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The front lawn has some bald patches where the lime mortar and plaster was mixed and is compacted with no grass as a result. We were going to dig it all up and lay new turf, but Colin reckons it is possible (and easier) to save and reseed the lawn. He is relishing the task, yep he is actually enjoying this!
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He starts by scraping off the top layer of compacted lime, sand and stones which is then disposed of in the skip.
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He then scarifies the remaining grass to remove any stones and lime.
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The skip is almost full! The last of the skips too, thank god.
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The weeds have totally taken over and, as much as we don’t mind dandelions and clover (bees and insects love them), we need a ratio of more grass to weeds so many are being dug up.
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Who knew you could use a lawn mower as a garden hoover? Colin is ‘hoovering’ up the weeds he has dug up.
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A work in progress…
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The lawn doesn’t look too bad here, but it is in fact nearly all weeds.
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Cat is adding another coat of Osmo Polyx oil to the sitting room oak door and frame.
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She then paints the skirting board for the attic (to go around the cupboards – they are awaiting doors and architrave too).
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The painting continues with the top coat finally being added on the dining room window. None of the windows have been painted inside yet, many are oak but there are several that are painted. Cat has been putting this off! Understandably she is a bit tired of it all now…
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Our interior woodwork paint is Farrow & Ball Purbeck Stone in the Estate Eggshell finish.
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And now for some fun times. Cat booked theatre tickets for us 3 and Dad to see The Comedy of Errors at the RSC in Stratford. We took a full picnic with booze but weren’t allowed to take alcohol in, so like naughty school girls we downed a bottle of Prosecco in about 10 minutes on the Bancroft Gardens…
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The open air stage has been set up for the summer. It had been torrential rain all day so we were super lucky that the sun came out just in time for the evening performance!
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Drunk sisters!
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Another fun night out at The Castle pub above the village in beautiful sunshine, with Colin, Laura and her family and dogs.
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A quick joy ride in a motor glider for me, 5 minutes in though we had to make a rapid detour back to the airfield with a massive oil leak and a danger of engine failure… Never come that close to a forced landing before, I was remarkably calm (it happened after this photo was taken).
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Thankfully plenty of open fields to land in…
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Can you see the beginnings of the oil leak from the engine? By the time we landed it was so bad we couldn’t see out.
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PYO sunflower season! A local farm near Compton Verney grows sunflower fields every year with all proceeds going to local charities.
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None of this was house related, but to be frank we are kind of sick of it all and needed to spend some time away from the relentless cleaning, painting, digging, unpacking, sorting, etc.
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Back to it and Cat is delighted to be putting together her Futon that has arrived.
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Colin reading instructions!
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A perfect fit and an extra bed for visitors 🙂