Strange times happening World Wide at the moment……adding another Blog but this time about a very recent fantastic fortnight holiday we’ve had in the wonderful Maldives. Luckily we arrived back home before this virus took over one of the Islands & put it into lock down. Our journey took us from Heathrow, through Sri Lanka & onto Male Maldives, then seaplane to Meedhupparu Island. We’ve been to this Island a couple of times before so knew what to expect, but the biggest change was the shape of the Island…..depending on the winds & tide it shifts the sand around, wearing it away on one side of the Island and pushing it around to another part of the Island, changing the shape all the time. Having a conversation with a Manager he told us that December was a very windy month, so this did not help the change. We had the same room we had before but the beach in front of us had completely gone, leaving the palm trees creating shade & no beach directly in front all gone ! On our previous visit there was a wall around part of the Island helping to save the beach but that has now been replaced with a huge barrier dropped in at water level further out, the wall has been dropped into the sea. This part of the Island has a massive beach area at the moment, I suppose depending on the time of year you visit, the beach would again be changed ! I certainly feel at the moment I would like to be back there but not to be stranded even on an Island !⛱🌞🌊
**********************🌞🌊FEB 15th – MARCH 1st 2020🌊🌞*****************************
🏡 20/4/20 Start of Week 5 of #CoronaVirus Lockdown
It’s something we have put up with since living here, but the downstairs toilet cistern has been sooo noisy every time you flush it !! It was one of those cisterns that was higher on the wall with a long chain handle ! It had to go I’m afraid, the whole house knew that toilet had been flushed !
Chickens were the second job to be sorted. Decided their run was unmanagable so re-designed it with the co-op outside & connected back through the run which is now smaller. Added some wood beams & ladder inside for their entertainment, they love it ! It has not rained properly for days now so less muddy for them.
Start of the chicken move Maybe space for a shed ?Grass at last ! Not for long though !
Next job started at the weekend was the far corner of the garden, it’s never been cleared properly. Look at the photos & you’ll see a very worn out shed or chicken house used by previous owners so that’s coming out ! We are going to completely clear the area, attach new chicken wire fencing where the fence panels have broken. When we are allowed we will maybe have to hire a skip !!
Our friendly Robin always watching us
The kitchen also will be getting a tidy up. Worktops and cupboards will have a rub down & waxed as they are made of oak & solid. Have ordered a scraper thing which you use over the worktops without scratching them. Paintbrushes have come today (thanks to the post still delivering) & have half tin of cream paint left from another job, that will get some walls painted, they are a yucky yellow at the moment !
On our ‘one allowed’ walk
And another thing…..I must stop eating ALL day so hurry up normal life !!
Until next Blog which should include vegetable seeds being planted, they’ve been very slow in the post fingers crossed it’s soon …..take care of yourselves X
🏡 Week 6 of #CoronaVirus Lockdown🏡 Well here we all are still staying at home, hard work but has to be done !! When reading this in a few months time when we hopefully have our lives back, it will be very strange to remind ourselves about how we coped ! 🥺🤔
Found this lovely large metal stable feeding bracket/ hanger at the Auction a while ago, loved it for under the window at front of house & for £ 6.20 including fees at Auction it was a fantastic bargain👍 Managed to get a liner which was exact fit for £12 online, so with the food shopping onour ‘one trip out’ to the Farm Shop, I put some bedding plants in my trolley, thought that was ok to do that as food shopping too ?🏡
Last Blog I mentioned that I would hopefully have my seeds planted but unfortunately my order still waits ‘fulfilled’ status & that will total a month waiting !🍅🌰 Completely understand as they’ve been snowed under with orders, I’ll be on the packing list one day soon.🌼🌻🌹🏡
Peas are growing 👍
So this last weekend was glorious & that dreaded corner of the garden was to be properly attacked & cleared ! What a job…most done by Andy, very hard work but what a difference it has made, lovely & bright. Cannot decide at the moment what we will eventually use the area for, but we do need to sort the compost heap out nextso decided will use a compost bin instead of throwing it in a big heap, so an ideal area for that.
Old chicken house/shed falling apart !Well rotten !Getting there….Opened up area the back of garden from roadsideLeft with all this to get rid of…maybe a skip is needed ? 🤣 Think it’s a No….very expensive to hire !
Have been sorting out items to go on our EBAY Shop, as I mentioned before we stopped our shop area at Colyton to concentrate online with Ebay & selling ok at the moment, sort of glad we pulled out in January as customers unable to visit of course at the moment 😮! Luckily we have lots of stock still to go on Ebay as no Auctions at the moment.
🏡 As promised in an earlier Blog have been working on all the media sites to advertise our Ebay Shop, we enjoy sourcing and supplying a broad range of Retro, Antique & Vintage items of good quality, sometimes there are items that show age & wear that are too good or important to throw away but there is always a good home for these treasured items. So please have a browse of our Shop and hopefully there will be something of interest to tempt you…. http://www.ebay.co.uk/str/honeycottagevintage
Our section we used to have in Colyton, all now being added to our Ebay ShopLove this Art Deco Bell China Tea Set currently available for saleLovely Mr Quaker flour shaker/sifter currently for SaleLovely Teapot by Tony Wood, Staffordshire, love this item.Very nice Ouzo Glasses, unusual set, SOLDA lovely boat shaped Cruet Set for Sale soon.
Thank you for reading today & take care everyone during these difficult times.
🌞 Passed May Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK, nothing different happening, but allowed to travel distance just for the day, no stopovers & keeping 2 metres distance at all times, better than total lockdown I reckon but really hard trying to be careful around people, hoping they avoid me too !! We visited local Lyme Regis Beach for the first time in weeks, loved the freedom & not too busy as we go dog walking early. Been back for a second walk this Holiday weekend& was bit busier on the beach but not too bad, everyone wanted some of the wonderful sunshine we are having at the moment. Shops will be allowed to open middle of June with precautions in place, certainly going to be different going shopping everywhere for a long, long time. Maybe we’ll get so used to it all it will stay like it !!
It’s now 22nd June……been out & about being careful everywhere, quite quiet really. It seems busy with cars but when reaching destination its quite quiet with people. Shops have been allowed to open with social distancing last week, queues forming outside, not sure what they are like inside for shopping as do not fancy that at all at the moment. Did try a car boot last Saturday….nice lot of stalls but not the usual crowds so easy walking around and keeping distance. Next week its the turn of the restaurants & pubs to open…..lets wait and see how that all goes ! Update announced today (23/06) that 4th July all holiday sites, camp sites, tourism sites can re-open so just picture that for a moment…….one word comes to mind & frightens me……traffic (or two words ) …..traffic & caravans !!!
Jobs that are finishing ! Finished the railway sleeper steps in front of the Summer House, looking so good. Moved them from an area which was divided into two sections, one higher level with the Summer House on it originally but now dropped it lower to all the same level & re-used the sleepers for the steps….so no cost involved ! Added wood frame flower beds around the base to finish off the area so looking good.
Wall remaining is part of the Outside Toilet !
The area the house moved from is being cleared & section lowered but to do this we’ve had to remove lots & lots of rubble we had buried to raise this section and put the house on it, so yes you can imagine what size pile we are left with….so a skip has had to be ordered….so quess what we’re doing in next couple of days ! It’s the only way to do it !
The pile just got bigger & bigger !!SORTED !!
The far corner of the garden which was cleared recently of bags & bags of garden/wood rubbish to get rid ofwill be filled with a shed next week….waited so long to sort a shed, we have no garage to put garden tools in etc so they’ve been hanging around in the Summer House causing chaos everytime you went in to get something so what a great sort out it’s going to be !!
Pile of rubbish from corner where shed will be, now all gone to the tip !!
Something we’ve needed to sort for ages is to have good hosepipes around the garden, we have to have them for the thatch roof if needed, rule of the Insurance Co. so bought one for the front of the house & to make it easier bought one for the garden plants & cleaning the chicken coop in back garden so just bought same make hosepipe so all adaptors fit, makes life so much easier ! Our previous hosepipe was a cheaper one but for some strange reason it did not like the water pressure from the garden tap, even turning it on very slightly, it would pop the spray gadget off every time, been wet on a few occasions !! So anyway all sorted now, never want to have to use it for the thatch but have to be prepared !
🏠 Where have those 3 months gone….Christmas Items are on the shelves in shops now !!! ☃️
Strawberries, peas and courgettes are the best growers this year, had cancelled my seeds order back a few months during Lockdown as they were going to take so long to get here ! Cauliflower started growing well but spread wildly as they grew so gave up with them. Quite cute as a small cauliflower though ! Made some Courgette & Potato soup…..delicious, still have more growing so freeze soup for the winter maybe ?
Enjoyed these, especially strawberries & creamTiny, tiny cauliflower starting to grow !
August was the start of preparing an area in the garden for our new garden office to be delivered next month. Breeze blocks had be sorted and placed a certain distance to allow the Office to be placed carefully on them ! What a fun job that was for Andy !
Also this month we bought some more chickens, they are ‘Burford Browns‘ & gorgeous colour black & gold, with touch of green in certain light.🐓🐔🐥
Difference in size atm
End of August saw the Office starting to arrive to be built on site, but of course that first day it poured & poured with rain so a slight delay starting ! Made a good start next day & the finished Office is a lovely building. So should be nice & cozy working in there, room for the dogs too !🐶🐕🐶🐕
Next job is to sort out the room we have used as the Office and put it back to its’ original use as a dining room. It has been a bit tight trying to sit around the kitchen table so will be great to have a good space again to sit in ! Next decorating job will be this room, it’s not been touched yet, especially looking forward to corner of the room as it has a false wall so what could be behind it, we are going to investigate, maybe it’s just covering a stone wall. As the house was extended behind this wall in the 1980’s creating the kitchen and extra upstairs bedrooms so maybe it has just had a brick wall built to seal it in with the false wall added for the dining room….shall find out soon & report !
Thank you for reading, hope you’ve enjoyed this Blog, please have a read from first Blog next & enjoy😃 Will be back soon 😁
🌻Next job was to put a shed next to the Garden Office for extra storage.
Another job was to hunt for a sold EBay Shop item not listed on the stock sheet, so spent time looking through ALL the stock boxes to find the item ! It was the right opportunity to do a ‘Stock Take’ making sure everything was correctly listed & on Ebay. A job worth while sorting, getting there with it !
🐣🐥🐣Sorting chickens next…..it has been very muddy in the run lately so decided had to sort especially going into the Winter months & cement was the only answer ! Machine came out first……….
Ideal time to bury kitchen ceramic tiles no longer needed.
Much much better to clean now, just hose it all down & sorted !Sorted a sandpit for the chickens, I’ll wait until the weather improves to use it. They have the dirt area in their coop run for their dust baths at the moment.
December was a time of COVID Lockdown so unfortunately no family able to travel here….so upsetting 😞 Had enough now….please go away COVID !!!
🏠🌸 Started on the kitchen….tiles around the aga have been removed & put under the cement floor in the chicken run, keeping the wooden units, all doors & drawers have been sanded & oiled. Next pulled the ceiling panels down !! The mess that made was amazing, all because so much dust & dirt came down with the ceiling boards (why didn’t I take photo of the mess !!) The electrics next, needing more power sockets as short of these & spotlights in new ceiling. So being sorted in stages….power sockets & cables recessed into the wall by electrician, plasterer next who is putting up new ceiling, skim the ceiling and we will most probably paint the ceiling ourselves, hate ceiling painting !! Also fill in recessed cable & up to socket edges & then finished, electrician back to drill holes in ceilingto fit spotlights, covers for sockets & then finished.
Ceiling down, what a mess that was !More power points & light switch addedPower point movedPlasterer due next
Waiting on ceiling in kitchen booked for next week so out to garden for next job, to sort shingle area around office & shed. Previous wood edging we had to keep shingle in has rotted away & shingle just spreading on the grass every time you walk on it so sorted with sleepers we had available from the veggie plot so no cost involved to get this far, next needing a step up into the shed & to finish off have found something which ‘sets’ the shingle like glue, maybe will give it a try !👍
Taken out a small conifer tree at end of this plot to left of photo to open up views from office & to let sunshine get to plot better, to finish off edging the veggie plot & flower bed, square off both areas to all match 👍Come on Sunshine ☀️🌻🏡
Ceiling & walls plastered 👍Ceiling looking smooth, a good job
Electrician back in couple days to add spotlights & sockets👍 👏 and here they are ⤵️ ( some of them in photo ! )
This to this ! 👍
Next to do……ceiling to be painted.
Andy in the garden today to start his decking project. We have an unusualshaped area on the driveway, even to put a car in this area is so tight, thought to have as a seating area, wood ordered & delivered this weekso he could make a start.
Looking good👍
Next Blog to includekitchen & garden ongoing projects…..so while waiting for that pls have read at http://www.tinamckenzie1.blog for first ‘Honeysuckle Cottage Devon’ Blog back to 2015 ! ENJOY 🌻🌸💐🏠🌻🌸💐🏠☀️🌻🌸💐🏠🌻🌸💐☀️🏠🌻🌸💐☀️🏠
Andy started & finished a project over Easter weekend to build some decking in a very awkward space we have on the driveway & it looks great, added spotlights are a great feature.
Start of decking base 👏
Next need something to sit on ! Hopefully it’s going to be a wonderful summer ! ☀️
Kitchen ceilingnow painted 👏👍 Guess what we’re painting next, the walls 😳The chicks only had the straw bale delivered yesterday & look at it today !! Think they may be lovin’ it !🐓Completely destroyed !🙈
VIEWS ARE WONDERFUL TODAY FROM THE GARDENLOVELY TEA ROOM CALLED ‘DIAMONDS’ WITH GREAT VIEWS TO WATCH & RELAX – AXMINSTER OVER THE HILL TO THE RIGHTLYME REGIS 5th JUNE……GETTING BUSY AS COVID LOCKDOWN OPENS UPVEGETABLE PLOT GROWING BETTER THIS YEAR – runner beans, peas, tomatoes, cucumber, courgettes, pumpkins, carrots, strawberriesPUMPKIN PLANTS GROWING SOOO WELLFIRST STRAWBERRY CROPPEA PODS PICKED& READY TO EAT
A project was started after finding a painted chair with flower pot in an Antique Shop in Crewkerne, it was painted a lovely duck egg blue, really liked it & thought that’s something we could make, so couple of wooden chairs were bought from local Auction for £10, already had a pot of outdoor paint in cream colour & bought the flower pots locally for £1.50 each.
PAINTED THE CHAIRS CREAM LIKING THE END RESULTCOUPLE OF NIGHTS ‘GLAMPING’ IN BUDLEIGH SALTERTON‘DREAMFIELDS’ GLAMPING BELL TENTS
Booked couple of nights away & experienced ‘Glamping’ for the first time at Budleigh Salterton. They have ‘pop up’ tents for July & August, believe they are known better as ‘Creamfields’ normally at festivals. It was a fun time except for our first nights’ sleep……the wind & rain were unbelievable that night, didn’t sleep until 3am, thought the car was going to be my bed that night ! Tent in one piece next morning I’m happy to report !
TREE CUTTING TODAY, needs cutting back as tall enough to hit the house if fell over in a storm, our House Insurancewould not cover that happening ! FROM THIS…………TO THIS……..!
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