Merry Christmas from Maple Barn!

Here at Maple barn we are continuing on with the long list of snagging items - this keeps us busy most weekends along with all the activities we are involved with in Pebworth!

One of the events I took part in this year was a Christmas wreath making workshop - it was hosted by Sarah Malleson from Hidcote gardens and I must say I was very pleased with my result!

This Christmas period we plan to start our master ensuite bathroom. We have chosen the tiles (picture below) and already have had the bathroom suite for over two years now! 

Updates on our progress to follow...

Not much happening in the garden (for obvious reasons!) the weather here is very mild but extremely windy.

We do have so much planned for the new year - keep watching!!

We had to have an air tightness test recently (another requirement for sign off)   We scored really well and it's nice to know that we are achieving our eco-status albeit slowly

All the festivities and decorations are adorning Maple Barn: The tree is up & the banister is decorated!

We even have lights on the outside of our house now, quite difficult to take a photograph of this but it actually looks like a gingerbread house!

And so, we both wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year - the blog will continue on as we have progress.

Thank you for reading the blog and supporting us during our journey 

Wendi x

Autumn update

Another busy few months has whizzed past! We've had a huge village fete, a significant birthday, a mini holiday and not much work done!!

Progress as a result resumes this weekend: The remaining sleepers have been delivered and as I type are being installed - photos will be added later!

The steps are nearly finished, it's been a case of dodging the weather and fitting it in between other commitments but as you can see we are nearly at the top!

 David Austin roses are another passion - Here's Jude the Obscure still flowering profusely in November?!! It's fabulous!

For my significant birthday in October my lovely kids bought me a Lutyens bench - something I'd always wanted! ( Lutyens bench in the lounge! )

My parents bought me a gorgeous marble topped table and cast iron chairs. 

All steam ahead then with the garden design plans, lots and lots of plants and bulbs gone in and the odd tree.

I now need to paint the base and the chairs. Can't decide play safe and keeping with the Scandinavian theme - grey? Keep it locally themed and go with Cotswold green or stamp my personality and go with a wacky bright colour!??... 

I also had a surprise birthday party at home and was presented with this fabulous cake! 

Last week I had a knock on the door and a chap selling aerial photos tried to make me part with a considerable amount of money - now I'm not famed for my negotiating skills but I did get him to reduce the price significantly as how could I possibly resist? I know it shows the property unfinished but when would we ever get an aerial shot at this stage of the build again!? 

Fingers crossed we'll get a finished one in the future!

The front fence is now complete and it all feels much more private. We still haven't got any gravel down as this is the very last thing - allowing delivery vehicles is still a priority and they simply refuse to drive up a gravel drive? Sounds stupid but sadly another fact with self build. 

It wil be very satisfying when it happens - technically we'll have finished!

And now as usual I have to add my inspirational photos - although this one is a bit of a pipe dream! We have given up on our plans for a pond as our last large Koi carp died (we came here with 14!) the heron finally got him through the net. We still had 20 or so goldfish who have been rehomed in my Dads pond. 

This is the kind of thing we dream of having - imagine...from my studio onto a decked area, looking over a pond? We'll see....

In the meantime much more of a reality is the patio area and raised terraced beds! I feel this is so close now and with Open Gardens in May we are both working hard to make this 'look' happen.

I love these shallow planters with 'hairy' grasses

The house itself has multiple snagging lists of jobs and of course jobs that we haven't ever managed to get  around to; floors to grout, lots of painting, shelving, doors, skirting all sorts! 

MAPLE BARN STUDIO NEWS:

I have been trying to make some time to get my studio straightened out. I'm currently working on a couple of projects and do have some workshops lined up - I just need the 'walk to' the studio to be a bit safer! 

Have a look on my Facebook page Maple Barn Studio for more information. https://www.facebook.com/Maplebarnstudio/?ref=bookmarks

And finally Village news: Pebworth won a gold award in the Heart of England RHS Britain in Bloom small village category! Here I am (3rd from left) with my fellow committee members: Jenny, Jean & Yvonne - huge amounts of hard work is done around the village by a small group of people, keeping it looking lovely all the time. It only enhances what a great place we live! 

Back soon

Wendi x

Progress?

Well after saying I wouldn't be blogging with any more progress we suddenly made more progress!!

OH had a week off, hired another excavator, whacker plate and powered wheel barrow and went for the hard landscaping with great enthusiasm - 12 + tonnes of scalpings (or 40mm to dust to the hardened professional) later and we have made quite a difference to our outside spaces.

We have more or less retained the clay banks now with new railway sleepers and cleared the pathway all around the property.

As you can see from the photos, the area we will have is getting much more visible and I'm even deliberating garden furniture! 

We planted our Bay tree today - we were given it some years ago by OH's mother when she was moving to a flat. It had a special place as was a 50th wedding anniversary present. Over the years I have nurtured it and potted it on until now (don't think there's a pot big enough!!) so in the photo you can see an area with the bay tree in the middle - this area is going to become a herb garden as it's easily accessed from the house. We added a lot of compost as the clay soil is like concrete!

View of the terracing so far and the area covered with scalpings ready for sandstone flags. 

Progress on the steps - it'll be a bit of a steep climb up to the grass area! 

Quite a nice view of the garden and landscape beyond here, we are lucky to have a lovely paddock at the back and views of the Meon hill and beyond. The hedge at the back of the garden has taken some work, it was covered in brambles and seemed to have died off in places but with a lot of TLC it's recovered well & we'll grow it a bit taller for shelter & protection but not too tall so as to spoil the view.

The air source heat pump is up and running and the path way to the other side of the house ready for paving...

A selection of plants I'm nurturing and dividing for new beds and borders..... Another crazy thing we've done this week was to agree to open our garden at the end of May for the NGS open gardens charity scheme! Nothing like a deadline to work to.... 

Here's OH with his new toys!

I also made jam this week - we have a plum tree in the garden (it needs a little attention, another job for the autumn) and the crop is plenty, after much deliberation on what variety it is, I was told they are 'Pershore Yellow Egg Plums' 

http://www.pershoreplumfestival.org.uk/index.php/about/

I like making jam and preserves and will be entering our local produce show in September ! 

And finally an amazing sunset this week, we we're driving at the time but I managed to capture this picture! It was a breathtaking sight and seemed to change every 5 minutes but I'm pleased with this result.

Anyway I'll be back with news of one thing or another if not it'll be news of my new blog....

W x

May! June! July?

My blogging schedule seems to have gone out the window this last couple of months! Oh well its not the end of the world and I haven't had too much to report anyway. This will also be my last blog for The Maple Barn Company...

We've been working über hard on the garden, planting like mad into a newly dug flower bed! It's really been a case of chucking it all in (a technical gardening term I think you'll find) The funny thing is I've had very lovely plants in pots for years and years & not wanted to plant them in the ground as I always felt I'd move house again, but here, I've gone for it! 

Some early shots of the newly planted bed..

I  suppose that must indicate that I feel more settled here than I have for years?

We do still think this isn't our last house though & hope to "retire" (whatever that is?) to the coast one day... Perhaps another self build?!!!! Never say never... 

Richard has been building our porch walls and we are laying the Indian sandstone flags to create the level access needed (disabled regs) for sign off (it all makes me slightly uncomfortable that we have to build a house to accommodate a wheelchair?)

Our electrics are almost done and certificate pending - this means we get to start the lengthy process of claiming our VAT back, which as you can imagine is a considerable sum.

We will then spend the majority of this on the landscaping which we'll have to do ourselves to keep the cost down.

Flags before grouting and cobbles...

We have also started working on the terracing - it's important we retain all the soil before the autumn & winter. I don't think I'll be planting until next spring apart from some bulbs perhaps? I've got my eye on the White Garden at Sissinghurst... Well I can dream can't I?

We had quite a hairy moment when hubby tried to get the excavator into the garden; the gap was 1010mm wide and the digger 1000mm - some of the fence got a little scraped and the bricks unfortunately were chipped but hopefully we won't need to do that again?!

Will he or won't he?....

The terracing taking great shape..

I had a conversation with a lovely neighbour recently - she commented on how much we'd achieved in two years and said she'd always worked to a 5 year plan; I must say this made me step back and review our achievement and I feel much happier with that time frame and more relaxed about the works needed. Amazing how a passing comment can affect you! 

I've definitely been feeling very wound up about this last frustrating part of the build and trying to work the finances to fit so it's nice to sit back and be more philosophical.

Our village continues to impress - we've had NGS open gardens which were fabulous and an American BBQ (no idea why it's called this?) The judging for Pebworth in Bloom took place on 9th July & the support of the village was incredible! We've never lived anywhere where people are so proud of their environment, help their community & generaly like a good'do'!!!

On another note I will be changing my blog very soon - I will no longer be known as The Maple Barn Company and will change to 'Maple Barn Studio'. I think it's time to stop blogging about the house (which honestly is almost finished except for the hard landscaping outside) and start blogging about my  Studio where lots of lovely sewing & printing will take place with workshops available from cushion making, bag making, quilting, screen printing and lots more!

I'm sure some of my followers will change but hope most of you will stay here and watch the studios progress? And I will of course drop in the odd house and garden update from time to time.

Thank you for all your support and lovely comments and emails over the last two years

Wendi x

April!

Happy Easter! 

How nice is it that with the clocks going forward the evenings are lighter? I can't tell you how much this lifts my mood, along with the daffodils and spring blossom and the promise of the hedge rows breaking into green any day - where we live there seems to be miles of brown/grey hedges that are a bit dreary and depressing but it'll only be a matter of weeks now before they are lush & green, that is if the weather warms up a bit?

The House progress continues with even more painting, floor grouting, installing the air source heat pump and general finishing jobs...I still write lists and then rewrite them, hoping that they will reduce!

The garden landscaping is still dormant and I drool over pictures on Pinterest and the like on an almost daily basis. My daffodils are flowering beautifully and despite the poor quality soil and rubble, plants are pushing through and appear to be thriving.

I planted an Almond tree in the Autumn and the blossom has been stunning. We also received a flowering cherry as a gift and this too is just about to break into blossom.

We are busy clearing the front drive way of bricks and bags of logs, sand etc ready for the digger to level the ground. The area around the rainwater harvesting tank has been filled with pea gravel and the next thing is to order lots of MOT Type 1 (hardcore to you and I!) for the drive way and surrounding area, then levelling with a wacker plate or roller to compact it. 

It will be so nice to get straight in the porch area in particular - to have a proper base!

We've had a friend on crutches visit and pushchairs struggling - it's quite an obstacle! I guess we are so used to it that we've lost perspective on just how awful it actually is?

Inside choosing lighting is proving tricky - hugely important but a minefield and I LOVE designer lighting but we simply don't have the budget. 

It's the champagne ideas and lemonade money thing again!!

So in our bedroom we have this amazing vaulted ceiling space and we've looked at finding just the right thing - not a crystal chandelier - too blingy, too tacky! No - it has to be uber stylish, cool, contempory with a twist.. Well there's only one light that will do and it's a 60cm FLOS Skygarden by Marcel Wanders - problem: it's £2000 plus!!!! So here's the dilemma, I can get a copy for £200! BUT is that right?

Is it a moral thing to do? Thing is I really really want it and will never be able to afford the real thing but I do hate the "rip off"world we live in... Well here are some photos of both. You'll just have to 'Wander' what we decide on.......

We are having a nice weekend away over Easter in Torquay. We will avoid crowds if we can and find some quiet corners to take photos and plan to visit Cockington Court!
http://www.cockingtoncourt.org/craft-studios

Hopefully with next months blog we will be able to show work in progress of the driveway, fingers crossed. 

In the meantime have a fantastic bank holiday weekend and a Happy Easter

X

March

I can't believe it's only the beginning of March and I'm blogging on time, albeit a short blog..

Well February has been a strange month, mild weather followed by Siberian style winds & and a prediction for a warm sunny Easter? We'll see!?

We are still working on finishing the house, I have been advised that this could take up to 20 years?!  Perhaps accepting that it will be a lifetime's work may help ... I'm not sure. 

In every room there is something, some job that needs finishing. All the rooms function and this in itself is perhaps a problem as we are less inclined to do those tedious finishing off jobs.

I think perhaps a snagging list for each room is in order?

I find that this is a frustrating time of year.  On a beautiful sunny day we work outside with much enthusiasm, tackling hedgerows, lawns, tidying up generally - trying to make Spring actually happen and then the weather changes and we find ourselves grounded indoors for days & days on end.

A gloomy feeling descends and it feels as though Spring will never return, however if we look around us carefully the birds are nesting and the daffodils are out in sheltered places along with snowdrops and crocuses and other loveliness! I can't wait to get out & create in the garden this year!!

Plans for our external works i.e. patios, retaining walls, driveway etc fences are in hand but we can't start this work until the weather improves. 

So we are spending time getting to know our area:  We have been out and about recently & visited local Artisan Bakers Jane & Craig at 'Knead it' in Stratford upon Avon. They open twice a week and create the most stunning array of breads - look on the website www.kneadit.co.uk

They also do baking days - I am currently trying to organise one for a group of friends in the spring.

Overall, we couldn’t be happier with the house. It’s been even lower maintenance than we had hoped, and there really aren’t any significant aspects of it we’d change. When building a house, you are always extremely worried that anything which isn’t perfect is going to end up bugging you for years. Counterintuitively, I would say that the opposite has been true for us so far. We tried to get as many things perfect as possible during the build process, but there are always going to be little things and possibly something we'd do differently as time goes on.

Our advice would be: Try to get everything as right as you can, but realise that nothing is ever going to be perfect and that the enjoyment of living in your house will make you forget anything that isn’t.

Now for a textiles update; I'm continuing to make - I'm currently working on bags and cushions (and trying to make clothes inbetween!) here is a tote bag with leather straps in block printed fabric mixed with commercial fabric and had dyed lining 

I'm still at the planning stage with workshop but have lots of interest. We also need to be able to access the studio safely and at the moment this isn't possible with the current landscaping!

I'm working on a range of printed and stitched cushions. All will be one off designs but I am going to offer this printed, stitched cushion as a workshop:

I'll be back soon with more progress and news so please continue to enjoy and share with friends!

Wendi x