Property update: sale agreed!

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Since visiting the house last month I have been back again for a second viewing and to also visit friends. My offer has been accepted and we are looking to sign mid-September. It is hard not to get excited this early in the process when so much could go wrong (!), but it feels good to visualise the house when building plans for the B&B.

While I was in the area I dropped into a local bric-a-brac store and picked up this little painting in an ornate frame. It isn’t particularly old but I thought it was in keeping with The Little Grange so bought it. Oh and it was only €3 so I couldn’t really resist. SCH

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Small painting in gilded frame

Brocante finds

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A couple of hours before leaving France my friend Paula took me to a brocante in Saint-Priest-Sous-Aixe (near to Limoges airport) which specialises in all things antiquey and French! There were tables, chairs and dressers galore, as well as farming machinery, old bikes and tin cans. It was an amazing collection of rooms within two large barns. Details can be found here: http://www.moulindelamie.com. While I didn’t have room in my suitcase on this particular visit, I vowed to be back as soon as I had actually bought a house to put things in! SCH

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A rubbish find

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I couldn’t believe my luck today when we went to dispose of 20 bags of garden waste having spent the morning cutting down trees and pruning shrubs. Our local waste disposal and recycling site keeps back a few ‘unwanted’ items  for other people to buy. There are areas for internal and external doors, white goods, furniture and garden goods.

As we entered the site I saw a small ‘pie crust’ table and asked the site worker how much he wanted for it; he said £5. I offered him £2 and he said ok!! I think it’s probably hit and miss what you can find but if you have to make a trip there regularly its worth keeping an eye out. SCH

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Small wooden table

Property update: this is the one!

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The house is perfect! A quick four-day trip over to France was all that was needed to confirm that it was the property destined to become The Little Grange. It has all the proportions of a grand house with the feeling of a warm and cosy home. It has four large bedrooms, all with en-suite bathrooms, wide hallways on the ground and first floor, a spacious kitchen, three big reception rooms and bags of character. There is also a whole other floor for renovation and a barn for when I run out of things to do and need more projects!

We had a viewing on Monday and plan put in an offer this week. Exciting times indeed as we really start to create The Little Grange! SCH

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Iron detail above the front door

Could this be the perfect property?

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Last summer, while staying with friends in France, two of us drove out to a little village to see a house that was for sale. We didn’t have an appointment so peaked through the front gates and managed to sneak around the back which was accessible by a side road. It was an intriguing property; a manor house on the edge of the village with uninterrupted views across fields to the front. Unfortunately I was not in a position to buy it as I hadn’t even begun to think about leaving the Middle East so we left the village and I didn’t give the house any more thought.

Fast forward a year and having spotted the property online, and realising it has a barn and accommodation all with en-suite bathrooms, I have booked flights to view the house next week! I am throwing caution to the wind and just going for it… I have a really good feeling that this might actually be the property we transform into The Little Grange! SCH

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More great auction finds

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In last month’s post I said I would be looking for gilded frames for The Little Grange so today it was back to our local auction to size up the bargains!

I found just what I was looking for in the shape of a set of four mirrors for £31. One was modern and not of interest but the other three were ornately carved and gilded. I’ve since cleaned up and polished the mirrors and have been thinking about how they are going to fit into the overall scheme at The Little Grange.

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Other recent finds have included a rattan/rope-effect stool with bun feet – also from the same auction house – and a terracotta plant pot from our local household waste recycling site. The stool cost £45 and will go in the barn/workshop as a coffee table; the plant pot was £1 and is already planted up with summer bulbs. SCH

Lavender: the two-year project

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I know it sounds a little crazy to talk of edging a 100 ft garden path with lavender when I haven’t yet found the right property, but given the amount of work that goes into building a mature garden it seems wise to make an early start! Despite my impatience and general inexperience, I’m hoping that by taking cuttings from an old, gnarled lavender bush and planting them up now I will have the perfect-sized lavender plants within two years.

There are other benefits too: the cost of planting 40+ established plants from a local nursery is prohibitive (I estimate somewhere in the region of £400). With this being one of many ‘essential’ garden projects at The Little Grange it is hard to justify such a spend and the alternative – planting a few smaller plants – just wont have the same impact. By taking cuttings I will have all the plants I need for (virtually) nothing at all.*

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I followed these simple steps:

Step 1: take an old lavender bush with lots of new shoots

Step 2: choose small pots, fill with compost and water lightly. For ease I planted 36 cuttings in two pre-formed trays of 18

Step 3: using secateurs, cut off a semi-ripe shoot of about 5 inches from the lavender bush

Step 4: using a sharp knife, cut just below the lowest leaf bud

Step 5: take off all leaves apart from the top set; thin out the central leaves

Step 6: using a pencil or similar-sized implement, make a hole in the centre of the compost and pop in the cutting

Step 7: using small wooden stakes and a see-through polythene bag; protect the cuttings; keep them out of direct sunlight

Once the cuttings are firmly established – they will sprout new shoots and will have a good root system – it will be time to pot them into bigger/individual containers with poor, stoney soil and leave them in a warm, sheltered spot. SCH

* Remember to factor in potting compost and water!

Piped cushions for an old wooden garden chair

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I am planning a relatively straight forward upholstery project… fabric-covered foam cushions for an old wooden garden chair. The chair is Adirondack by design so I will need to take careful measurements to ensure the cushions fit snugly.  The covers will be made from a weighty cream patterned material and will be piped around the top and bottom edges.

To test how well the material performs I have just finished making two regular piped cushions which will probably end up on an inside chair/sofa rather than the completed garden chair, but it was good practice! Now… to those fabric-covered foam cushions… SCH

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Garden inspiration

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What a fantastic way to spend a (partially) sunny weekend… looking around other people’s gardens!

In a small village, about two miles away, Mum and I visited 24 gardens over two afternoons as part of an open garden festival. I love looking through magazines for inspiration but nothing compares to seeing gardens up close.

Aside from getting that warm fuzzy feeling, the whole experience provided a fascinating insight into the British psyche… Armed with a map of the village we roamed from house to house on a mission to find new garden design ideas as well as new planting schemes.

No two gardens were alike; some were large and formal; others small and rambling. Planting was generally organic rather than staged and you could tell that people just loved to garden (and their gardens). What I hadn’t bargained for was the extent to which people moved beyond plants and soft/hard landscaping to create their own little havens matched perfectly to their personalities and obsessions! For example, the first Georgian house we visited just off the high street had a miniature train track running around the perimeter and a very excitable owner keeping the train and carriages moving past their stations. Another garden lover had a corner plot complete with hot tub, pond and chicken coup!

Other fun elements included a hill with secret kiddy tunnel, an enormous medieval castle dominating the back garden of a family home, and a teeny weeny garden filled with all manner of decorative objects including the inimitable gnome! All set in a small village no more than two miles square… what a treat.

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However, for me it was the traditional garden elements that I enjoyed the most. Above are some of the ideas I hope to introduce into the garden at The Little Grange: stone boundary walls, big old gnarly trees, formal buxus hedges, wisteria in full bloom, well-planted vegetable patches and a suspended garden bench. SCH