I've been experimenting with scanning some prints. We have an RHS garden, Hyde Hall, very close to us, and this is a bit of their rose garden

While the kitchen fitter was doing his bit on the kitchen side of the wall, I was doing mine on the lounge side of it. This involved painting the doors putting on the the architrave and handles, putting coving up on the ceiling/wall joints. papering and painting the wall, getting a carpet fitted ..and plenty of etceteras. Here is the finished result:



It looks quite large in the photo but 'cozy' would describe the size of the room. The kitchen is more or less done by this stage too. A photo of the other side of the doors tomorrow.

That looks very nice, TW.

A country lane in Kent just on the edge of London

These are the flowers that bloom on top of the saguaro cactus in late May to Mid June each year.

Another country road in Swanley. Wherever I go in the country the best views are in Kent

Looking at the dining room end of the finished kitchen/dining room. Note the low worktop on the left with nothing underneath it. This is Mrs TW's very own spot. She can sit at it in her wheelchair, legs underneath and get my dinner ready (I should be so lucky! ).

You've done a fantastic job on it all, looks really good.

Fantastic job Martin.

Thanks. I can't claim to have done the whole job but a great deal of it was done by me. I can't help feeling a bit proud of it.

TW, having done a major kitchen remodeling myself, I know how much work is involved. You did a great job!

Tellywellies, many thanks for the 'picture' diary of your project, I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing your hard work progress to the finished product. It looks fab!

Another one from Hyde Hall Garden - a fabulous mixed border

TW: I'd post pix of our kitchen reno (done by ourselves), but I neglected to take "before" pictures. Oh well. Anyway, I can certainly appreciate the amount of trouble you've gone to and it all looks fabulous so far!!

ClaraSue: that one with the moon is wonderful. I'd get that one "blown up" at a pro shop and hung on my wall!

The Swan family enjoying a day out at the the Welsh Waterways Festival in Newport despite the slightly dirty water of the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal.

awww lovely swans.

Grat result, Martin!

Cooling down after a realllllllly hot day.

We took a walk by the canal and saw these pussies in the well in a garden by the canal.

...and finally, a view from the other end of the kitchen/dining room:



I started doing the tiling by using a glass cutter to score a line and then snapping the tiles but because of the type of tiles they were, this only caused them to break. I thought I was going to have to manually saw the cuts but then someone lent me a cutting machine. What a marvellous tool that was! The spinning disk is diamond cutter. The bottom of it is submerged in water. Not only does that keep it cool but it also prevents any dust caused by the cutting of the tiles. I managed to complete the job and still keep all of my fingers! I'd never use a glass-cutting scorer for a tiling job any more. I might never have to do another one though.

It looks brilliant.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas/Advent ...
(One of two Advent calendars, home made and filled with goodies )

Wonderful Jane.

Realllllly hot.

Wow, Jill, that's like a summer day in Arizona, too! After a few days of that, when the temperature reached 106 degrees F/41 C it actually felt nice outside. Now I know why your terrain is so much like ours.

Chip (or Dale) this summer in West Virginia.

hehe cute.

It's just oppressive heat, isn't it? It's been in the 40s all week, another high 40s today, but on Sunday it's supposed to go down a bit.

On days like that, as soon as I walk outside, I feel as though I need to go back inside and take a nap. It just zaps the strength out of you.