We have been a bit quiet recently, but things have still been moving forward. We had a BBQ on the sunday of the May bank holiday weekend, which was lovely. And we got started on some of the bigger jobs on our ever-growing list of things to do!
We had a digger in, which was pretty exciting. This was to make a start on digging the garage floor out, as it's at the wrong level. Once this is out, and all the rubble removed, the drains will be moved, then the foundations dug. Steve wanted all of this done before my dad arrived, but once he started digging out the garage floor, he realised it had a steel mesh enforcement throughout the concrete, which made it ten times harder to dig up.
This is what it looked like after knocking the garage walls down but before the floor got broken up.
Both girls enjoyed sitting on Steve's knee and "helping". Even I had a turn!
Meanwhile, in the garden, we've built two planters at either side of the patio. I planted the rescued plants from the front garden in them. We had loads of large Foxgloves which were too pretty to get rid of, along with masses of Geraniums. The planters look really pretty and have the lovely cottage garden effect I was hoping for.
Jessica and I planted some seeds earlier in the year, so the broad beans, sweetpeas, and herbs are doing really well in the raised beds now!
The garden had a huge pile of top soil sat there, from when we dug out for the summerhouse and the patio. so we filled the raised beds with some of that, and used the rest to level out that end of the garden out a bit. it's still not perfect, but it'll need landscaping once the building work is finished anyways.
We were lucky as the sleepers we used were from underneath the two greenhouses and the shed we removed so apart from a couple of new ones which we'd been storing up at Steve's dads for a couple of years, so it cost us nothing to make. Bonus!
Steve also got round to laying the flags in front of the shed. It has tidied up that area nicely.
We organised a BBQ for the bank holiday sunday, and although most of the garden was soil, and the garage was filled with rubble we still had a lovely time. And another bonus, was that Steve's friends Matt and Steve put up the new lights around the outside of the summerhouse! (Aaron helped by smashing one of the bulbs...thanks pal 😂)
And because I am always looking forward...I've been eyeing up firepits on Pinterest, I'd love a firepit at the other side of where the planter is. It'd be lovely to have a fire on the go as it starts to get dark, and on the odd weekend where the girls can stay up later than usual, we can sit around with marshmallows on sticks. I love the stone on the one below. I think I might be jumping ahead though, as there is so much to do in the way of preparation for the foundations, plus finishing off jobs we've already started and haven't yet finished!
Whilst on the topic of wish list items for the garden, I've asked for a pizza oven for my Birthday (in August). I think the dream would be to have a stone built oven, built in as a permanent feature on the patio, but given the house will also have a patio which will probably be where we spend most of our evenings in summer, a portable one might be better? I've seen this which I absolutely LOVE!
*Hint Hint* Steve
Meanwhile, we've been away with friends to the Lake District for the weekend. We stayed in a gorgeous 4 bedroomed lodge, with a hot tub. It was a nice little treat before the mess and chaos starts.
I miss this Hot tub!...might be on my wishlist once the house is finished!
And my dad is here now, so Steve & my dad got straight to work discussing a plan of action over a beer or three in the sunshine yesterday. Then we woke up to awful rain this morning. Typical!
One of the cars has been in for it's MOT today, and the building inspector came to discuss building regs. We've opted for staged building control meetings which will take place at certains points throughout the build. This was mainly out of lack of time to get the detailed drawings in, but actually we decided it'd be better to have guidance along the way given the fact Steve isn't a builder. But, luckily for us, my dad is. And we will be off to a great start whilst he's here over the next 10 weeks. Busy day for Steve & Grandad Paul!
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