Saturday 23 April 2016

Spring Cleaning

and getting some of those little chores done that have been left languishing for ages. I've had a couple of crazy busy and frankly pretty shit weeks but I'm not going into that. Thankfully the weekends have been free for pottering about quietly at home.

I did a little bit of gardening in, thankfully not too much now it seems the weather is going to get artic again! What has happened to spring? *sigh*

With spring cleaning in mind I decided to buy a pressure washer. Our neighbour has one we have borrowed in the past, failing that we could always borrow my brother's......but I wanted my own. Himself made lots of valid arguments against but he's known me long enough now to recognise when I'm not going to be moved, and I was not going to be moved. I had found a good deal on a Karcher for a start.
Last weekend Himself set too on one side of our huge ugly concrete patio. It took him about 2 hours to do and then me twice that to clean up behind him, who knew a pressure washer could simultaneously clean and make a mess?

Where once there was greeny sludgy brown there is now a sort of cream.

The lawn got it's first cut which gave this self seeded cowslip the room to flourish

Pootling about outside revealed there has also been some cheeky land grabbing going on by the builder next door. Don't get me going on how I feel about the block of flats going up at the bottom of our garden!
 They are using part of what was next door's garden to be the car park. Not only did they remove our fence, as in the one that belongs to our property, they also dug out the soil right up against the trunks of our hedge stealing between 1-2 feet of our garden into the bargain, (the hedge isn't planted in a straight line) the thieving bastards!!

It's enough to get the calmest gardener raging.

On top of that my pilates teacher has been on holiday for 2 weeks so I haven't even had that release. Of course I haven't done any at home, I always say I will but I never do because truth be told I'm a lazy git.
I have to say I am struggling with the advanced pilates class, I feel my teacher was perhaps a tad over confident in my abilities. I'm basically the dunce of the class, I seem to spend my time alternating between trying to keep up and flailing around like an upturned tortoise.
Having said that it's clearly had some effect. The other week I sat on a wet chair on the train to work, (thankfully it was nothing more sinister than spilled water!) and ended up with a wet bottom. I was able to bend right over with ease and dry myself under the hand dryers in the ladies toilet so I'm clearly more flexible than I once was. Something at least.

Anyway I digress.

I finally got round to framing a couple of prints

 and putting them and a few other pictures up around the house.

I sorted and tidied one wardrobe and had a good tidy and clear out in the small front bedroom.
I even dusted my handbags.

Talking of handbags
I picked up this raffia beauty on Ebay, it turned out to be of epic proportions, much bigger than the slightly daintier bag I was expecting that's for sure. However great for any future outing where I might be required to bring the kitchen sink!

10 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness - what a bloody cheek! Is there anything you can do - legally? Or is it too late? I hope not.

    You have been busy with all those jobs around the house and garden. Talking of cowslips I have never seen so many cowslips as I have this year. I have no idea why that is!

    The new handbag is fab!

    xx

    Veronica
    vronni60s.blogspot.com

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  2. Oof that is so naughty of the builders!! I would approach them directly, to stop it getting out of hand. You have the photos, and it would prevent things going to court.

    Love that new handbag!! x

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  3. Outrageous! I hope the builder is going to redress the situation immediately?
    I love the bucolic scenes you have framed.xx

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  4. Cheeky feckers. It does piss me off no end does this sort of thing and No wonder you're raging. Bastards.
    Still your garden does look lovely and a blast with a pressure washer will sort most things out. Pity you can't turn it on the developers and builders.
    Love those prints and I'm very taken by that raffia magnificence. xxx

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  5. Have you told your landlord? Can't imagine he/she'd be best pleased at their cheek!
    Jon borrowed a jet wash from a mate a couple of weeks ago and has been blasting everything in his path, the deck is unrecogisable now.
    Love the bastard massive bag. xxx

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  6. Oh, those builders, they're the same everywhere. What a cheek! I would get extremely upset, knowing there was going to a block of flats at the bottom of my garden, too. But your garden looks really nice. My husband had a good old pruning session last week, so we are slowly getting somewhere. Love the handbag(s). xxx

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  7. Oooh, that is very bad of those builders! Do you own your home or rent it? If anyone nicked a chunk of mine I'd make them put it back the way it was.

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  8. I can barely concentrate on the post because basically I need to know if those shoes at the picture in the top of your blog are yours? The blue ones? I'm a US size 9 and want them so bad loll!!!

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  9. Cheeky blighters, I would be furious if builders did that to my garden, but then I am a renter so I would have to seeth quietly as my landlord no doubt wouldn't care! How lovely to have cowslip in your lawn so much prettier than the pesky dandelions we get!What a great handbag, I find my favourite vintage ones are always too small to carry all the gubbins I drag around so I am sure you'll find plenty to fill it with! x

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  10. I'd be livid if that was my property and they tried a stunt like that. Lets just say that the air would be a very vivid shade of blue! Some people tried to 'acquire' part of the orchard before we brought it, by putting their garden stuff into it and planting some shrubs. Our angry seller sent them a letter via her solicitor telling them to move everything out, which they did. So I'm very cautious about that happening and have photographed all the boundaries now.

    Loving your bid raffia bag - would make a great self-defence weapon!

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