The Chosen One!

Thought I would do an early post to put you all out of your misery......

This was the last dress she tried on, and was absolutely stunning, in fact the photo does it even more justice! Black as you know is her favourite colour, but she has milky white skin which was a fantastic contrast but something was not right. (Sorry Kathryn) It made her look too old!



Fantastic colour, but the bodice was awful and it was too shimmery for Tori!



So all those who chose 'Woman in Red' where right!



This was the first dress she tried on and she wasn't sure until she had tried all the others on, but she came back to it, with no assistance from me!





The lady was trying to sell us some shoes and tiara to go with it, but T wasn't having any of that! I know exactly what she will wear under her dress so does my sister.....



this was at my sisters wedding! (Not the best photo of her) The boots she has already, she just wants me to find some red stripy socks and she already has some long black gloves!

I think thats what I love about Tori her individuality, uniqueness, that alot of young girls don't have nowadays, they all go round wearing casual clothes that look more like a school uniform, than a uniform does. So we get the prom dress (expected) but T adds a twist (unexpected) and that makes her stand out from the crowd!! Love it!!
I am away for a few days visiting my mum, so should be back April 4th! For any burglers reading this blog, the house won't be empty as my husband isn't coming with us!!!! lol!!!!!!

Tra Laaa!

Tori broke up from school today and we have been out prom dress shopping!
Here are the favourites







Now guess which one she chose????

Housework Procrastination!!!!!

Just so you all know I don't live in a total pigsty!! I had promised myself that on the good days this week I would 'play' in the garden! I state 'play' because to me its not a chore its fun!!! Then when it rained I would do the 'chores' housework!! So its raining and so far I have tidied and hoovered the lounge and hoovered the stairs, now I'm on here!!!!!!! Dreadful aren't I!!!!!
I did the bathroom yesterday! I'm sure if I didn't live in a house full of 'clutterbucks' I would do more and be more houseproud!
I live in a terraced cottage which basically has 2 large rooms downstairs, a lounge which is split in 2, the TV end with multi fuel stove, TV, sofa etc and then an officy bit with filing cabinet, computer etc! Then the kitchen diner! This is the only part of the house, visitors see and its kept in such a way that if I have visitors, (becuase I live so far out in the sticks they have to phone first to see if I'm in)it will be spotless and sparkling in under 30 minutes!!! For those friends that just drop by, they are prepared to accept me as they find me. Clever huh!!

Right off to do a bit more!

Back now!!!!!!!! Actually 2 hours has passed since that last sentence and I have finished the kitchen diner, even washed the floor!!! 2 hours is along time to clean a kitchen??????? Your right I havent' been a full 2 hours tidying I've been down the greenhouse potting on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hopeless case!! Well lets be honest you can't write a blog about housework can you??? But I bet someone has!!!
My lounge...



That red on the walls looks awful in the photo, but its really nice in real life, this is a north facing room and I have most of it painted cream which makes it light but quite cold, I love colour and we needed some warmth added so I decided to add some red! Looks really good at Christmas!!!!!!!
This is my pride and joy ....



When we moved in we had a small wooden fire surround and a very small fire with a back boiler and it was all plastered. All the other cottages had this wonderful fireplace so one day hubby went off to work and when he came back the fire surround had gone and I had chisled a line of plaster off from the bottom left corner up to the arch to see if it was still there! It was and it took us over 6 weeks to get the rest of the plaster off as it had been 'uni-bonded' on. Towards the end hubby was chucking neat acid at it!!! Anyway I think you will all agree it was well worth the hard work!!

Now I am stood in the doorway with my back to the lounge



and the stairs



thats Tori's room at the top of the stairs and this is as far as the tour goes!!!LOL!!!!!! I haven't 'done' upstairs!!!!!!

Now the 2 Red Caster Oil plants have really taken off



look at the roots



so of course they had to be done there and then



I am leaving one in the greenhouse and bringing one back into the house! The begonia's have started sprouting already



have to ask Ruth what I do next? Sweetpeas all over the place...




plus thers another tray, some of these are for my friend S, up the road.

The Baby Brugmansia is looking very poorly and to be honest I don't hold out much hope as the whole of the stem is soft!!



the big one on the other hand has really started going and I haven't repotted it yet! This is taken looking up the main stem



how the heck it will stay in the greenhouse until May I really have no idea? Then we have a couple of trays of tomatoes, chillies and peppers




The succulent in the greenhouse is really starting as well. having been green most of the winter it is starting to blush now...




Maybe thats what succulent do because I bought this plant at Ikea back in January and look at it now, it blushes too!!!

Trying to be Good!!

I am trying very hard to be good!!! I have back problems and after 2 very busy days in the garden it is tottering on the brink!!! So I promised hubby I would be good!!!! It is such a beautiful day and after a stroll around the I think what can I do????? When the phone rang, my friend up the road needed some help..... so into my small 'maroon charger' I got and dashed up the road!!!
Any way having sorted the problem for her I went with her on the dog walk!! Here she is with her dog...



we went down the field past her horse Poe,



her shetland sheep...



right to the top of the hill and this was the view this morning..



her dog enjoying herself



The bungalow next to my freinds is up for sale, it was owned by an elderley gentleman who had a carer living in..



this is the back of it and the view from here is...



and the front..



with this view



if you squint hard you could just about see my cottage!!!! They are looking for offers in excess of £260,000!!!!!!!!!! So if I win the lottery tonight I would make an offer because the potential for this place is amazing!!

Back round to my friends and her little pony



Then after coffee home and a quick pic of my pip challenge plants



Dates above Ginger below!!




So far I have been very good!!!

Continuing the re designing of my garden!!

The picture on todays 'photo a Day' blog shows you that Tango is feeling much better, although we have had to make a trip to the vets and pay another bill!!!!!! This means that he has taken over from Chimarni. We have had alot of trouble from this particular feral cat, and it has cost us hundreds of pounds in vets bills. Although we managed to trap him 2 - 3 years ago and get him neutered, it supposedly stops them being as aggressive (yea! right!!)
I have now phoned the Cats Protection League at least 4 times requesting them to get the lady from the feral dept, to contact me. Has she, has she my big toe!!!!! So I will phone daily this week and then if I get no joy I will have no option but to contact the RSPCA. The difference between the 2 is the Cats Protection League will find the feral cat a new home on a farm quite a distance away, the RSPCA put them down!!!! The bigger problem is I think we may have a new un-neutered feral on the block, I can smell 'tom' round the shed!!!

Yesterday I dug over




these two beds, so they now look like this...




Remember this untidy corner



well I have repotted a few plants and potted up the Camillia and the corner looks like this


I still have to jet wash the patio but there is still plants to move, dig out and replant before I consider jet washing!!!

The chickens where enjoying themselves in the sunshine



and in answer to the question ' will I let them Free Range'? The answer is sort of but not really! Don't get me wrong I love them to pieces, they give me hours of endless amusement and the most beautiful eggs, but I had no idea how destructive they would be, so I let them do this



as you can see I have opened up the chicken fencing which stops them digging up the flower and veg beds. The compost bin is being moved so they will have some more space!

I decided to tackle the area round the shed today, so it started of looking like this...





and after 4 1/2 hours of work it ended up looking like this....



So everything used today was already in the garden. My hobbit (white statue) had been hidden away behind a big bush so I thought I would bring him out and I think he helps draw the eye down the garden!!! I probably need some sort of climber behind him, so will have to see what offers are available! The ferns planted around his feet are my 99p bargains I got last year with the beautiful blue pots!!



I moved the compost bin and now I've looked at the pictures I realise I've moved the wrong bin!!!!! It needed to be moved but it was going to be swapped for the bigger one up the garden!!!! Silly me.



The frame at the end has a cover and I use it for extra tomato plants, I put the cover away in the winter. Here I need more slabs and a water butt. I will see if I can pick some up on Freecycle.

Looking at it now it doesn't look like there was 4 1/2 hrs work there!!!

My back is now very dodgy, so don't tell hubby!!!!! So I shall get out my knitting and sit and watch a dvd!!! and try and be good, until tomorrow! Maybe!!!