Home and Garden

Yesterday I found myself deciding whether to start cleaning the double glass doors that used to lead straight on to the patio, or trim and tidy up a few plants in the garden. I chose the former. Normally I would choose the latter or any gardening related task for that matter over any house chore that doesn't need urgency. But not this time.

Macrozamia communis

The double glass doors I was referring to used to separate the house from the garden, or rather our access way from the back of the house (where the kitchen is) out into the garden. With the recent addition of a conservatory to the back of the house, these double doors are wholly indoors now and must be kept clean even more so than before. The work in the house is far from finished yet and more mess and dust are still on its way to fall everywhere, including these doors. But by giving them a thorough clean now would mean there would be less layers of dirt on it to clean later. Hence I felt I should prioritise giving it a preliminary scrub before stepping out into the garden....

Anyway, much ado about cleaning doors! This is a gardening blog after all...

An accidental planting scheme and a nice view from the back of the house

It's pretty obvious, especially to those who have been following us for quite some time that we are avid exotic gardeners, plant mad duo, garden/nursery visitors, enthusiastic fish keepers, and garden DIY-ers. And pretty much most of our spare time outside of work pretty much involves doing anything of the above. But we seldom talk about our house and home until recently. Before, the home was just there for us to live in without thinking much about it as we pre-occupy ourselves with anything to do about the garden. We live in it but we seldom pay attention to the details within, it was set up already to the way we live and everything was and where to our convenience.

No kitchen just yet (the kitchen fitter is on summer holiday!) but the ceiling is now finished and painted. And on the left side of this photo you see the doors I was referring to above

But the time came the we felt the home needed some changes too, and drastic ones at that and once we made the decision to go ahead with the changes our attention and preoccupation has shifted dramatically.

Quite liking this rustic and temporary step!  The builders are yet to install the steps into the conservatory and it's quite a height so this will do for now.

The plant mojo is definitely still there. We never really lost it anyway even despite the fire. It's just taken a back seat as we prioritise sorting out our home first. Reading other gardening blogs and websites, and still occasionally taking the time to flick through plant books even for just a few minutes at a time keeps the flame going. Last night I even found myself perusing a nursery website and having a longing for more.....tree ferns! And loads of other gorgeous plants, too many to mention!

The Rhus typhina on the top patio is looking splendid this year

What keeps this blog going is our love for plants and our passion to share our interest with others. It is our main hobby and preoccupation after all and sharing our garden adventures via the blog comes easily. But at the moment gardening is not our main pre occupation so would that mean we'll just let this 'gardening blog' go stale?

Cleopatra, such a tough and strong lady. Seared down by flames yet it carried on growing and is about to flower - Canna 'Cleopatra'

Of course not, far from it but the way to move forward with it for now is to include our current main priority, our home. So for the next few months our gardening blog will become like a 'Home and Garden Edition' as we occasionally include snippets of what's actually happening inside our house as it undergoes major renovation.

The only thing is, neither of us are sure just yet of how much of the finished product we'd like to reveal once all the work and redecoration has finished. We'll think about it and decide as time moves on. Although initially we never intended to blog about what's going on in the house, if this is our main pre occupation then naturally it would come out and be mentioned on our posts for the next few months anyway. So might as well include it properly, at least the work in progress, and perhaps the finished product.

Like green butterflies rising from the ashes - Amicia zygomeris

The blog will remain largely about plants and gardening. The home will be included from time to time, snippets of it appearing appropriately in amongst the plant talk. And once all of the work has finished then it will be once again a mainly gardening blog.

But what is the distinction between home and garden anyway? Our garden is connected to our home, and our garden is our home too. Our gardening is part of the way we live as much as what we do inside the house. We grow plants outside of the house as well as the inside, so what is the distinction? 

I'm just being philosophical about it, of course there is a distinction, there are loads of distinction, too many to list on this post. Ok, I'll mention at least one - interior decoration - something we're both highly interested as well but we rarely broach outside the realms of personal conversations between us and a few friends. And I doubt we'll delve into it with detail on our blog apart from a broad mention here and there on future posts (and what can be seen on the photos).

Twinkles planning for the impending demolition of the 'Jungle Hut'

Knickers seeking my attention and shredding my jeans as per usual. We had the option to not live in the house whilst renovation is ongoing but moments like this with our pets makes it even more worthwhile.

Despite the inconveniences we're actually both, on the whole enjoying this house renovation business. How could we not when improvement is on its way? There are tons to do during and after the builders have finished their thing but so what? It's for our pleasure. And this coming bank holiday weekend the builders will carry on working in the house, leaving very little privacy for us to live in it until the evening. But if the weather is good that means we'll have lots of time to devote to the garden. And I'm so looking forward to it!

Mark :-)

Posted in: exotic , exotic garden , garden blog , home , Knickers , Twinkles