Drama...

So the most exciting event of this week was supposed to be tiling our dining room:



Instead, the house next door caught fire early on Wednesday morning:



So Wednesday morning was pretty exciting. Our neighbor, Mickey B., pounded on the door at 4am and told us that the roof next door was seriously on fire. We got the kids out of bed, grabbed our passports and document file, got our coats and shoes on, and got out of the house.

The kids spent the next three hours watching the Disney Channel at Mickey's house while Martin and I watched the fire getting closer and closer to our house until the fire brigade got it out. It was pretty terrifying. But our house suffered pretty minimal damage, and our home owners insurance is covering all of it.

It's kind of nice to know that I'm not very materialistic. Too bad it took a major fire to gain that knowledge.

So yeah, loads of drama. But, all things considered, getting the tiling done IS more exciting!

What we've been up to lately (in pictures)

So we started out with this in our dining room--a lovely piece of furniture, but a bit dark and dated for my taste.


I painted the dining room walls white, then chose a very bright color to brighten things up. A bit of sanding and a whole lot of painting later, and I had this!


Edith helped me pick out some wallpaper to back the cabinet, and my very clever husband did the papering (with some "help" from the kids)


And this is how my dining room looks now. Nearly finished--just need to paint the light fixture bright blue and find some artwork to go on the wall.

Do you love it as much as I do?

Can of Worms...

Nearly finished with the stairs project--at least what I can do on it. Two of the 16 steps need to be replaced, and that is definitely a Martin job. But I applied the second coat of paint this evening, and they look mighty fine. It has yet to be decided if they will stay pure white. Martin is plumping for funky coloured risers. The jury's still out with me.

I've finally got my DIY momentum back, after a three month hiatus. I've just been feeling that urge to beautify my home. If I was pregnant, I'd think I was nesting. Maybe it's just that spring is happening all around me, and it makes me want to deep clean. Anyway, I'm thrilled that the desire is back. While it's here, I'm making a big push to get stuff done.

My can of worms is this:

I mixed up a batch of filler to repare some of the gaps between the walls and the base boards on the stairs this evening. I mixed up a bit too much, so I went on a little hunt to find any cracks throughout the house that needed filling. I don't think I'll ever be able to stop. My house is more cracks in the walls than it is walls. ARGH!

Now sure, I could just leave them. They've never really bothered me before. But now I've seen how much better it looks when they are filled, and there's no turning back. And, of course, filling the cracks means sanding and then painting as well. What have I done???

Tonight I was just going to work for about an hour. Instead, I worked for two and a half. It's good to get stuff done, but still...

In other news, we had parents' evenings for both kids this week. As usual, we were told that our children are very bright and well adjusted. Dylan is the top of his class in several subjects (but appears to be resting on his laurels at the monent) and Edith is part of a very small, select group of early readers. No, she's not reading yet. But she is learning phonics and beginning to spell very simple three letter words.

Martin is back at work after his (totally amazing) week off, and we all miss him. Especially me, because I love that man to distraction. His schedule is going to be strange for a few weeks because of English Mother's Day, and he's going to be pretty busy for that. They're getting closer to finishing off the upstairs function room at Stables, so that's something to look forward to. They had cocktail night last night, with live music. Fun, huh?

Bottom line is, we are all super busy, happy, and healthy (I don't think I'll ever stop using that silly Oxford comma). So don't worry about us, mom.

Now I need to go try and get some sleep while feeling totally high on paint fumes. Wish me luck.

Wheeeeeee...

Quickie!

My fingers are wrecked and it hurts to type, so I'll be brief.

REALLY busy couple of days over here. They went kind of like this;

Friday: Kids broke up for half term. We celebrated with fish and chips and a movie at home. NICE!

Saturday: Had a "screen free" day. Edith's ballet lesson, walk at Water's Edge, gardening, scooter ride, grocery shop, play at park, etc. Kids only took about 3 minutes to fall asleep. Me too!

Sunday: Church, of course. And Martin worked in the evening, so played single parent.

Monday: DIY marathon, took kids to the park, B&Q shop, more DIY, aquafit in the evening for me.

Tuesday: DIY marathon day (yes, again. Why do you think my fingers hurt?), took the kids to Normanby Hall (met the Mundays there--yay!), more DIY.

So the big project at the moment is the stairs. I am stripping the carpet off the top flight of stairs, then sanding, filling, and painting the steps. It's hard work, but the carpet is all gone and I've done all the sanding and filling. The painting is half done, as well. I would have finished it tonight, but I ran out of paint.

Martin is still working on building me that bed. He's nearly done. As a matter of fact, we should be sleeping in it tomorrow night. I am totally excited, because he's done such a great job on it. My husband is a man of many talents.

Tomorrow should be a good day as well. We are hoping to go to the temple, then we are all going to the football--Leeds v. Blackpool. I'm already tired, just thinking about it. But looking forward to it, all the same. Oh, and yoga. I also have yoga tomorrow.

So far, this has been a really nice half term break. Lets hope it stays that way!

Manic!

We've had the most insane week ever.

Martin had the week off, we went on holiday, and did DIY in preparation for a house viewing today.  It doesn't sound very busy, does it?  But the holiday was a camping one, and the DIY involved plastering and painting the stairwells and landings, the fireplace in the dining room, one wall in the bathroom, and a wall and part of the ceiling in the kitchen.

First of all, we had some insanity and a totally wasted day trying to get an air compressor to machine plaster our walls.  To make a very long story short, Martin started out at 10am and drove all over Hull and Scunthorpe, making multiple purchases and returns, only to find out at 6pm that his dad had an air compressor sitting at home in his garage.  It was a bad day for everyone.

Wednesday involved the actual plastering--or most of it anyway--and having our home teachers and my book club ladies over.  That was stressful, too.  We had to do some hard work, followed by enough cleaning to have company over.  We probably should have kept working, in hindsight.  Oh well--Martin got to go to the cinema and I had a great visit with the book club.  We'd read Amy Chua's "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother," and the discussion was interesting.

Thursday morning (after some frustrating last minute packing) we headed out in the car for our holiday destination--Norfolk.  We stayed just outside a village called Wells-next-the-sea, which was charming and lovely.  I'll write more about our Norfolk adventures later, as I need some time to do them justice.  For now, I will just say that I found Norfolk wonderful in every way.  Far superior to Lincolnshire, which is really saying something, considering how much I love my home here.

Anyway, we came home on Saturday and have been working on the house ever since.  Well, except for Sunday night when the Mundays came over.  We had a great visit.  Yesterday was especially productive, with several ongoing projects being finished. 

Martin is back at work in 2 1/2 hours, so now I have to clean everything for the viewing by myself.  But I have quite a while to do it, so it's ok.  A big job, considering all the plaster dust I've got to clean up, but manageable.

I hope this viewing is the one that sells the house, but if it doesn't that's ok with me.  The house is starting to look really lovely.  In fact, I'd almost hate to sell it after all the work we've put in.

Almost!

Fingers crossed, everyone...

A few of my favorite things--in the garden...

This is my favorite!

Housework...

We lived with this mess for a few days, but it has to get worse before it can get better--right?

Totally worth it!

Bizarrely, this is my favorite part of the whole tiling job.  The tiny step up from the piano room into the kitchen used to be broken, exposed concrete.  Now it is a lovely little tiled step, and it looks immeasurably better.

Dining room is next.  Ugh--I'm really not looking forward to the work and mess involved there.  But the tiles look so beautiful.

They are travertine, a form of limestone.  The best bit is, it was nearly free.  We saved our Tesco clubcard vouchers and traded them in for triple their value at Topps Tiles.  And the travertine tiles, along with being my favorite tiles in the place, were cheaper than ceramic.  I'm all about natural materials.

A pleasant surprise...

Martin finally took the hideous gas heater out of the dining room.  I've been wanting it gone for about 3 years, and it only took 15 minutes to get it done.  And, when we took it off, we discovered that opening up the fireplace was going to be a much easier job than we thought.

The people who installed the heater (which my dad tells me is a non-vented heater) didn't even bother blocking up the fireplace.  They just put up some truly hideous brick, installed some faux hearthstones, and whacked the heater on top.  So we already have an open fireplace.  We just need to chip out the ugly old bricks and install the fire surround we have out in the back garden (Martin bought it off somebody for about £20, and it's a cast iron fire surround!).  Oh, and have the chimney swept, but apparently that only costs about a tenner to have done.  We will have a proper fireplace in our dining room, which I am pretty jazzed about.  Now we will just have to find a source for firewood.  Martin's parents use coal in their fireplace, but I much prefer a wood fire.  And I'll have to learn about proper fireplace maintenance, as well.

There's something kind of primitave about having an open fire in the house that really appeals to me.  And it's in the back room of the oldest part of the house, so it's a massive fireplace that was probably used for cooking on at one point.  Nice to know that if the world as we know it ended tomorrow, I would be able to do some cooking for the family in our house.

I sort of like to think about that sometimes.  What would we do if civilization as we know it ended tomorrow and we were thrown back to the middle ages?  I'm a total freak about post-apocalyptic fiction and am (slightly) obsessed with learning how to do things like hand sewing, mending, preserving food, gardening, etc.  Just in case, you know?  A little bit crazy, but part of my charm.

our current project...

I didn't get a completely "before" photo, but this is as good as it gets.

Martin, hanging out in the bathroom closet.  Now now, no gay jokes, please!

Recovering from using a sledgehammer.  See, totally manly!

Here we are at the point when we wonder if it was worth it!

I had a terrible cold, so spent most of the time doing clean-up.  And my favorite DIY job, sitting and watching Martin work.

Here's the new view of the kitchen from the piano.  Looks massive, doesn't it?

And the tidy version.

We now have a wall there, and it's looking better all the time.  The trickiest bits are the floor (raising the level) and the ceiling (has to be re-done where the closet was).  It's going to be so nice to have the extra space in the kitchen.  It already looks a lot bigger and I'm thrilled to be gaining some kitchen storage space!

going, going, GONE!

The kids and I came home to some serious noise a few days ago...

...and a lot more light in the back garden!

We tried to get a closer look...

And saw this man up in the neighbor's tree, chainsaw in hand!

Dylan was fascinated.

Edith thought it was something new to watch while she gnawed on a carrot stick.

Is it kind of weird that we all sat on the kitchen floor together for about 20 minutes and had a great time doing it?

The sycamore tree in Simon and Joanne's garden is gone!  I miss the tree, but am loving all the extra morning sunshine we get in our garden as a result.  We knew it would be going, but it was still strange to watch it being cut down.  Our back garden still feels slightly, well, naked. 

Things in the garden that make me smile...

Our fun and funky garden...

Gardening...

I never thought I'd say this, but I am really enjoying doing the gardening lately.

Now that we've got really nice grass (though we are still trying not to walk on it too much) it has inspired me to work on the rest of the garden.  Especially because I can't leave the house Tuesday through Saturday after 7pm.  Being, quite literally,  stuck in the house 5 nights a week is a bit wearing.  Being able to go out and work in the back garden feels a little bit like I'm getting away with something.  I lock the front door, turn the baby monitor on, and lose myself for the hour before it gets dark.

Last night was lovely.  I am currently using our barbeque table as a make-shift potting area, and I planted some tomato, watermelon, courgette, and aubergine seeds in old yoghurt pots.  I also planted some nasturtiums in a hanging basket.  As I was standing at the back of the garden, the bell ringers for St. Mary's church met for their weekly practice.  It was cold and the wind was blowing, but I was totally happy.  I can hardly wait for the seeds to start sprouting, and I think that Tuesday night will be my official gardening night.  Can you imagine the pleasure of gardening to church bells?

I have always admired really quirky style, especially in the garden.  I have wondered how people achieved the look, and now I know because mine is starting to look totally funky and fun.  It's a combination of creativity, a passion for recycling, and zero money!  I have my home-made barbeque grills, an old window and yoghurt pots being used as a makeshift greenhouse for my little seedlings.  I also have a couple of old windows in heavy frames on the back table to reflect heat and break up the effect of all that brick back there.  I have that fantastic old fireplace and chimney in the back corner which I am going to turn into a water feature of some kind (just need to get some pond liner and some mortar, because I am going to attempt some brick work--fun, huh?).  I have my antique looking garden tools hanging up on the walls.  I just wish I had some really great antique garden furniture instead of the free cheap white plastic I got off freecycle.

My goal is to make my garden absolutely irresistible to potential buyers.  I think it's getting there!

A fruitful mornings' work!

We were supposed to get our turf on Thursday, but the garden center called this morning to tell us that it was here and would be delivered to our house within the hour.

PANIC!

As you can see, the garden wasn't quite ready for new turf yet.  So we made an emergency phone call to Martin's dad, and he came right over...

But, while we were waiting for him to arrive Martin had a slightly smaller helper.

I took Edith and did the grocery shopping, and came home to this.  What a difference 8 bags of topsoil makes!

The turf went down really quickly.  While they were cracking on with the job, Edith got a nap and I made a pizza.

Now I have a perfect lawn.  We can't really walk on it much for a little while, but I keep opening the back door just to look at it.  Soooooo beautiful!  The garden is going to look amazing this summer.

The house...