New home

[kaz]

It has been a week now and I'm still in quite a mess. The garden is very tricky... I'm terrified of leaving it for 5 minutes because once out of control I'm in trouble!!! The lawn is the biggest headache (slopes galore).

Alison... I received your lovely card this morning (well, it must have arrived yesterday but I keep forgetting that my mail box is outside now). Thank you for taking the time to make the card - it's a keeper!!!

I'll take a few pics of the garden tomorrow and post.

[kaz]

Over the past couple of days I've tried to mow the grass, prune and tidy... I now know that I'll never be able to cope with it. I can't really afford a gardener, so this will be interesting!!! Dad has offered to help, but we'll see. This is the busiest time of year, so things can only get better (ever the optimist).

The garden is in segments... slopes then a terrace... slope... terrace...

[Tricia]

Kaz - I hope you will be very happy in your new home. The garden looks absolutely beautiful - more like an estate than 'just' a garden, but I can see that it will need an awful lot of work to keep it well-maintained. You certainly won't need a gym for a work-out .

[AJC]

wow kaz, that looks really nice, i see what ya mean about the mowing tho, might be time to employ a gardener part time just to do lawns lol


wheres ya pond?

[kaz]

No pond I'm afraid , but I am quite close to water. No chance of a gardener, so will have to slog it out.

[alison]

It is really beautiful. Did the previous owners do the garden themselves or have someone to help them? If they did maybe you could do what Alan suggests and pay him for just keeping the lawns tidy.
You are right though, it is the busiest time of the year for the gardens so don't worry. It will be easier to maintain in a month or so and then you have winter to recover and put a plan in motion for how you will keep each part of the garden done. Don't look at it as a huge area. Make it into smaller parts which you will tackle each at a time. Remember you can do anything you put your mind to. And when family visit make it coincide with the jobs you need doing in the garden. I'm sure Scott and Donna could tackle it. Later on you could always put a pond on one of the terraces making no need for the lawn there.
Can you take pictures of the outside of the house as well so we can see what your new home looks like. That would be nice.
The ivy on the outside of my house has gone mad and is trying to get in my windows now but I couldn't cut it back as it had birds nesting in it. How wonderful is that. But now they had reared their young I need to get it done. I am hoping my son will be coming to do it soon as I keep mentioning it to him and I don't think I will be climbing up ladders anytime in the near future .
I am so glad you liked the card. Did you notice the frog logo on the back of it. That is going to be my signature. I can't make up my mind wether to still write "hand crafted by Alison" underneath or just to use my frog. There was a bit of a disaster with the card in the beginning. I had the card all ready except for writing the poem when it got put on the floor somehow and jasmines foot creased up the vellum insert. What a mess it was so I tried to Iron it out. BIG mistake. The vellum just curled up into the middle of the card from both outside edges and wouldn't straighten. I tried everything to straighten it. So the card has had a bit of a makeover from the original but I was still very pleased with the result. I am learning all the time and have made some beautiful cards for the grandchildrens birthdays.
You certainly have a lovely address invoking pretty country scenes. I think that is why I am trying to make my home look like a cottage in the country when it is really an end of terrace house in a busy city street. I would like to think I was living in the country.

[kaz]

When I first came to view the property, the lady of the house said she did most of the garden herself... she actually said it took her about an hour to mow!!! Well... it took me about 5 hours to mow 80% and I gave in when it came to the steepest high banks! There is a ton of pruning to be done (I should be out there now) and the water pressure on the garden hose is not as strong as I'm used to, so watering the garden took forever. I think they did most of the landscaping themselves and have introduced a lot of terraces which either have stepped flower beds of sitting areas. It is going to be hard work!

Like you Alison, some pruning had to be left until the birds had finished nesting... there is a wall here covered in wisteria and I chopped it back a few days ago... I think I should have been a bit more ruthless but wasn't sure what I was doing, so played safe.

[kaz]

Teething problems... the first 3 days I had no hot water, so a number of people had a go at twiddling knobs and pressing buttons to try and solve the prob. In desperation I rang the previous owners where, through a series of questions, we established that dad had turned off the boiler (don't ask). Anyway, now I have hot water but the heating comes on every afternoon - imagine what that's like in this weather!!! The heating is switched off, but still it comes on! Looks like all the twiddling screwed things up so now I need to get an expert in!

Rachel (my other sister) is taking me out today to explore the local area... I'm driving (a fear of mine).

[kaz]

After enduring the heating coming on for a couple of hours every afternoon during the very hot weather... now I can't get the heating to work at any other times. I'm freezing!!! Surprised I can even type this... my fingers are numb with the cold.

[alison]

How is the house and garden doing now kaz. Have you settled in okay and become more relaxed about your new surroundings. Each time I look at your pictures I just think how beautiful it is and what a joy it must be to walk around and know it is yours. I think you could walk round my garden in less than a minute from top to bottom and front to back whereas you have such lovely terraces which make you want to explore them.
Have you taken up your painting and crafty things yet?

[kaz]

If I'm honest, it has taken me a while to feel settled here. The garden keeps me busy and there are quite a few areas which haven't been landscaped... exploring them is a little adventure and gets me thinking about what I can potentially do to those spaces. I finally gave in and got a gardener (well someone to mow the lawn really). I tried to manage on my own, but it drove me nuts.

There are some rogue plants that need to be dug up (my father said they'll end up taking root everywhere). I've bought a compost kit and haven't a clue how to put it together... I could really do with it now because Leaves are dropping by the ton.

[alison]

Maybe the gardener will know how to put it together. It will be much less work for you not having to mow the lawns.
It was bound to take time to feel settled in the new house. It was such a change and big upheaval for you. I am sure that by this time next year you will feel so at home that you will wonder what all the fuss was about. You might even think to put yourself in the yellow 'open garden scheme' book.