look. The challenge? How to create something that looks like the gardens below in a plot that is noth-east facing...








Source: House to Home


Source: www.rosalindcreasy.com


Source: www.gbd.uk.com


Source: www.brightlingdesigns.co.uk