KEEPING OUT SOME WIND AND RAIN.

 We love our gazebo that we put up on the patio a couple of years ago. It is lovely to sit outside and not get too hot in the sun but because we live on the top ish of a hil,l backing onto a village recreation ground, so it can be very windy at times.

Also when it rains it comes under the gazebo meaning that the seating cushions need to be put away or covered up. So with that in mind, we decided that we would board the right hand side of the gazebo where the sofa's are.

But the late afternoon and evening light comes through that side of the gazebo , so we will make sure we still let plenty of laight through.

So Paul started with putting in the framing for the bottom area that will be boarded.

Upper framing for the window area. either side of this will be boarded like the base. The gazebo roof is sloped to allow rainwater to fall off , so above the upper frame is a wooden wedge to allow the frame to be attached to the gazebo upper structure.

The two higher sides will be boarded.

Bead and but board is being added to the wall.

wood nearly done in this photo.

Originally we were going to use the lion stained glass windows either side of the fanlight window ,centre above, but the we used them elsewhere as shown before. So then we had to choose between the two windows either side of the fanlight.

This one on the left is wider and bigger , so would allow pleanty of light through.

The one on the right is slimmer and smaller but just palin gorgeous ! Also we think the colours in the glass match much better than the other set.

So these two were selected to go either side of the fanlight.

Tidied up ready for glass windows.

Two in , one to go.

removing the old hinges.

window in with wooden section below.

So still a couple of small things need doing but wall and windows in.

we are pleased with how it's turned out but now for the next part.....

A TALE OF TWO WINDOWS

 

This is a photo of the left hand side of our patio. Our neighbour on that sides house is set further back than ours. His garden is also higher as he is 'up' the hill and we are 'down' to him. There used to be lots of branches from one of their shrubs that cover behind the bit of trellis we put up years back.

However he decided to cut it back, which meant that we could now see his big yellow van and his side window and back house wall. That meant he and anyone walking along the side of his house had full view of our patio and garden furniture.

So while we have been putting in the new fence panels further down the garden we came across some trellis we'd used before we had the new gazebo. At the bottom of the above photo you can see the top of some black trellis we added between the two posts as the start of our privacy plan.

We had bought two secondhand stained glass windows which have a design which is called lion head.

So on top of the trellis we stood the windows. The perfect size!

Paul fixed the windows to the wooden rail above that supports the pergola and also into the post on the right hand side. Paul then cut down a large piece of trellis to fill the gap on the left between the existing post and the windows.

Windows seen from other side of Gazebo.

So a small rearranging of a couple of standards and an acer that was just over on the right hand side into the middle for balance and now we have our privacy back.

You can see the afternoon sun hitting the windows and plants and making them shine. When time allows we will remove the white paint and paint them black to match the trellis.

We had originally bought these old windows for a different project but we found some really beautiful ones which we will now use for the original project.

TULIPS IN THE FORMAL GARDEN

 

All eight pots have flowers in bloom

a closer look

Oranges and reds

in May the box can be cut and it will look much nicer.

the new fence on the flower garden.

FENCING DONE

 

So now the flower garden area is nice and secure and all the ivy that had covered the old fence has been dug up and binned.

Now it's time to clear away and burn the old wood and start the weeding and staking etc of the flowerbeds.

We have reused some of the old trellis to tie the climbing roses. 

Trellis also added to other side. Now it's a case of weeding, mulching and planting a few more plants to fill any spaces.

The blooms on the magnolia Black Tulip, are getting big! Alas some have a bit of frost damage but the tree is doing really well now after a very poor start when we first purchased it.

These flowers are such a gorgeous vibrant pink.

Magnolia Susan flowering well but also with a little frost damage.

Unfortunately a lot of the flowers on the Camillia have been caught by the frost.

So plently to be getting on with now the growing season has started .

NEARLY DONE FENCING

 Today was another bitterly cold day to start with and Paul is up to the part of the fence that backs onto our neighbours hedge, which is overgrown. So now it's harder because tree roots need to be cut and the hedge cut back to allow the fence panel and concrete post to be put in place.

Also that part of the fence was covered in ivy, which again made it harder to remove.

slowly getting there.

So one more panel to go in to complete the flower garden fencing , the place in the photo where you can see some low trellis but we have another to start the fencing behind the workshop.

We also started to burn some of the old fencing wood because there is so much of it , that it will probably take a couple of evenings to get rid of it all.

So tomorrow the next panel or maybe two will be in and then it will be time to sort out weeding the flower beds and deciding what we are doing with the path.

THE FENCING CONTINUES

 Another cold but bright day, so Paul's continued putting up the fencing.

Two more panels in!. It's a lot of work when there is just one person to do it all, the old met posts are in the way now and needed to be dug out , which takes time and patience. 

Two more panels to be fitted along with their concrete posts before we get to the trellis and into the area behind the workshop.

of course removing the old fencing means a mass of wood that needs to be burnt.

So still an escape route for the dogs ! but hopefully tree rots permitting that will be all fnished and the plants can be left to grow peacefully!

The trees are big so a big job to clear the pathway for the fence panels!

APRIL

 So it's April which as been cold mostly, we have even had sleet and hail just this week! However when the sun does get through it is lovely and warm even hot! It's just tjat we appear at present to have quite a few days that come with a very cold wind.

However mostly dispite the cold the dfays are actually dry! Which means it's time to get out inot the garden and start doing those jobs that need to be done before everything starts growing in ernest.

Time to get the new fence panels in along the flower garden. So today two old ones were taken down and a new concrete post put in.

So one panel in and another five to go, but we have to clear all the ivy thats been taking over as we go along plus digging down next to the existing metposts. 

but even with just one new panel in , it's already looking so much better!

Today it's actually felt like it is finally Spring and the weather will improve! Paul found a moss bird's nest when he removed the old fence panels.

It was in amongst the Ivy. The front.

Inside from the back

An amazing build.

 The pots of bulbs are starting to flower.

So the work begins !