SUMMER SLOSHING 21

Back to the toilet - and here is where we were up to in the decor saga. I repositioned a few items and made it look a little more classy, but....

...there we go! That is what I wanted - new curtains! The old bright pink dress was pretty but made the toilet fairly dark. When I took it down to paint the loo and wash the curtain, it looked much brighter in there and I did not want to lose the brightness. Hence my toying with the idea of buying a net curtain. This 25p result from Dunhelm offcuts suited me fine. It isn't a perfect fit, but looks good enough and lets the light in on my lovely pale yellow room!

That left me the hallway window over the blanket box - with the other half the dress I replaced the dirty curtains with. Hmm... maybe I could lengthen the pink curtains i made and use them instead of the grotty bathroom ones and...

Another off cut from Dunhelm suited the situation fine. A little too long, but pretty, new, and letting the light shine through naturally. Back to the toilet - the smudgy wall is now covered in fresh paint and hopefully will dry without the smudge showing.

The toilet more or less looks how I want it to - except....I am still playing with the notion of getting it tiled as the linoleum stains so easily and I want something I can mop clean!

For now, the curtains will satisfy me though as there is work to be done downstairs! On the same day I purchased the new bet curtains, I ordered a new carpet for the spare room!

SUMMER SLOSHING 20

So there you have it - the toilet almost done... The windowsill has been painted top coat as has the loo roll holder. Also, the pipes both thick and thin behind the loo are now glossed in Magnolia white gloss. The entire room looked quite smart except for the patch my son smudged.

Of course, once the paint had dried, I removed the yellow cloth from under the pipe... I did retouch the windowsill somewhat. Apart from the toilet and blanket box windows, every other window in the house was renewed and double glazed - but these two still have their old wooden single glazing panes in situ - and the wood flakes. This necessitated in a third touch up coat on certain areas to fully seal the offending wood.

And then the toilet was finished...? Well....almost. But let us take a look at the bathroom the other end of the upper hallway - EW, what gross dirty curtains, yes? They were once towels that my mother sewed into curtains and originally you could read the word cheers and see the drinks, but... now they are grotty rags!

SUMMER SLOSHING 19

This is what remains in the ornament cabinet - or china cabinet as my parents used to call it. Two broken clocks and a pile of pottery I made at school. I think all these will end up in the trash. This leaves the cabinet itself...which I do not really want either. I currently tolerate it as it doesn't look too bad with the upper hallway color scheme, but I do not want to retain it long term - so if you know anyone who wants it, do let me know.

I was toying with the idea of housing my wine glass collection in it or possibly putting my Buddhist alter/practice items inside - but I really do not like the cabinet itself - it's old, the wood isn't clearly one shade, and it has horrid-to-clean metal lumps of decor on it. Yes, that makes it 'beautiful' to some people - but not to me. To me it makes it ugly and unwanted.

This shelf is now more or less empty and so I took it downstairs into the coffee lounge and stuffed it full of the bric-a-brac - AKA 'vintage junk' - that I have as yet to dispose of. That leaves the cabinet free to sell if anyone wants it. Henry helped me clean the webs from the walls afterwards....

In more progressive news, the evening after the garage sale I made the penultimate paint attack in the toilet. The loo roll holder, 2 pipes and window area needed a gloss undercoat. I hope to top coat later in the week, leaving me only touch-ups before the room is finished.

I need to touch up one wall where a smudge/smear has appeared. I did not create the mark, and think my son must have rubbed something off the recently painted wall - what I do not know. I will probably also need to get underneath the pipes when I am not avoiding potential recently painted toilet roll holder drips, and add an extra coat on the roll holder as it is bound to get stuck to itself...

The room will more or less be done then, although I am toying with the idea of tiling the floor. My father had carpet in therr and I really did not like the idea of carpet in a toilet. I managed to use the housekeeping savings to buy linoleum for the bathroom/toilet and that would work fine. Alas, the problem with the lino is that my son is a bit messy and the lino has discolored and got grotty. I realize I can scrub it clean with vinegar or lemon juice or soapy water - but tiles would mean a quick swish of the mop and it would be properly clean...

THE PLOT 18

This shot which was taken mid-July shows my now-strawed strawberry bed - hopefully a slug deterrent, and definitely a preventative against the wet weather spoiling the crops latter growth. You can also see that one nasturtium is all flowers while the majority of the rest are all leaves. My artichokes are growing tall behind them, while to the right of the shot you can see my main crop potato patch and raspberries, second strawberry bed and 2 more blackcurrant bushes.

This shot shows my 2016 leek patch - which additionally hosts 3 tomato plants I had no room for elsewhere, 2 jalapeno chili plants, one onion grown from seed, and a row of autumn king carrot... Behind this bed is the potato/raspberry area.

At the time of writing the post - the penultimate week of July - the raspberries are finally almost over for the year and it will soon be time to cut out this years fruited canes. The potatoes are all dying off a tad - but I am unsure if they are just 'ready' before I am, or if they are so dry they are genuinely dying. A few gooseberries and blackcurrants remain to be cropped every few days with the odd strawberry popping out a new fruit to surprise and delight me.

The main crops for this next week or two will be potato and nasturtium. My tomatoes are full of flowers - both at the plot and at the poly tunnel and yard at home. In fact the only tomato plants to be all leaf and no flower are the ones in the patio greenhouse. I also have little green lumps forming both at the plot and at home, otherwise. Time to get some serious watering done in this dry spell.

SUMMER SLOSHING 18

Excitement on the kitchen windowsill, as multiple flowers and baby chilies arrive on my two chili plants. Alas, since taking these photos last week, one plant - the hot lemon - developed a bad case of aphids and had to be taken outdoors and planted in the yard below the apple tree. Hopefully all will be well, as last time I tried to plant it outdoors it got munched.

This was my attempt to empty the house of things I do not want, need, or like. I once before held a garage sale - but nobody came to look, let alone buy. The idea of the whole village holding sales on the same day was appealing - and although short notice, I was able to ensure I could participate in the 'Angmering Garage Sale Trail' - a Facebook based event where more than 60 homes within the village held sales from 10 thru 4 one Sunday in July.

I had a selection of items available - from adult diapers and tomato/basil plants thru garden chairs frame pictures and photos, and vintage bric-a-brac. I also had cds, books, VHS videos - a lot of stuff. I did have at least a dozen stopping parties and 2 sales - totalling £1.10p...

As you can see, I have quite a lot of items left to 'get rid of' - so DO shout out if anything appeals and you would like me to sell it to you. I called out an antique dealer earlier this week, as two customers suggested I see one about an item I had and it was actually an item he wanted, saving me taking it to the tip. Most of the rest will be headed to charity/tip, though as i want MY home not a pile of sombody elses memories.