House and garden

Good evening

Thanks to those who've visited since I dipped my toe back into blogging this month :)

Still getting the hang of taking pictures on a camera and especially for here. Had a crash course at the weekend on how to upload them onto my new toy and also how to use a programme to edit/resize - the one I used before was very very old and not compatible with this new lappie of mine.

In recent weeks its been very domestic here at times at No6 - my dining room was looking shabby, overstuffed and the radiator had sprung a leak :( Time to give it a makeover. Coats of fresh paint in a neutral cream, new curtains that actual fit, a new non leaking radiator and tomorrow a new carpet in a colour I like and that won't show every mark, thread or crumb.

Here's what we've done so far - very happy with it and also the fact I've not gone over my limited budget :)

 The room had felt overstuffed so when big son was home at Easter we sorted out the two bookcases that were in there and condensed them into one - bookcase was sold and I sold lots of the books at a boot sale this weekend.

New tablecloth from Aldi which the boys actually quite like - they were worried it would be a very floral room but so far they approve.

 The two huge paintings were done by one of my sister for her GCSE and A levels exams many years ago - I love both of them and they will always feature somewhere wherever I live.

One of the first things we bought for this house - now rehung and filled again with clean china - still have the stuff from my dresser to do tomorrow so once the carpet is down that too can be refilled.

The arrival of spring and sunny weather made me look at the garden and realise it needed work doing on it. I spent hours weeding, cutting back and sorting out. Then when S was over we went to a local garden centre and I chose things to fill gaps, tubs and new tiny veggie plot. Here's just a snapshot of what I've been doing;

 Just a few strawberry plants - this year in pots but hopefully next year in a proper bed.

 Tiny tomatoes appearing - we chose varieties which crop heavily.

 Trying to disguise the less pretty bits with tubs of geraniums.

 Waiting for this one to flower - it's called Apple Blossom and the petals look beautiful.

 Bargain hanging baskets filled with car boot find bedding plants.

 It was so sunny when I took these pics you can't see this one too well - must get the hang of my camera again - anyhow its full of pink, blue and purple and a as one lot finish another should burst into colour.

A practical bit - storage with strawberries and a few leftover geraniums on top.

Just realised I forgot to take pics of the little veg bed and the raspberries behind it - they are looking very promising this year - handy really as we've run out of raspberry jam!!

Right that's probably enough for today - there's dinner to cook, washing to get in and of course things to water later too.

See you soon - we've been productive this weekend and there's the first foraged make of 2015 to share with you.

xxx Vintage Vicki xxx