freshening up in the bathroom

The bathroom was, as with every room in this house, yellow. A kind of peachy-sand shade of yellow.

architects

the world of architects, designs, planning and budgets I knew we wanted an architect to help design the

trees

Q. Can you have too many trees in your garden? A. Yes, definitely. We inherited approximately 3000 trees when we bought this house. OK, so not that many, but we have half a dozen rowans, two crabapples, an apple tree, a couple of flowering cherries, a twisted willow and a twisted pear, contorted hazel, magnolia,

heating

who knew it was so complicated? The house only has electric heating. There’s no gas in the village

Introducing Number Eight 2.0

New home, new project, new neighbours, new challenges. It’s a two bedroom semi, built using local materials and

spring in the garden

Winter wasn’t very kind to the garden. So many plants withered to almost or absolute nothing. We were

Rip it up and start again

It’s happening! The builders are here, clearing the gravel as I type. Say goodbye to an unloved, underused, difficult space and hello to a lovely new garden. The plan is to pave the side return, leaving a tiny strip to fill with scented, shade-loving plants. Then we’ll put a small fence across, about a metre