Our decision to invest a large sum of money in changing the windows and doors here at Pinks Barn was initiated by our son James. I was bemoaning the fact that we had been so cold last winter and the high cost of the heating our home, when he pointed out that every window in the house leaked and none of the doors fitted. He was, of course, quite right – you could see daylight through the gaps in the doors, so it was hardly surprising that heating such a big house was challenging. What it is to have the wisdom of grown-up children!
All sorts of thoughts ran through our minds. Should we staying at Pinks Barn, or should we look to downsize? Inspired by new neighbours who had undertaken a similar scale of glazing project, we decided to stay put and replace everything. (I know this is a meaningless statistic, but the new doors and windows cost more than twice the price of our first house!)
Having bitten the bullet and waited for the frames to be made, as every window in our barn is a different non-standard size, we are simply thrilled with the new look and feel of the house and should have done this years ago.
Once the windows were finished, I intended to take time to sort out the garden and I planned to make some wholesale changes to the layout. But you know what they say about good intentions…
Is it me or has this been a difficult year for the garden with the unreliable weather and the strange, muddled temperatures? My garden has been a nightmare this year and I am still struggling with the ground elder and so many other persistent weeds. I am easily distracted from the horrid jobs and did spend a lovely day playing with the little table in the courtyard arranging some of my brocante finds.
I have made up my mind to have a complete sort out in the garden and just need a dry week sometime soon. I intend to lift the dahlia tubers and store them over the winter and redo my flower beds. At least I have the greenhouse in some order, and I am going to spend time this week in there with some music and lots of seed packets and even perhaps start work on the geranium and fuchsia cuttings. I have lighting and heating in there, so there is simply no excuse.
