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Here we see the iris flowers that fell off the bulbs when I brought some home from Liz's gardens recently - I plonked them into my kitchen soil tub of odds and ends 'in case' they decide to grow.

Well, here we are back on the subject of redecorating the coffee lounge - and here is the paint stash. Liz giving me a tub of paint to cover the walls that are not going to be done in the artsy mosaic mixed color design sort of persuaded me to 'get started'.

I removed the spiders and swept the floor. I tidied the stuff and got a good look at the available paint. The plan is to use up all the odds and ends in the tins that are left over from painting the rest of the house in a decorative mosaic mural on one wall, paint the ceiling with left over ceiling paint from the kitchen, and the rest of the walls with the tin Liz gave me.

First, I had one more corner to sweep up. I decided to dump the two smaller pieces of linoleum, just keeping the larger piece as the base for the coffee lounge - which will enable me to mop the 'pathway' from kitchen to back door with ease. This pathway gets very dirty with muddy gum boots and dripping washing.

All done - no spiders, tidy room, swept floor - it was time to do the grotty chore that would take a few hours if done properly - washing the ceiling, walls, and floor. I figured it being about 8.30am, and my being free til 5pm, and the weather being iffy - although sunny - I might as well begin at least. Perhaps if I cleaned the room before lunch, I could hop down the allotment, or walk round to the mailbox, or potter in the poly tunnel after lunch...

I began - wiping over a part of the ceiling and upper wall with a cloth soaked in water with a little washing up liquid added. I was not really that enthusiastic - but determined to get this boring part over and done with, so the more fun bits of actual painting could occur. I kept seeing the sun shining brightly through the window at me, though...

Here is as far as I got - as the phone rang. The option of walking a local beach with my best friend - along with the inevitable coffee we usually partook of on our trips - had saved my day from dirty cloths and the coffee lounge was once again 'postponed'.

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Looking across the onions I am growing to seed/sets, you can see my internal weed pile - a necessity as the weed bin got overly full and there were more weeds coming. The far reverse corner is pictured below - showing my compost bins, garlic, shallots, and fruit area close to and the rest of the plot beyond.

In the other corner, beyond the neatly trimmed and reshaped edges, is my rhubarb - already spurting out ready to grow for me in 2018. It is surrounded my more garlic - not grass/weeds!

Late February, and finally it was time to start work on the poly tunnel project back at home. Above is a quick reminder of how it WAS. Below shows how it became shortly before my best friend Liz arrived one Sunday late in the month.

I had light-dug around the exterior and rip-cut the poly off. This exposed my tubs of soil, pot of parsley, and tools.

Liz arrived and we began our work around 9am - here is a view just before coffee break, as Liz trotted home to fetch a smaller spade and stronger stepladder. Our task was digging a trench round the outside, while mine was to cut out/back the brambles further along the fence than I had done and hers to trim the apple tree/trees above the poly tunnel a bit further with her saw than I had with loppers.

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This shot taken late November shows my new rhubarb, which successfully grew into a plant this past season and is currently fading away for winter. Hopefully, with a surrounding of horse muck, it will provide amply rhubarb for the next 3-5 years. Also in view are some raspberries, blackcurrants, gooseberries...and the shallots and garlic that have surfaced.

Looking back towards the shed, you can see that I have weeded my raspberries and blueberries, and have several onions shooting through - as well as a few stray 'spare' garlics that I planted around the fruit area.

Here we are - I am all ready to get planting in the poly tunnel and allotment plot for the 2018 season - seed wise that is. As January faded and February arrived with a full moon and mostly sunny day, the poly tunnel had still not yet been recovered and the plot not yet dug over for the new season.

Spring has sort of arrived though - here is the first snowdrop of the year in my garden - 3 more have since followed, while Liz has a carpet of them along with primrose and iris and....

Liz is sharing her spare wheelbarrow with me - so the shed down the plot is now quite full! As you can see below, it is now mostly dug over ready for the 2018 growing season - finally. There remain just a few weeds around the shed and raspberries at the close of February.

Above you can see the front patch - which is where I hope to begin planting in March/April. Also, one of my three raised beds. I plan to use 2.5 for strawberries and 0.5 for nasturtiums. the other two are pictured below

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I was uncertain where to begin on the multiple cleaning and clearing tasks involved, so started at the entry to the room, by removing the draught excluder. This had been tacked into place by my parents in order to keep their door gaps to a minimum and house warm when heated.

Having removed the door, only using the heater on minimum setting for the sake of my chilies anyways, and not liking filth-grabbers, I persevered with the removal - using a screwdriver to prise it away from the wooden bar it was attached to.

Having removed both sides and the top, it was time to give it a soap-down to clean it up. I still have a problem with the two door hinges to the right being difficult if not impossible to remove. The screws have been painted over and so has the other side of the bar to the free one - hence paint removal and scraping, scratching and prising will have to commence on my next session.

As you can see, I did get some work done - although it is a long way from being a room in which I can slip to flop out on a couch with a cup of hot steamy freshly made black coffee and curl up with a book - or entertain coffee sipping friends - or even nibble a snack meal such as vegan pizza or a slice of pecan-ginger loaf.

I did manage to remove the door latch socket though - and polyfilled the gap. I have since pushed it into place, smoothed it out, and will apply a second coat and sand it down shortly. I sigh as I look into the room - this does not look like a cosy couch with coffee table yet, does it?

Alas, incentive and inspiration failed me for a week or two - before I commenced by washing down half of the back door and then...taking another break to do other stuff - such as going to the cinema with my best friend, trotting off to the allotment with compost scraps, shopping...