Gardening and general clean up..

This weekend with much better weather proved to be a great excuse to do a spot of gardening. We have spent two days cutting back very overgrown and neglected shrubs and brambles that were pretending they were trees! It was incredible the hold they had over some of the trees, and very tricky to remove - Richard and I have the scratches and irritations to prove it!
What was amazing was the space that all this was hiding, now we have a much better idea of the size of the driveway entrance and we now have a lovely corner where we think we'll plant our first Maple Tree. We are looking at Acer Griseum (The Paper Bark Maple) which has gorgeous autumn colour and striking bark. There are a couple of pics at the end of this blog of the Maple and of the area cleared and view looking up the drive towards the house (well it'll be there eventually!!!!) note the bonfire - a very successful burn up today!
We are off to look at a house tomorrow built by SIPS ECO UK http://www.sipsecopanels.co.uk/
It won't be the kind of house we are building but it will be constructed the same, we are yet to appoint our chosen building company and we are still trying to sort out ground works.

In the meantime we went to Ikea last week to have our kitchen designed - it was stressful (for me only when I found the kitchen windows interfered with my run of units and yes I did have a stroppy moment and said "well you'll just have to move the window!") we struggled with their computer programme but once Matt the manager of kitchens at Ikea Wednesbury took over .. He was brill! We haven''t decided on an Ikea kitchen but we are really impressed with what they have to offer... The pics at the end of the blog are similar to the kind of kitchen look we are after..
Well I'll be back with more progress as soon as there is any!
Bye for now

Astounded! Thrilled! and Excited...

The above words can only begin to describe the last few months, to say we have been stressed would be an understatement! BUT we have finally completed and now own the plot of land in Pebworth
*#%¥$€*#% 
I am however astounded to have only found this out yesterday (Weds 3rd April) as our solicitor "forgot" to let us know last week that we had completed!! Therefore we spent the easter bank holiday worried and wondering.... I can only go on what people say but I never seem to hear anything positive at all about solicitors? Does anyone have a positive experience about conveyancing? And then they charge an astronomical amount of money in the process! Rant over...:-)

But we are thrilled that we can now finally put our plans into action, we are just about to appoint the building contractor and we have of course changed our minds many many times but we have finally decided to use the SIPS system and not timber frame
(if anyone is interested in what SIPS is here is a link http://www.claysllp.co.uk/ )
The first thing that will happen is of course the ground works, we are waiting to hear back from the planners for the go ahead!

So exciting times ahead - Something we are going to do (this weekend) is plant a Maple Tree. This in itself is exciting choosing the right variety and position - we finally have something tangible to play with!

We have had the privilege (for the second time) to house and dog sit for friends Ineke & John in Littleheath near Bromsgrove. It is an Eco house and has many of the benefits we intend to use in our build. It's a real treat to "try before you buy" and we have spent a week scribbling down even more ideas for our house! There is also a full on textile studio as part of the house so I have been utterly in my element! I have finished projects and started new ones, dyed, sewed and printed to my hearts content - exactly the kind of thing I needed before we commence our build...

So watch this space more closely now as I will indeed be blogging our progress regularly.. Here are a few interior inspirational photos to whet the appetites

Back soon....Wx