Week eighteen

. . . .  which has mostly been about my studio (at long last, I sigh).

Day 120

Everything that is still in the studio is piled up on the wall behind me, the filing cabinet is moved to its final destination, and some of the racking bits and pieces are ready for assembly.

Day 121

The first double unit is up and ready to be pressed into service

Day 122

GM takes a day off, so I'm free to start loading the shelves with some of my beloved books - this arrangement is only a start, I'll get more organised as the days go by and more stuff is unpacked.

Day 123

GM wanted a change from racking building, so he erected the other unit for the downstairs loo, although he had to remove the loo-roll holder so we could open the middle door. I think he intends to rehang the doors to open the other way, as this arrangement will offend anyone who, like me, prefers symmetry.

Day 124

The first half of the second double unit goes up, then the second half of it is attached.

Day 125

While I'm away at my mum's for the weekend, GM installs my work station,

Day 126

. . . and rebuilds my desk. Yippee, my new studio, all ready for me to start unpacking in earnest, what a pity it's probably going to be too hot to work in here for the next day or so - with a south facing window it's already too hot and it's only 9.30 am!

Mother Nature and new build

I'm not really sure how to describe the grassy patch that is currently the back garden. It certainly isn't a lawn and I don't suppose it ever will be, it wasn't turfed, as the soil is still very stony and chalky, so I guess the grass was probably grown from seed a couple of years ago when the house was first occupied. It had no TLC from the previous owner so it has just evolved. I love it the way it is, Mother Nature has taken it over, and I'm delighted to discover that there is plenty of natural diversity in this tiny little patch of Hampshire which only a couple of years ago was just a building site, a couple of years before that was farmland and probably before that was open moorland.

I've cleared about 75% of the raised bed and have thus far planted a fig tree, a couple of tomato plants and some runner beans, but I decided to leave this end wild for the rest of the season.

2017 Summer Photography Scavenger Hunt

1.       Something fuzzy

2.       Bubbles

3.       A web

4.       A zig zag

5.       A seasonal relaxing space/item

6.       A pipe

7.       The inside of something

8.       Rust or something derelict

9.       A kite or balloon

10.   Something Yellow

11.   A toy only found out during June to September

12.   A wedding

13.   A dome

14.   Someone fishing

15.   Something crafted from wood

16.   A baby (human or animal)

17.   Circles or crosses in architecture

18.   A fan

19.   Feet of man or beast

20.   Something found under ground

21.  A plaque

22.  A dial

23.  Something powered by wind

24.  Seasonal food or drink

25.  A hat

I do like a photography scavenger hunt, (although I have to admit that for the past couple of years I haven't joined in much), so you can imagine how chuffed I was to find that Mary-Lou has taken over from Rinda to give us a list for this summer. 
Here is the link to Mary-Lou's blog where you can find the "rules" of the hunt. Have fun. 

Patio Postcards

Week seventeen

Day 113.

I did an extra day at work last week, and GM put these up that day. I didn't notice until the following weekend. Lost a house point or two there!

Day 114.

My studio, partially cleared and ready for action. The arrangement of electricity power points in this room is a bit silly, there are two doubles on one wall and none anywhere else, so my in-house electrical wizard intends to run additional power across to the other side of the room, attaching it to the skirting boards, which will then disappear behind my shelving. The above arrangement has served us for the interim.

Day 115.

The sides to part of my shelving racks, stacked neatly waiting to be used.

Day 116.

My permanent desk, also patiently waiting.

Day 117.

These packages arrive, and, as they look a bit the worse for wear, they jump up to the top of the to-do list and need to be opened to check the contents.

Day 118.

This one seems to be OK, apart from one or two very slight and hardly noticeable nicks to a couple of corners, although now the box is open . . .

Day 119.

. . . . might as well put one together just to make sure they're ok. There will be another in the other corner and a third (we got three for the price of two from Argos) somewhere else, possibly in the bathroom. I've been promised that work on the studio resumes today. Watch this space.

Eleven on 11th

Up until a couple of years ago, I used to regularly follow and join in with a monthly blog called "ten on 10th" which was 10 photos taken one an hour on the tenth of each month. Then, I can't remember why, I stopped. This month I decided to start again, but a. yesterday I forgot and b. I can't now find the original blog that hosted this. So I decided, what the heck, I would do 11 photos on the 11th instead.

So, here goes.

7am

Breakfast, as usual cooked for me by GM.

8am

I'm at my desk, please excuse the mess, it's a temporary situation.

9am

Time to ring my mum, which I do every day.

10am

Grabbing a few minutes to sit on the sofa and read part of yesterday's newspaper

11am

A walk around the garden and I see the very first runner bean plant is just showing above the soil

12noon

While GM was out shopping I opened one of the boxes that arrived yesterday, so when he got back he set to, to check the contents

1pm

We both fancied a fish finger sarnie for lunch

2pm

Preparing the vegetables for tea

3pm

The contents of the box have been assembled

4pm

. . . . and moved into the downstairs loo. There is another one to go on the other side, but that's for another day.

5pm

It's wine o'clock

Five on the 5th

It's quite a long time since I joined in with Sandie at itchifingers for 5 on 5th, but it just so happens that yesterday I had a lovely day out with FO, CH and GDs 2 and 4, at Frensham Ponds in Surrey. I lived in Surrey for 21 years, but have never been there before. It was a lovely location and we were lucky with the weather. As usual, I have bent the rules a little bit, these photos were taken over the course of three hours rather than 5  minutes, but, heyho, what are rules for if not for breaking?

Just in case you cant make out the words, it says "Frensham Common Internationally Important"

We saw several dragonflies, but as they were so swift and flying quite erratically I didn't bother to try to photograph them, so you can imagine my delight to see that I had accidentally caught one in this photo (top right corner).

Enjoying the view

A family of swans, mum, dad and three kids.

Looking from one end to the other.

To see other takes on 5 on the 5th please visit itchifingers

Week sixteen

Day 106

The front border looks a bit tidier now

Day 107

For two days in a row there were a LOT of honey bees buzzing around the compost bags right outside the back door, so the bee man came to have a look. Apparently it wasn't a swarm but a few (!!!) scouts out and about looking for somewhere dark and warm to move into. The compost bags have now been moved to behind the garage and the tops left open so that they are no longer dark, and therefore unattractive to them.

Day 108

The first day of June, a very misty morning from the studio window.

Day 109

This shelving is about to be erected as a temporary measure in the dining room. This will enable me to start clearing the boxes from my studio so that my own shelving can be put up and I can then start to unpack all my craft stuff, books etc. which have been packed away for far too long - given that we initially thought we would be moving in September last year my stuff has now been boxed up for almost 10 months!

Day 110

I met my friend Jean for lunch in a garden centre, where I bought some runner bean seeds. They are soaking for 24 hours before being planted out.

Day 111

I dug out a circular pit in the raised bed, put some half rotted compost at the bottom and then sieved some soil back in, built the pyramid of bean poles and planted two seeds to each pole. Really looking forward to freshly picked runner beans later this year.

Day 112

After a lovely day out with family I came home to find the shelves were up in the dining room, so it didn't take me long to move a few boxes downstairs.