Lights .... Camera ..... Action !

Have been a bit quiet with the blog lately, - to be honest there was a high risk that I was becoming addicted to blogging so I gave myself some time away! however,  since my day out with Trude to Kelmscott last week - things down Sheep Street have been happening!

Appliances have gone into the kitchen,  we now have microwave, oven, hob, washer/drier, dishwasher & fridge !

Fridge - with Paul's priority refreshments!
  

Today my plan was to collect the wall lights and ceiling light for the bedroom -- I was out and about with my camera ready to start blogging again, and capturing all the action going on at the cottage!

Today, after my lovely american guests left Campden with a long drive ahead to Edinburgh I was on a mission!  My first stop was to have a look around for a table for the cottage (of the dining variety),  - this lead me to the nearby town of Evesham and a visit to Pat and Ray's place!

As usual, with all my shopping trips  - I came out of the shop with something that I hadn't been looking for!!  but who could resist the lovely little Arts & Crafts stand that leaped out at me as I was walking through the jungle of antiques & bric a brac:

  

Sold, to the woman with the Camera - addicted to blogging!

Planning with the garden has started this week too,  Paul and I visited Hartwells Timber Yard at nearby Weston Subedge with a view to getting on with the garden area over the weekend hopefully.  

Posts, fencing & a lovely gothic archway to go over the gate was on our shopping list,  the off road parking area is in hand too - but as the kerb has to be lowered we have had to make arrangements with a local licenced company who have promised it will be done before the end of August ...... mmmmnn!

Back at Crafty Cottage today,  Rob (of the Mr Green variety)  has been working hard sanding down the beams to the bedroom ceiling.  - they look great!  and coincidentally I went on from Evesham to Alcester to pick up the ceiling light which will take pride and place between the beams - can't wait to see it in place :-)


On the way home I had to call into the cottage to drop things off,  and see what had been happening today,  -  When I arrived Paul and Rob were busy putting the log burning stove into the fireplace. (Thankfully the elephant had been dislodged!)  and after a lot of puffing and panting ....

We now have a lovely feature Fireplace!  

- available for a small fee to Hello Magazine for exclusives !

Another thing happening this week,  our curtain poles have gone up, - as well as the odd implement, for no other reason but decorative purposes on the walls!

A thicker, stronger rustic style bracket was needed and after much "googling" around I found a wonderful company Nigel Tyas

I had hoped to get a local blacksmith to help me out,  - but eventhough he was friendly enough, - didn't seem too keen!  - I think horseshoes are more his thing :-)

Nigel Tyas were wonderful,  very very helpful - and the brackets were made especially for us, and delivered within a week!

I spent ages wandering around their website and am dropping lots of hints at home of how much I love their fire irons!  ... how many days till christmas :-) !

briefly,  .... other stuff going on:

Website "work in progress"  -  there is now an availability calendar & details of the cottage

but the whole design of the site will change once we have photos.... 

Also,  ordered the bed today!  - super king size 6ft   :-)
and spoke to Cotswold District Council about Council Tax :-(

That's it for today,  - tomorrow my trusty friend Trude is calling around to officially measure up for the curtains!

- this will of course no doubt mean another pub lunch ...  ahhh, it's a hard life! -

Will keep you posted!

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- S -

Taking inspiration from Kelmscott Manor.....

Finally today Trude (life long friend. bridesmaid and curtain maker extraordinaire!) and I visited the home of William Morris, Kelmcott Manor - in the hope of gaining a little insight into his design and providing inspiration for the interior of Crafty Cottage.

Kelmscott Manor

Having already decided on the William Morris Strawberry Thief fabric for the interior of Crafty Cottage, we were interested to take as much inspiration from Kelmscott as possible.  -  The Manor itself was a mini-museum to the Arts and Crafts, in its decor and furniture - and unsurprisingly Trude spent most of the time checking out the different fabric design of the faded textiles! - recognising many I am sure from her curtain making history.

Strawberry Thief

Me, ? .... as sad as it sounds - I was interested to see the "privy" famously a "3 seater !! and managed to get a photo which will take pride and place in the loo (privy) at Crafty Cottage! (although of course that's where the similarity ends:-)

The Village of Kelmscott is beautiful,  -  it sounds "corny" but you don't have to think too hard to imagine the horses and carriages bouncing down the lanes, - from the farms - the to Manor, - to the church etc....    ....  idyllic on a day like today.

It was interesting to see the Exhibition in one of the Barns, which gave details of how after his death, William Morris's coffin was transported from Paddington Station to the Cotswolds, and then on to Kelmscott by a brightly painted cart for him to be buried in the village churchyard.

  

.....  and this encouraged us to visit the small church in the village, which was lovely :-)

    

 

William Morris's grave was set a little distance away from others for some reason,  which seemed a little sad to me :-(

On the way back to the car we passed the village hall which was playing host to a Craft Fayre,  -  this was lovely - a good selection of local arts and crafts, knitted items, jewellery, soap, wood turning, etc...  it reminded me of the Craft Fayre that has returned to Chipping Campden.

Leaving Kelmscott, we headed for Lechlade - and to our delight an abundance of antique shops to mooch around!  -  we also had lunch at a lovely restaurant which I would highly recommend :
Colleys - Lechlade  - Trude had an impressive Fish & Chips, and I had the squid!


It started to rain a little, so Trude and I headed for home, we had planned to call into the cottage to measure up for the curtains, - but it was getting a bit late in the day and I remembered the plasterers had returned to the Cottage to finish the walls above the fireplace, - and the ensuite - so we decided to let them get on with it, and call it a day.

So,  -  yes we thoroughly enjoyed our day at Kelmscott Manor, - we are still going with the Strawberry Thief fabric for curtains & bed throw etc...

The latest news at the Cottage is:

We have our first curtain pole !!

  

Telephone and Broadband being connected tomorrow, - website nearing completion ...

Will of course,  be keeping you posted !

Kelmscott post box

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-S-

Shame about the elephant!

Just a quick addition to the Blog today,  -  another beautiful sunny afternoon and just got back from calling in at Crafty Cottage to see the Cotswold Stone Fireplace in situ for the first time :-)

Paul and Rob put it all into place this morning, and I couldn't wait to get down there and take a peek ....

.... Sooooo chuffed !  really pleased - Thank you "Wrights of Campden" for such a lovely job :-)

Wrights of Campden

.... shame about the *elephant, hopefully it can be removed before the first guests arrive!!

In the meantime, Rob's doing a grand painting job on the walls and ceilings, it was absolutely 'baking' hot, - can't be easy to paint in this heat.

Looking forward to calling in again next week to see more progress - and of course will be keeping you posted!

*no animals were harmed in the making of this blog!

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-S-

Interiors 'R' Us !

...  back refreshed from the weekend in Barcelona with a friend - I couldn't wait to get down to Crafty Cottage to see what's been going on.  - things are starting to move at a much quicker pace now and photos below were taken on Monday, - so there may be another update later on today - same Bat Channel - as Tom the trusty plumber, - and Rob (aka shabby sheek man!) have both been working hard over the past couple of days.

    

Best news of the day, - we now have an all important door to the loo !    

.... the cubbyhole will also be a handy space for storage.

  

The kitchen is really starting to take shape,  and word on the street since the photos were taken is 

we now (or very shortly!) will have running water from the tap !

....  going down later on this morning to take the light fittings for the lounge, loo & ensuite as Paul the electrician is at the Cottage today - will update later hopefully .....

(update * walls & ceiling being painted, - so electrician delayed things until next week - 

(although personally - I think he just wanted to sit in the garden at home on such a lovely day :-)

- in the meantime had a quick look at the Stats for my blog,  which has now reached 2,062 today !

Thank you everyone from around the world who have taken a peek ..

Don't forget to "Like" us on Facebook :-)

-S-