When the weather turned nicer, we decided to concentrate on doing up our garden.  Although we have slowly been building up the plants and bits & pieces, it still seemed to lack something.

There are a lot of "areas" that are doing nothing in the garden - so action has been taken!

We are having all new fences fitted in 3 weeks time - which I am looking forward to, because then we can move some of our taller plants to over to the fence to soften it.

When we moved in to our house almost 4 years ago, there was this brick built structure at the end of the garden.  All we have used it for, is somewhere to keep the rabbit!  The rabbit has now been put in a new warm home - as we had the shed re-roofed, so we decided to transform this building into a "mediterranean" area, that we could use!

All hands were on deck for the decorating and the green walls soon disappeared!

Then I managed to get a free table  from someone who just wanted to get rid of them - I painted it blue..........then I went to a furniture charity shop near us and got 2 wooden chairs that were almost identical to two we already owned and.....................painted those blue too!!!

Then I started collecting bits from charity shops, bootsales, Lidl and The Range.  I got some flower pots, some "greek" looking plates, tea light holders and lamps, fairy lights as well as hanging bits and pieces.  Luckily at around that time Lidl had lemon, fig, olive and orange trees going cheap - so I got some of these and also some red geraniums and some cordyline plants in green and red.

I thought these huge wicker chairs would be ideal to relax in after we have eaten delicious food from the BBQ - plus the sun shines straight into this area (its the last bit of the garden to get sun) from about 4 oclock onwards.  These chairs were £10 each from a bootsale and then I found cushion pads to fit them in Ikea yesterday!

I still need to add some blue, red and orange cushions and some more plates and bits as I find them.  I also have a blue gingham oilcloth for the round metal table. We are having a new corrugated roof put on - as this one leaks slightly and then I am going to hide the ugliness with muslin drapes - already got some bright blue ones for £5 for the pair in Ikea!

So we are definitely getting there with the transformation - now just need some hot sunshine so we can sit down there and dream of being somewhere else!!!

When I put these decorations up it was snowing outside - I felt more like putting up Christmas decorations instead!!

I hope you have had a lovely Easter with lots of chocolate and quality time spent with your family and/or friends!!

Wow..........it has been a long long time since I last posted!! Last June in fact! And do u know I was just reading that post and I had just bought an Easter decoration - which will be put up next week!! Where does time go??!

Well a lot has happened since June - the main things being: our daughter is now at the same Secondary school as our son - and is all settled and they are both doing so so well.  I finished and passed my Level 3 diploma in childcare - which led to me wanting some changes so I left my job at the Children's Centre and now work in a 1 to 1 position in a nursery.  

Any other relevant changes will probably be mentioned along the way - but I have decided to just carry on as though I have never been away.............cos I haven't really, I have still been reading all the blogs I follow every single day.

So..............for a long time now - probably since last Easter in fact, I have wanted a twig tree.  I have advertised it on our local facebook bootsale site and have been to the woods on numerous occasions but not been able to find the "right" twigs - I know, out of all those trees!   Last week it was suggested that I look in The Range or Hobby craft.  Well The Range let me down on this occasion, but Hobby Craft sure didn't...........

I was so pleased and cannot wait to decorate it with some Easter decs next week.  I am also going to decorate it with some handmade fabric birds (just got to get into gear and make some!!) and then Xmas decs later in the year.
It was like Christmas yesterday because I purchased this and I have also been hunting high and low for an old wooden standard lamp and would you believe that I also managed to buy one of those yesterday too.............sure was my lucky day! Will post a pic of that another day.  It needs painting and I have to find a shade for it but still - one step at a time!  

I also bought some extra Easter decs yesterday......

 A cheap paper tablecloth

 

Some eggs on sticks??!

 and some good old paperchains

I will definitely try to keep up with the blogging now!!  Be back again soon.  -x-

At long last..............

During the half term week, after the girly sleepover, we had a visit booked that had been organised for my son's birthday which was back in March.  He is a huge Harry Potter fan, so we had booked up the HP studio tour in Watford.  This was booked for the Thursday, then we had a Premier Inn booked for that night and had got Tesco vouchers to visit Colchester Zoo on the Friday.

Harry Potter was very very clever - even though I'm not really a fan - I still enjoyed the tour, as did the rest of the family.  My son, of course, loved it and wants to go back again!!  Unfortunately the weather was rubbish on the Friday - wet and windy - so we had to postpone the Zoo.  But I did get to visit somewhere I have wanted to go for a long time.............Tiger and BM Stores. I have read so many blogs where these shops have been raved about and I have been so jealous about the purchases the bloggers have made - but it was my turn!! and I see what they mean!  Especially BM Stores - which is where most of my purchases were made....................

 Thank goodness I don't live around the corner from one!! Mind you I bought all this and didn't spend a lot!!

I also made some other purchases during that week.......

Ok - I know Easter is a long way away, but I couldn't resist when I saw this picture in the sale in TK Maxx for £3!

So we were all kept happy, one way or another, during the half-term week.

Belated birthday celebrations

At the beginning of May it was my daughters 11th birthday.  We had all sorts of celebrations arranged, but unfortunately she came home from school the day before with a full blown cold.  She looked awful and because of the type of celebrations (including a sleepover with 4 girls in one room!) we had to postpone (after some tears!).  So we re-arranged for the jubilee weekend - as I knew they would then have a week to recover!

So 3 girls arrived late afternoon...........with chocolate milkshakes on arrival 

 Next was chocolate mud packs - here is my daughter having hers applied!

 

 Once the mudpacks were finally washed off (had a few panic moments when they wouldn't shift!), cooling cucumber for the eyes - she will kill me when she sees I have used this piccie!!

Finally some temporary tattoos and nail painting with pretty stickers

All of this was followed by pizza, garlic bread, coleslaw and french fries.
Freshly made pancakes with chocolate sauce, marshmallows and strawberries was offered for pudding...........yum!! But they didnt fancy this!! so had cakes instead.

Then they disappeared back upstairs for karaoke and a disco.  Later they were meant to watch a movie - but they just didnt settle........................until...............yawn!!!
midnight!!!  Then they were awake, shouting and running around at 6.00 in the morning...........thank god we live in a detached house!!
Breakfast was croissants and fresh orange and I counted down until 10.00 and parents came!! 
I missed out telling you about when they thought my laundry basket was a bin and posted the tissues caked in mudpack in there on top of my sons white school shirts and also the bit where one tripped on the stair and threw coke all up the wallpaper - but hey - we have done it now........never to be repeated!  Even my daughter agreed that next time she would just have one friend to stay.  I did notice on a couple of occasions that it all looked a bit much for her - the full on noise and commotion!! 

Glad WE had a week to recover - don't know about the girls!!!!

-x- 

A Cloakroom makeover

At long last we have started making improvements to our horrible downstairs cloakroom!!  I have avoided using this room since we moved here, almost 3 years ago!  Even though it is downstairs, I always direct visitors to the upstairs bathroom and cringe if anyone automatically goes in there!!

So now for some horrendous before piccies........

This is the "lovely" polystyrene tiled ceiling!!

 

Yay - all gone!!

 

Peach tiles, orange stuck on floor tiles and lots of pipework on show!

A shelf, although useful, made out of a bit of worktop - bet your envious!

 Going, going, gone!!

So first the plasterer came in to make the ceiling nice and smooth and then the bathroom fitter.  He put in a nice new toilet and basin and then fitted tongue and groove to cover the ugly pipework and a timber floor too.

So now I need to get on with the decorating!!  I am going to paint the top a light grey and all the wood in white.  First I need to cover all those knots in the wood to stop them going yellow in time.  Anyone know of anything I can paint on the whole board as the knotting stuff I have will take forever to dab on each knot!!

-x-

I was lucky enough to be a winner on Prettty Little Jewels 100 followers giveaway!

Even though she was getting married on Saturday (just gone) she still managed to arrange the giveaway and send them off to us a few days before the wedding!!  That's blogging dedication!!

So I know you want to see what I got...............

Some luggage type labels all prettied up with pink shaped buttons and lace.  I need to get some pretty storage boxes for my new cloakroom and am thinking these would be nice to tie to the outsides!!

A tube of posh handcream and a black button ring (I love button items) - sorry the photo isn't very good of that.  All accompanied by a cupcake card. If you dont already follow Pretty Little Jewels - I recommend you go over and have a look at her blog!!

I truly hope that Jewels and her fiance had the wedding day they deserved and that they are enjoying their honeymoon as I type this!!

-x-