Angles are not my friend!

Hello my lovely reader.

Last week’s episode left us on a cliffhanger. The floor was down but I still had paint to go on the walls and would I manage to get the ceramic splashback tiles secure!

Well I only had 8 tiles to fix but what a faff. Turns out my walls are not completely straight. I got my first 2 on and then tried to line up the top layer and they were not aligned, so had to adjust the bottom layer to make sure they lined up and also do the same on the other side too. The gaps are not completely even but the edges line up and that’s what counts.

Then with the walls painted in @Lick Green 01 and 02. I got to try my hand at fitting a dado rail to break up the two greens. Getting my head around which way to cut the angles for inward and outward corners caused me major hassle but I got there in the end and they fitted together perfectly until I tried to put them on the walls! The unevenness by just mm made slight gaps in the joins but with a little filler they do not look too bad.

I have also painted the radiator in the green from the top half to tie it all in.

I had an old wooden mirror hanging around, so painted that in the same colour as the dado. I just need to find the right accessories to finish it all off

On the crafting front I tried my hand at macrame and started off with creating a feather which I feel looks more like a leaf but it’s very pretty. I then created a pair of earrings which was much more fiddly. I have decided to create a wall hanging for my lounge incorporating macrame feathers so look out for that in the coming weeks.

Goodbye until next week.

Chris x

One small step for woman, one giant step for this 60 year old!

Well if you remember I had a dreadful cold at the end of last week and really had not been out much. So on Sunday I ventured out with the dog’s. Not for one of my normal magical mystery walks but for a gentle, quite meander on a new lane. Wow the difference a week makes to mother nature, I noticed the daffodils gentle poking their heads out of the soil and the green bunches of what will be carpets of snowdrops adorning the banks. Then there was the catkins or as my grandfather told me they were, lambs tails as when the new lambs loose their tails they get hung up on the birch twigs. These were definitely out before there any of this season’s lambs!

The visitors cloakroom project has begun. The tiles have arrived and paint samples from @lick which are great as you can just stick them on the wall to get a real feel of how the colour will work. I got samples #green01 and #green02 to decide which looked best with the floor tiles. Guess what? I decide they looked so good together I will use them both, just have to decide which will go at the top. As you can see from the samples I have a pink tile in there for the splash back. I had a box left from doing my daughter’s shower and I love green and pink together so decided that pink would be my accent colour.

I started by ripping up the old lumpy bumpy lino, which actually came out really easily and the floor underneath is very good. The next thing and probably the scariest part was to take the splashback tiles off. Armed with flathead screwdriver and hammer and a bit of brute force they all came off cleanly.

I then removed all the rawl plugs and mirror and filled all the holes left. The size of some of the rawl plugs was a little over kill and did leave crators!

I gave the skirting a new coat of gloss and once that was dry it was time to try my hand at laying adhesive vinyl tiles. Where I needed to cut around object such as the pedestal or toilet I created a paper pattern as obviously the vinyl does not bend that easily. Despite making sure the surface I was laying the tiles on was clean and dust free, found the adhesive on the tiles whilst felt sticky was not as grippy as I would have liked. I will probably get some spray adhesive and use on any of the tiles that lift. Overall I am pretty chuffed with my handywork.

I am now waiting for the paint to arrive, so next week I should be able to get the paint on the walls and then try my hand at ceramic tiling 😳

I also did my kitchen central island display for the month with a Valentine’s theme. You can check it out on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/111118134777891/posts/118387037384334/

Well dear reader, what have you been up to this week? Did you manage to step out of your comfort zone? Until next week, take care and remember it just takes one little step to make a big difference!

Chris x

Stepped Out and Survived

Well the weather outside is frightful, but my kitchen is so delightful, since I have nowhere to go, let us bake, lets us cook, let us steam!

So I managed to use the steamer I bought at IKEA to make steamed dumplings.

I have never made them before and definitely had a back up plan of fish and chips if they didn’t work out. 😂

I made two types of filling the first was aubergine and mushroom from a recipe from @berriesandlime and then a prawn one which I just made up by chopping cooked prawns into tiny pieces and mixing them with finely chopped spring onions and garlic, ginger puree and oyster sauce.

Well let’s just say they went down a storm and tasted amazing. I will definitely be trying variations on the fillings.

I made extra dough as was not sure I would have enough but hey presto the recipe allowed me to make enough for both fillings. Therefore I had to decide what to do with the other dough, I left it proving over night and then checked out Pinterest for ideas, if you don’t know me I LOVE Pinterest, it’s like having an encyclopedia of wonderful ideas at your fingertips 😂

I went with adding some melted butter and an egg yolk to make it more like brioche dough then created a plaited cinnamon loaf. It worked really well.

My downstairs cloakroom needs a little TLC but last year I spent a fortune on having all the other bathrooms done so it’s going to be a make over with minimal outlay. I have decided because it’s such a small area I’m going to see if I can lay vinyl tiles and if it all goes pear shaped I can then get someone in to do. If it goes right then I may look at doing the hallway! I have measured the area and have order, so hopefully will be able to do this next week.

The other thing I did to step out of my comfort zone this week was to drive in and around Exeter to pick up various things my daughter needed before she went back to Uni. General driving is ok but finding my way around a city that I don’t really know well definitely makes me a little nervous. What if I go down a one way street, the wrong way! Google maps is great but even then I can find myself taking a wrong turning. Obviously I am writing this blog so as you can tell I survived the trip, although I may have a few more grey hairs 😜

Now I did all of that stepping in the first part of the week. The rest of the week I have been holed up deep inside my comfort zone as have a horrid head cold which has left me with inflamed sinuses, so I am off to steam again and not the dumplings type of steaming!

Look forward to seeing you on the other side of this cold, with floor tiles and paint samples.

Chris x

Stepping Out Of Fifty

So as I sit here on what is a pivotal day being the day after New Year and the eve of my 60th Birthday ( how the hell did that happen)! I’m wondering what this year will bring and what new things can I do. I have decided I want to step out of my comfort zone.

Now I’m not a novice to doing that. At 20 myself and my childhood friend Paula left England and went to LA with the plan of either a long holiday or hopefully finding work. Paula found work and her husband that first night. I on the other hand did a few weeks of traveling, then opened the LA times and found a nannying job in Redondo Beach. I returned back to England a year later having had an amazing time.

In my 40’s my husband at the time and two young children sold up everything and moved to Southern Spain. Unfortunately the marriage went from bad to worse and myself and my two girls packed up my car with what we could and left and drove from Southern Spain back to the UK and I then had to rebuild my life again!

A year and a half ago my brother and I sold my parents and grandparents family home, where I had been living and I made the move from Oxfordshire to Mid Devon where I knew no one!

Despite being in a pandemic I threw myself into starting a new business, creating a new home and joining some new groups. I have made wonderful new friends and probably have more of a social life than I had previously.

So as you can tell I’m a pro at stepping out of my comfort zone but each time it has made me grow as a person.

This year I’m not going to do anything near as drastic as the above (well not as I write this)!

Stepping out of your comfort zone does not need to be a grand gesture it just needs to be something that tests you or gives you that little butterflies feeling.

For some of you it could be to start a new fitness or crafting class or try a brand new recipe that stretches your skills. Other might set a goal to reach by running a half marathon or just go for a jog once a week. It doesn’t matter what it is.

So what am I going to do?

Follow me to find out.

Chris