Drum roll please….

The garden is FINISHED!
Well… almost, there are still little things to do but I don’t think that will ever change…

Isn’t it pretty?

 Just to remind you – here are some before pictures:

When we first moved in!

After a tidy up, new plants and during 1st project – the pond and 1st patio.

The back bit.

The back has been a pile of soil since we arrived and took 3 years to get to it but over the last 2 weeks that has really changed…

After the fencing was done we installed a retaining wall…

First we dug a trench wider than the sleepers but no deeper.

Then leveled the trench with sharp sand

With a rubber mallet- lined them up in place in 4’s…

Then poured concrete mix (2 sand, 1 cement) either side of sleeper.

Stephen worked his man magic and connected them them with metal plates.

Carry on till end – et voila!

Next up was the arrival and LONG installation of something I have not shut up about for a long time… I FINALLY got a summerhouse. See this blog and this for my infatuation raging!

8am Saturday morning THIS arrived outside the house!

It was 2 feet taller than our gate so with a little help from our wonderful friend – Oliver Guy Watkins, a lovely neighbour lending us a ladder and A LOT of push and shave we got it over the gate. Fun fun fun!
My impatience and over excitedness meant that arrived before we’d had a chance to do the base… I know… bad Gabby!

We mapped (well Stephen) how many paving stones we needed.

I would have just started throwing them down.

This is what we came up – it was all we had!

More sharp sand, cement and fun with the spirit level ensued

We then filled the gaps with concrete- smoothing and levelling along the way.

Then the base was on.

OK a small confession- the guide to building a shed base said ‘ensure the concrete base is smaller then the actual structure so water can run off it… which I took as quite a lot smaller and ensisted we paved like that… OOPS! We instead had to add bricks when the summerhouse base was on to make sure it had a firm ground under the edge… I know it may seem obvious to most but my tip to all is only make it about 1cm smaller then the building not 1ft!

Soon we had sides – I held them in place while Stephen screwed them in.

We followed the vague instructions as best we could!

Then there was a door!

And roof beams!

We connected the side beams to the roof parts

Soon we were up on the roof- on our neighbour’s wall!

NB- I really looked awful that day… DIY is not a good look but my red hair is the evidence that I was involved- not just taking pictures!!

This was the hard bit we had to attach all the sides of the roof and then a felt with tacks… BTW felt is not soft craft felt it’s mean, painful tar spiky stuff- horrible against the skin!!

Then the fascias went over the felt.

Some bits were really hard to reach!

But worth it.

A few other bits were added- door handles, bolts and the sides were screwed to the floor then we painted it…

First cream…

Then blue on the beams and frames. Masking tape was very handy!

We both love it!

I’ll leave you there – and do a part II soon because I’ve got to go to a band practise for a gig in Belgium tomorrow.
Hope you like our new, improved garden!
Love and masking tape.
Xox
Gabhouse