Struggling to stay afloat!

I feel shattered, Amelia has been full of cold since the weekend and it's putting such a strain on the rest of the family, especially now we all seem to be coming down with it! I put some Vitamin tablets and Olbas Oil on my internet shop yesterday and I am going to start stocking up on honey and lemons!LOL

I have nothing really creative to share today but I can show my "almost finished" downstairs toilet!!! LOL Aren't I kind to you all?

A few months ago we had a leak under the hand basin and it has taken this long to get such a tiny space redecorated. There are a few tiny little bits and bobs I would like to add, like some beady tassels on the revamped cupboard....but they be waiting a while as I am struggling with making time to get the hallway painted now.

Here is the chaos our little toilet was in a few months ago.

And here it is now!

Since having the extension done nearly every room was painted warm cream colour but bit by bit we are bringing more colour in. Once I started painting white I was amazed at how dirty the cream looked  but I was concerned the little north facing toilet would look cold. I added a splash of colour here and there and quite pleased with how it turned out!

I lightly painted over the frame of our oversized (Ebay bargain) mirror with some grey eggshell and used some left over glass paints and leading to add a bit of detail.

I got a little green bottle from Dunelm Mill and transferred my reed air fresheners into that in an attempt not to clutter! 

This is my favourite part though. It is my mum and dad's old bathroom cabinet and I painted it with eggshell paint and revamped it with glass paints and lead. There is a mark on one of the mirrors and Chris wanted to reglaze it, but I thought it just added to it's quirky charm!

Right, I had better dose myself up and find some energy for Guides this afternoon. We now have, potentially, up to 36 Guides in the group, all with some form of disability. Perhaps a little snooze is in order! ZZzzzzZzZZZzZzzzz

Adele 

xXx

Garden (and doggie) update!

It's been a long time since I last blogged, my health is still suffering and I have now been referred to a Rheumatologist as my back pain is driving me mad. The school holidays are in full swing and I am desperately trying to keep Amelia occupied.

Bruce is now 6 months old and is an absolute little darling, he is still rather bouncy and excitable but that's what puppies are....fun and loving. He is a bit of a poser when it comes to having his photo taken!

I thought I'd update about the state of our little garden "re-vamp" and puppy proofing attempts! Progress is very slow but it's been enjoyable along the way. At the weekend I eventually finished my second bargain "garden mirror." It was another £3 bargain from ebay. I painted the frame with a pot of £5 garden paint, leaded it and added a splash of colour with some very old glass paints I had in my craft room.

I am quite pleased with the way it turned out but I don't like the white triangle shapes, they didn't dry as clear as I would have liked and have opaque clumps on! I am tempted to try and scrape it off an re-do as I have found some "etched glass" effect paint in another box now! I'll see how it weathers first!

And here is how our little patio area is coming along. It was an unused, unloved area of the garden where rubbish just seemed to accumulate: a old BBQ, gas bottles, bins, tubs, wood for the chimnea.....you name it. AS you can see, space is quite tight as the extension came out further than planned and we didn't want to excavate too much more of the raised garden.

It wasn't until Brucie boy came along and we felt in would be nice to have a covered area that we have finally started making use of the unloved little space.

I painted up part of the little lower wall, lifted all the slate around the outside of the paving which Bruce loved to dig in (but I am still making pwetty patterns in concrete with coloured pebbles and glass!) Chris built the pergola and fitted a few pieces of trellis.....and I then went mad with several pots of coloured garden paint. 

I am mid way of re-vamping an old cottage suite type sofa, it's not the sophisticated rattan sofa I would like but it's comfy and will do for the time being! I still need to recover the cushion covers and add a few more arty farty bits and bobs.

It's sheltered, the roofing has some UV protection, my fairy lights make it nice and cosy feeling during the evenings and I cannot believe how relaxing it is just sitting out there with Bruce snuggled up by my feet. 

Hopefully a few more....ahem...purchases will arrive over the next few days too! 

Bye for now.

Adele

xXx

Patio re-vamp and garden mirrors!

Progress on our puppy proof patio has been slow going. Half term was particularly difficult as the dreaded sickness bug worked it's wicked way through our family and we seemed to achieve very little apart from actually getting through it day by day.

The pergola is now up and this weekend we (well mainly Chris) put the roofing on it. I love it already and hope to spend many hours sitting out in the garden and relaxing. Still got lots to do; the slate around the edges of the patio still needs lifting and replacing with concrete to stop little Brucie Boy from digging! Tedious work but I am sure it will be worth it when it's done.

One thing I have done that I was pleased with was re-vamping an old mirror, which we got from ebay for a grand sum of £3! Paint cost about £5, leaded strips were another ebay bargain for about £2, glass paints.....er....well, stashed in cupboard from yonks ago!

Initially I just painted the frame and hung it and although I liked it, it did look a bit too much "mirror like" if you know what I mean. it looked too big and bare for it's setting so I thought I'd attack it with a bit of self adhesive lead and some glass paints.

I was a bit unsure when first applying the paints, they are very old (I think I bought them about 12 years ago) and I was concerned that I wasn't getting the nice smooth and even coverageI was hoping for. So I went back to my childhood and remembered the big stained glass door we used to have up in London and how some pieces of coloured glass had a textured effect within the glass. SO, I blotched and bodged to my heart's content and just kept hopeful it would look ok!

WELL, it wasn't as elaborated or professional looking as I would have liked but I still love it. 

I have another £3 mirror I will be attacking shortly!