The Call of the Outdoors

In my last post I mentioned that I've had a couple of projects on the go lately which have meant that my visits to Blogland have been woefully few, so I thought I'd show you what's been going on at The House with the Blue Door.
 I'm loving the longer evenings now, especially when they've been sunny and warm ones, and we've had quite a few of those lately. The outdoors really calls to me at this time of year, and there have been some jobs to do in the garden. As a result I've been outside a good deal getting those done in our evenings and weekends. The biggest one of those has been that my beloved shed has had to have a whole new roof put on it. Yes, just one year after I unveiled my newly-insulated, electrified and decorated shed to you, it started to spring leaks. First down the wall in several places, then in the middle of the ceiling. After putting buckets in strategic places to catch the water we contacted the shed's builders and, after a couple of weeks, they came and replaced the badly-bowed roof. They made a good job of it and it's hard to tell now that it's been done, but it meant that everything in it had to be carried out to the garage and house to be temporarily stored. My goodness, there was much more than I thought!

A bit of re-painting of walls and ceiling was necessary and I decided to paint my pine shelves off-white while they were empty. Once it was all dry the whole process had to be done in reverse, and we spent a couple of evenings carrying it all back into the shed again. 

Then I spent a Sunday in there putting everything away and prettifying things. It all took a surprisingly long time, but I so enjoyed myself decorating my shed all over again.

I put up bunting (a bit wonky in this photo); lined up pots of beads; arranged boxes of shells and trimmings; stacked tins of buttons; tucked away crates of fabric and paper and brought out my cd player and sewing machine.  

Spring sunshine flooded the room, making me feel quietly excited at the summer which lies ahead.

And it was so warm I kept the door open and listened to the blackbirds singing.

Miss Blossom is once again decked out in her flowery attire.

The noticeboard is full of spring-themed cards and pictures which inspire me.

I've also been enjoying tea from my new bluebell-printed mug. I absolutely love this design - isn't it pretty?

P finished off making a little 'stepping stone' path to my shed using pavers which were in the garden when we moved here. It felt good to recycle, and I love curves in a garden, leading the eye around things.

We've spent a fair bit of time outside working, and every now and again sitting in the warm sun and drinking tea.

I've also had another project to keep me busy. This area next to the tool shed and in front of the bench is underneath an arch covered in honeysuckle in the shade of some large trees. As a result the grass has never grown properly and it had become a muddy dandelion patch with fuzzy edges to the beds, as you can see.I had a plan for this.

It involved some large slabs of rock which we unearthed from the garden some years ago and which the sundial sits on, and there were some underneath a little bird bath too. I decided that I had a new use for them.

And here it is. I laid another row of slabs in front of the bench and then dug out a new flower bed. Then I used the rest to make a little path.

I want to discourage weeds from seeding in the cracks between the irregular slabs, so I planted some little herbs there - chives, thyme and chamomile - in the hope that they'll fill them in. We plan to put some low-growing plants in the bed in front of the bench.

It was lovely to sit on a blanket on the bench last weekend crocheting and admiring our new little bed.

We bought a large piece of stone to put my little bird bath on instead. I think it looks sweet.

Well, that's what's been keeping me away from my laptop lately. It's the weekend again now, and has poured with rain all day. I'm finishing my crocheted bag which I'll show you soon, and am hoping to weed the front garden tomorrow (rain allowing), as it's been rather neglected while we've been working in the back garden.
Hope you have a good weekend - see you soon x.