Another Update!

Just to bring anyone that's interested up to speed on what's been happening with our new house (Can't believe we'll have been here for 2 years in August!). We finished the bathroom & cloakroom OK - they look fantastic (I'll be posting some before & after photos soon). We've now got the hall, stairs & landing recarpeted & redecorated. We had to get someone in to do all the wallpapering, there was no way we could have done it ourselves! But it was money well spent and we're delighted with the result.

A lot of people prefer neutral colours such as creams, beiges or oatmeals, but not us. We've gone for Fireglow carpets in 3 of the bedrooms and down the stairs to the hall, The wallpaper has a white textured background in a sort of woven effect with a square & flower motif in the same colour as the carpet with gold highlights. If I'm honest we thought the motifs would be more spread out when we bought the wallpaper and it wasn't until it was actually on the wall we realised how much of them there is! But we like the overall effect which gives a lovely warm, cosy effect (We're really into Warm & Cosy - you can keep your cold bland minimimalist look!). Not to everyone's taste I know but we like it :-).

This year we are concentrating on the garden. Ian has really got the bit between his teeth and has been beavering away clearing out several of the old flower beds, which were badly in need of a makeover. I've planted petunias in the little stone wall along the patio which are starting to take off now I have defeated the slugs & snails (the torrential rain we've had lately has helped as well, although its been terrible for the rose bushes which are really looking beaten down and sad!). We have a new back fence and gate now as well so we can walk straight out into the riverside parkland behind us, which is great when we want to take the dogs for a walk. We have also started digging out the raised bed so we can put in a pond, which is proving to be a huge undertaking, particularly with the heavy clay soil we have here. But we are progressing nicely and hope to finish it when we have a week off in July so we can get the benefit of it for the rest of the summer. We have plans to include a waterfall & fountain with lights so it should be super - thats the hope & dream anyway.

Pepsi & Max are doing well. Pepsi just celebrated his 3rd birthday and had a nice cake with candles which he enjoyed. There have been no more escape scares thank goodness! The last one scared us so much we have got the garden as secure as is possible now with wire netting all round and hooked into the grou nd so he cant dig under it. We have given them the run of the garden and its great fun watching them charging up and down at breakneck speed or round and round the table & chairs. They can run the length of the garden, into the house, down the lounge & into the dining room, round the table & then back out to the top of the garden in what seems just a couple of seconds! Great fun!