Week 13

Its been a busy week at the little house, but more on that later.

At this end, I had to pick up my new reading glasses during the week from Kingston, and I may have done a little shopping, while at it.  I've been after one of these pom pom throws since before Christmas.  Initially I've been after the grey one, but they sold out almost instantly.  Well after much umm'ing and aaahhh'ing, I ended up going with the cream, as will fit in with the new house.  Now just keeping it wrapped up for our move.

I also, started putting out my Easter decorations (still faffing, this week, and I have in mind a new blog post on that)

I also ordered some cards of the bears, and these came .... oh they're perfect. The lovely thing about ordering from small businesses, is the personal touch you get.  She included two bono's for the bears.  

I've also started going through boxes and boxes of photos, that I have.  Most of them were Mum& Dad's, and it was lovely to be reminded of such happy times.  I also had a wonderful chat on messenger with my cousins in Australia, about them, as I kept taking photos of certain ones, and sharing them with them.  You've got love the power of social media, that I can still talk with my family even when they're so far away.  That was truly the highlight of my week. 

Another highlight has been all the work that has started at the little house.  Its all happening so fast, and I can't fault the dedication of the workmen, one bit.

What you see above is obviously that work on the garden has started. They've taken up all the old concrete and paving stones, and fixed new fence posts.  They've also done one coat of black paint on the fence; and started the wall for the raised seating area.  Also, they've built my little raised flower bed.

We've had two days of work on the fireplace too.  With the holes being made bigger to accommodate a larger wood burner; and also new fire sounds.  They've removed the old (which was put in wrong by our original builders) and will be back this week to fit the new stove.

Also, we had a lot of damp in the house.  Our original builders while making the openings bigger, removed and forgot to put back a lot of the damp course; so we've had damp specialists in, and they've been doing that.  Again, another 2 days of work needed on it. They have to work in sections, allowing bits to dry out.

So there you have it.  It's been all go go go ...... Betty gets installed at the little house this week, so we had our last Sunday dinner on her here, then she got turned off for the first time.

Thank you for sticking with the long post, have a great week friends.

Me on a Monday

I wasn't very good at doing any blog posts last week, so I hope this week is better for me.  So to start the week off I'm joining Sian in her "Me on a Monday" .... now there is no way, I'm going to do a selfie every week, but here is me this beautiful, sunny day

Its me wearing my fitbit, and a summer dress (ok, you have to imagine the summer dress, but it's pretty lol)  .... I'm determined to do more exercise and get moving, and this little band helps me measure my exercise/steps and even my sleep.  The good thing is hubby has one (obviously not as colourful) so its good to have someone to be in competition with.  I will say, he beats me hands down on how many steps we do each day. But more often than not, I don't manage my 10,000 steps, its probably nearer the 8,000 mark, so I need to do more.

This past week and weekend have all been little house related projects, and I'm getting very excited as the kitchen is starting to go in; so here are a few photos of what's been happening with the build.

Windows are in on the garage/shed 

Bathroom starting to take shape

New Red door on ... still some door furniture to go on, but looking good

Kitchen is starting to go in. It needs moving closer together, but oh I'm just loving how it's looking. 

There you have it ... so far, we've got about another 3 weeks to go (its running behind but I'm keeping my fingers crossed, not long now)

I'm hoping to, to be back this week with some actual crafting, in the form of Project Life. I'm behind by about 8 weeks, so I need to get my act together and stop faffing about lol. 

Little House update

I thought you might like to see a little house update in photos ... it's coming along so well, and fingers crossed we'll be moving back in towards the end of next month.

A friend recently asked jokingly if it was going to be a mini version of our home in Epsom, and well, actually she's probably not wrong.  We want the house to be our home, not just a holiday home, or weekend home, but somewhere we can just jump in the car, without having to pack or think too much about what we need to take, and just enjoy ourselves and get on with life/

So here you are, here are the latest pictures.

We really couldn't have been any luckier with our builder. He's amazing. Plus, he's always sending me pictures of how its looking.  This photo I took just as we left on Friday ... its where our old shed/garage used to be. Originally, Simon's granddad (who owned the home first) used to build boats.  Anyway, it needed knocking down and rebuilding as to be honest, one shove and it would have fallen down.  Anyway, this is how I left it.

Later that evening, I got a text with a photo from Dean (our builder) as to how it looked at the end of the day. 

He doesn't hang about, does he?

Now, I know some of you really aren't that interested in the build, and I don't blame you one little bit.  So here is a little bit of crafting I've been doing, its not quite finished, but I'm sure you'll get the jist of it.  I'm going to be having a BIG birthday this year (then I'll go back to being 23) but I feel a little lost at the moment, style wise (in my head, I really am only 23). So I've been as usual pinning ideas like mad ... and well that's all well and good, but when I'm out shopping, I need inspiration.  So I decided to print of some of the ideas and outfits that appealed to me the most and put them in this cute little book I made using my silhouette.  I'm really hoping it helps.

And again, if anyone is interested, my Style Pinterest board can be found here.

Follow Sandra's board Style Obsession on Pinterest.

I'd be really interested to know how you guys get on with fashion ideas, do you ever get blocked as to how you should dress/look .. do you pin, if so, I wouldn't mind taking a look at your boards?

Thanks for letting me waffle on and sorry if this post has been a little photo heavy.

A Huff and A Puff

And the walls come down ... oh and new ones up.

What I'm trying to say, is that the old kitchen and bathroom walls has finally been knocked down and the new super duper walls have gone up. We even have windows. (how sad is it, that I'm excited by windows)

Sorry for the lack of photos ... April was a crazy month.

My mother in law was due to spend a few days with us, instead she picked hospital food over my cooking! She had a fall while out shopping, and has broken her pelvis. She's in a lot of pain, but luckily she doesn't have to have an operation. She did however, have to spend a week in hospital but I'm happy to say is now back at home and recovering

Anyway, here they are ... some update photos on the little house.

Its all coming along so well, and I've been having the fun bit too now, of picking flooring, lights and wall paper.  In fact a lovely large box from Cath Kidston was delivered yesterday with wallpaper .... ahhh the bliss of it all. 

If anyone follows me on Pinterest, you may have noticed I've been rather busy pinning ideas. I really love the changes Pinterest has made recently. So if you're interested, here is my little house board.

Follow Sandra's board Little House on Pinterest. 

Kitchen Smashing

Not literally! ... well, I'm not, the builders are instead. No, this is just smashing our kitchen plans from the store.

My big smash book comes with lots of envelopes, which I just love. But I know me, I'd tuck something into one of them, and then forget what I'd put where. So I smashed the front of the envelope.

 

I did cut up a few of the extra plans they gave us. To be fair, the company were amazing as I knew what I wanted and they really listened and took note. You can just see behind I've started smashing a page for the bathroom. Need to finish it off before I can share.

 

There will be more kitchen smash pages to share with you, but I thought I'd get the ball rolling for now.

 

I also thought I'd share a few photos with you on how the building works are progressing ... the builders are really going full steam ahead and send me photos regularly. So here you are;

 

  

Foundations being poured

 

This is our kitchen and that wall will come down (its to the old bathroom)

 

I'm photographing Simon from what will be our new bathroom (brings a new meaning to open plan living)

 

An opening is being made bigger between two rooms

Under the stairs is being opened up too.  



Old Bathroom

What a great find

 

 Its all so exciting, and I can't wait each week to see what's been changed.  I know things will slow down as to big visual differences, but that's when things like electrics and plumbing take over.  I look forward to sharing more with you soon.