A quick look in the front garden

Despite half of the seeds failing this year, (last years mouldy beans) Blake's beanstalk house has produced some tasty beans for our tea this evening and they make a super healthy treat between meals. If you're wondering why some of the grass is missing, I started to extend the path, but like most things I start it remains incomplete.

Blake's beanstalk house

 Despite total neglect and crap weather, we actually seem to have a lot of tomatoes growing this year. We planted cherry and plum tomatoes, but I stupidly mixed them all up when they were younger so I didn't know which ones to pinch out. So a surprising result that we have any fruit at all, be nice if and when they turn red.

Our green tomatoes

 The raspberries are producing some delicious juicy fruits this year and they seem to have spread everywhere, although they don't stay on the bush for long and seem to mysteriously vanish whenever Blake pads past them in the morning.

One of the apple trees

 Yes they are tiny carrots, but due to further neglect most of the carrots were completely slug ridden, so we thought it best to salvage what we could now and remember to put down slug pellets next time!

That reminds me when we were on a bike ride last week, Blake insisted that Mummy should put the snail he had collected on his journey into the grit bin (salt) to "be with his friends". And as I was taking a picture of the carrots above, he was roaming around the kitchen with a santa hat over his face so I couldn't resist getting a picture of him too.

Logs, logs glorious logs

We took delivery of a load of logs today ready for snuggling up in front of a cosy fire as the winter nights draw nearer. We have decided to keep a load of them indoors this year to save trapsing around outside in the snow to fill up the basket.

A nice full logstore

A nice full alcove. Smells sooo nice!

It is a mix of Ash and Birch; it smells lovely and I can't wait for it to get cold so we can light up the fire.

And a few left over for an emergency!

 So whilst trying to make some space in the shed for the left over logs, I decided to cut up all the kindling too. It's mainly tree branches and roots that have been left for a year to dry out and then cut to size with some secateurs. The green wavy bits on top are offcuts from the romantic arch I made for the entrance to the secret garden.

Kindling

A nice tidy(ish) shed!

 So I'm quite chuffed that I can now actually walk right to the back of the shed for a change! I even stacked up the pallet timber neatly, ranked by length at the back which will be used in the bathroom for the natural finish we desire. That tiny amount of timber at the back has come from about 30 pallets as it is difficult to salvage every piece as the wood is often so dry and brittle, and fixed together with 6" nails.

The bathroom - 18 months In

Before

Well it's been 18 months since I ripped out the bathroom suite, leaving my wife and son without a bath or upstairs toilet and sink, so I decided it was time to get going with it, so after ordering a toilet online and accidentally getting it delivered to our Looe toy shop at peak season, I had the vital measurements required to get started.

Progress

Slowly but Surely

 So, this is where it is until we get time to collect the loo from Looe!

RIP lovely flip flops

Yesterday was a sad day, when my flip flops finally snuffed it. They are broken beyond repair. Well, I say they, It is only one that has broken beyond repair. And they were brand new when they were given to me just eight years ago by Emily my wife, who was just my girlfriend at the time.

It is very frustrating really, that one of them is perfectly useable, and only last year I discarded 2 flip flops when one was also fine; and if only I had the knowledge that in the future I would be in the same position, I could have made a pair again. Maybe when I replace them, I shall purchase 2 identical pairs and wear them out evenly, so when one breaks, I'll always have a spare.

Today, my feet just haven't been the same, both sheathed in boot socks and shoes, with no air allowed to circulate freely around the toes.

So thus ends a chapter, with so many happy times, my flip flops and I have shared, but life must not end here, and we must move on, regardless of our footwear condition. Sometimes we forget how lucky we are, to even have owned a pair of flip flops, so even though my flip flops have gone, the memories will always stay.

RIP lovely flip flops.

Does anyone happen to know if there is a flip flop recycling bin?