Pyracantha

I spent quite a bit of today in conversation with a pyracantha, accompanied by a tree lopper & a pair of secateurs.  It was labouring under the illusion that it was a tree & was to occupy some of next door's garden as well as ours.  I've explained that it is a clambouring wall shrub & that it is welcome to stay providing it behaves as such on our fence.
I did leave as many of the yellow berries as possible for the birds (although they would prefer it if it were the red berried variety) - and have attempted to keep it looking like a prime nesting spot.
We've also discovered a rambling rector on the same fence.
I'm a bit stumped about a live willow arbour - need to research how to get it behaving.

4 unfinished rooms

John the Builder finished his first stint with us yesterday - so we now have an unfinished en suite, unfinished bedroom, unfinished lobby & an unfinished utility room - note the theme.... 


The lobby & utility are waiting for new exterior doors (John's sourcing).   Everything else is now at the level where we need to get the paint brushes out & ask Tony to start the flooring.


The main priority is to get the utility room finished as much as poss before John comes back in a couple of weeks as that will be our mini kitchen whilst proper kitchen is destroyed & replaced.

However, I think we're going to focus on getting out for a day this weekend - and then maybe some gardening.  Even I have to accept we've been jamming too much into weekends recently.


We spent most of last weekend shuttling green wardrobe doors, old bathroom & utility units to the household recycling centre (aka tip).  


Really appreciated Sunday's lunch guests taking the corner bath there for us in their estate car as I don't think it would have fitted into the Panda even after husband sawed it in two...

De-Greening continues

John the Builder started work today on the main bedroom & the en suite bathroom.  


He was very complimentary about our wallpaper removal work - very much appreciated as we only just got it finished in time.


I left the house for work just as he was ripping off the lovely green louvre wardrobe doors - great to see them all gone by the time we got home!


He's sorted out a sagging ceiling, but has found some electrical nasties to get sorted in the loft - nothing major though apparently.

Wardrobe doors are now outside waiting for me to take them to the wood bin at the tip at the weekend...

Lots of visitors & de-greening commenced

My running buddies came over this weekend to use the house as the start point for 2 extra curricula runs.  The long drive is perfect for warming up with a little screening from passers by, but being on top of a hill is rubbish for ending a long run - so mixed performance as a running base.
The house performed better on Wednesday when my 2 colleagues came over for lunch & to do some planning - so good for work.
And it did fine today when Adam came over to have a look & eat crumpets with us.
Lots of time stripping wallpaper from Main Bedroom today - it's so time consuming when it is covered in paint & doesn't respond to a steamer.  Still, the room is nearly de-greened....

Nearly a ha ha...sort of

The landscape gardening team have finished replacing the depressingly overgrown herbaceous borders with a lawn.  I'm so chuffed with the result!


My sole contribution was to paint the retaining sleepers (and my shoes and arms) forest green.

Husband's challenge has been to keep the moles from destroying it before the roots penetrate the soil!  They are forming mole hills under the turf - which give a very telly tubby/tumulus appearance.   


Tempting to keep - but not sure I'll be able to mow a micro-undulating lawn very well....

We both feel much more positive about getting the rest of the garden sorted out now.  Our neighbour claimed that the new lawn made it look very stately home - but I'm not sure that it's in Capability Brown territory!

Decrackled phone line

BT decrackled our phone line this week - so we can now listen to calls without the accompaniment of static.  It's sped up our broadband noticeably too.
The printer is now back in action again - new cartridges.  
On the gas & electric front, Husband got us switched to a better energy deal online. 
Not very exciting - and not very photogenic - but important nonetheless.