The Living Room Update

Remember when this was happening.  This was one of the first rooms i tackled back in the beginning of march, a little over 6  months ago.  The beams i had crossed my fingers were there, the fire place became more beautiful than i could have ever imagined, with more than a little elbow grease.  What was once 2 wired rooms have become one great big cozy room.  A visit from the niece of the old lady who lived here, funnily enough confirmed that it used to be one big room, before that partly an outside porch.  so much history in this place.

day two of getting the keys the ceiling
started coming down.

remember when the truck broke down with half the living
ceiling in it on the way to the dump, good times

On to the present.  I finally got around to taking some nice photos of the place.  Its still needs more bits and bobs, and i have already moved some things around since these photos but this is were we are today.  Needless to say its hard to leave this place...

My deer, every time i look at this i think of it strapped to the top of my truck with a tarp over it, driving to the closing, with a truck so full of stuff i looked like a crazy person.  With two antlers piercing the tarp driving through a snow storm.  Longest day every...

The blackened wood of the fireplace after i stripped back a bunch of layers, read back in the blog for that great Friday night i spent doing that.

Weekend garden projects...

This weekend was meant to be about inside projects.  When the weather is this good it never works out that way.  One trip to agway and i find plants on sale and everything goes out the window.  Hence three more fruit trees.  large ones at that so it was great to get them planted.  Now with three rows of fruit trees the "little orchard" is coming along quite nicely.  Also on one of my hikes up into the woods i found these great old moss covered posts that were destined to me an archway. So that happened, and then i wanted to create some sort of barrier at the end of the garden.

All my readings on old english gardens, such as Sissinghurst and Virginia Wolfs garden all talk about rooms. I love this feeling in gardens, an enclosed safe space.  When you take a walk across the road onto the 30 acre tree farm to the east of my house, you have all these paths cut through these little gatherings of trees.  So intimate and secret.  So here i wanted to create a door way into the little scrub land beyond, shield the little road and also create a sense of enclosure.  Next spring imagine that little piece of scrub full of wild flowers with a little path going off into the woods beyond...

Its a work in progress but as i keep collecting all these birch branches and weaving them together, it starts to take shape.  More will be added as i hunt and gather. Then i have planted raspberries and blackberries along it on this side. On the west side of the archway is a natural grape vine plant that i think if it is trained will produce fruit.  I also planted a honey suckle and then good old virginia creeper which will engulf this structure given time.  Also my humming bird vine may be transplanted over here.  Now that i have seen my little hummingbirds at the feeder its more important that they can get at the trumpet vine.  It was in the white border and i kept hiding the red flowers but that seems silly now that i have this area for it to romp around in.  Maybe this weekend ..

Close up of the raspberries going in.  I love this whole section being about fruit, next summer, fingers crossed there will be peaches and apples and pears and raspberries to gather.  On the trippods in front in the below picture i have tomatoes interweaving with blueberries.  The blueberries will grow up and over the canes and there is about 4 green tomatoes on there right now.  Small steps into a veg garden.

Action shot in the woods gathering branches, any volunteers.  Its a little blair witchy...

Great inspiration shot of a store in denmark i think? Maybe the branches need to engulf the little doorway more, and i love the idea of an old gate hanging on it as well.  

Andy Goldsworthy you genius ! One of my favorite British artists.  Working with nature in the landscape, he uses found objects and creates amazing sculpture.  He has a piece at storm king and they are dotted all over England. Im not saying my fence is anything like this (i wish) but its definitely an inspiration. I would love it to connect with the giant old oak tree on the far right of the image, somehow making the branches swirl from the tree into the fence.  I had better get collecting some more branches.  These are the things i get up to when left along over the weekend !

The garden is a true passion of mine.  The interior has ground to a halt and all of my time (and money) is going on planting.  I have been engrossed in an old book documenting Vita Sackville-West, the poet and writer, began transforming Sissinghurst Castle in the 1930s with her diplomat and author husband, Harold Nicolson, and all she talks about is regretting not planting enough large shrubs and structural plants soon enough.  That is my reasoning, that i need to use this first year to try and get as much of the long term structure in place. Such as the box woods in the front and trees.  I am really waiting for end September and praying that the boxes go on sale,  i want so many more!

The garden is my complete indulgence and i could spend ever moment there...i blame my fathers father and then also my mother.  Both avid and obsessive gardeners it really is a given that i would be the same...

b  

This weekends Flea market finds

This weekends flea market was amazing. So many larger pieces of furniture instead of nick nacks and little prices. Feel in love with everything I got ....the 7am wake up was worth it! 

This captains bench was so unusual. I love the roped seat and want to maybe weave more through it rather than have it covered with the cushion but we will see. The rope would look beautiful but It's comfy with a cushion. Comfort may win out over style. It's a solid oiled oak and wasn't essential but as is so often the case I couldn't pass it up. 

I want the ivy to grow up into the kitchen is sort of this garden room with all the doors. I have wanted somewhere easy to sit in the morning for tea my tea and toast... And it was hard to find something that went under the window. It's perfect... 

In the living room I wanted some where to sit and read my garden books. This desk was perfect. It's a little more feminin as the living room is dark and masculine so adds a nice balance. Not a historic piece. Up close I think it's a bit of a repro but the price was right and it looks like it was made for the space.  The lawyers bookcase stacked on top is something I picked up a couple of weeks ago with the intention of stacking it on something. It looks so great like this. Just wait till I get more stuff all over it and start using it.  At the end of the day how you put it all together is key. Context and all that !  

Now this piece couldn't be more perfect. My mum and I had been talking in one of these smaller rooms about having a day bed. It was just stacked in a pile at the flea and I haggled it down but it's made for the space. It's a big heavy piece of furniture. It's empire style and is solidly made. As furniture should be. No fiberboard here. My back only just made it too tell the tale. Just wait till is covered in pillows, I have the perfect wall lights and my niece is snuggled up in there. Can't wait to style this room out !! 

Finally these two handsome lawn chairs. They used up the last of my budget but was happy to go home with no money. They fold up and are engineered better than anything you will buy today. Again it was love at first sight. It's amazing when some weeks you find nothing then other times it feels like you want everything. What's your favorite ?

The Exterior of Jordan Cottage....

New screen doors going in.

This is where were at.  There is new screen doors that will be painted a dark grey along with the door frames and actual doors.  You can see the side is still to be painted along with the chimney but its getting there.  Also the gardens in the front are filled in a little bit.  Im saving my pennies for some more boxwoods, i have my heart set on some topiary for either side of the kitchen door (thats on the right) .  I love it!

The roof is a little close to the color which i never even thought about, but hopefully the roof will be replaced one day.  It was originally shingle so i would do a color that reflects that original look, so a faded brown.  Just wait till the hysteria can climb up it and the clematis is going strong...