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-

The ten minute tourist!.

Quick update, ,... last week ended with the all important boiler having been installed by Tom the friendly neighbourhood plumber! and despite his attempts to hide from my camera I managed to snap an action shot of him busy at work...


Tuesday, and baking hot today ... not complaining of course and made my way down to the cottage again where it's all happening these days!  I thought Dean might appreciate a nice cold lolly on a day like today and I just wanted to see if I needed to get anything, or do anything that might be helpful towards the progress...

 The kitchen is starting to take shape and I just can't wait until I can empty my "cottage cupboard" at home and transport everything to fill up the drawers and cabinets down at Sheep Street.

My "cottage cupboard" !

In the meantime,  I am proud to announce the arrival of our first toilet ! .... and  I think this is likely to be the first room in the cottage to be completed.   I am already nursing an Aloe Vera plant at home, for the window sill :-)

Today, ....  Thursday -another glorious day weather wise - I had promised myself a nice walk around town to take some "blog" photos in the sunshine! there is so much going on inside the cottage at the moment, - I decided to concentrate on the town instead :-)

I popped into Crafty Cottage to see how things were going, - all sorts of things going on so I thought it was best to leave the experts to get on with it ! ... I wandered down sheep street and captured a few typical scenes ....

Pike Cottage, - 5 minutes walk from Crafty Cottage

The area of Westington, - once a separate hamlet on the outskirts of Chipping Campden, - but now very much a part of town.  In my opinion perhaps the most beautiful part with it's wonderful thatched cottages and trimmed gardens - the main route into Chipping Campden from the London direction off the A44, Westington leads into Sheep Street where you'll find Crafty Cottage!

 

Walking back towards town, - and back down Sheep Street, I had every intention of counting my footsteps from Simons Chip Shop to the Cottage door, - but alas forgot, - maybe next time!

To give you a rough idea it takes less than 5 minutes between Crafty Cottage and the local "Chippy" - which guests at the cottage will be encouraged to do on a regular basis as it saves me from having to clean the oven :-) !

In the style of Blue Peter,   Here's one we ate earlier ...!

Fish & Chips, Simons Style

Wow what a hot day!  walking back down towards the cottage, couldn't help but stop & take photos of the new green windows....

 

I love this colour on the woodwork, - same as at home ....  and the Cotswold Stone was somehow "glowing" in the sunshine.

As I was happily clicking away, my B&B guests spotted me on their saunter down Sheep Street, - Hi Susan and Ed !  I had been chatting to them this morning about the cottage, and it was a good opportunity to show them where and what it was all about :-) 

We wandered through the Old Silk Mill, and I left them on their way up to Harts Silversmiths on the top floor, - so looking forward to seeing them at home later to hear about their day....

Harts Silversmiths

Wandering back through town,  stopped off at Drinkwaters on the High Street to pick up some local strawberries for breakfast tomorrow ...

Yummy, - great place to get fresh local produce & tasty jams....

The town was buzzing, people coming and going ....

our precious post office !

  

The new "Willows" restaurant - nice place for lunch :-)

Very British, -very twee,  .... infact it was beginning to feel like I was in an episode of Midsummer Murders !! (without the victim hopefully).

"Frankie Doodle"  - a great place on the High Street to treat yourself !

The Lygon Arms,
great food, - and lovely hanging baskets :-) !

So, ..... to summarize,  things are happening down at Crafty Cottage,  - each time I call in, the place looks more and more like a real house which is SO rewarding !  ...  can't wait to get it rented out .......

Will, of course be keeping you posted !

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Things moving on! ............

Sorry it's been a while since my last post, - but things have been happening honest! ... although nothing particularly exciting enough, to post on-line!

Today the ball started rolling again - Dean has been on site finishing off the balustrades to the staircase, and Paul and I called in to the Cottage this evening to have a peek at what's been going on.  -  The stairs look great, - really pleased :-)  

 

.... it's starting to look like a real room !!

 

The stud wall for the ensuite has been made, and we are starting to look at sink and loo designs  (... sad? ... no exciting! :-)

Western Power also paid us a visit the other morning, and Hey Presto the little electricity box outside has disappeared, and we have a temporary box & sockets inside the cottage ....  

  

With the electricity box outside now gone,  this means we can get on with planning the garden area, and off road parking.  It has been quite handy to use the digger again to get a scratch footing sorted for the garden walls.  A new fence went up last week, ...... looking good !

Personally,  I can't wait to get my green fingers going on creating the outdoor space, and have already spent the last couple of sunny days (was that our summer?) putting together the willow tubs for the garden at Crafty Cottage.  ... only trouble is they look so nice in my garden at home I might have to keep them !!!   

oh no, - only joking :-(

 

So,   today's latest addition to works is the tiles are starting to go down on the floor of the lounge, - we have ordered a Cotswold Stone Fireplace from Wrights of Campden, local stonemasons - and it's a good job we had a strict budget because I defy anyone to walk around their showroom and not want one of their amazing fire surrounds!

  Wrights of Campden

It's fascinating to see the huge chunks of Cotswold Stone "before"  -  and i'm really looking forward to them telling us the fireplace is ready, - it's going to look wonderful in the cottage.  We opted for a local "Guiting" stone, and have our log burner ready and waiting !

Thanks to ebay we have also acquired another item of furniture!  after a few glasses of wine, and on a complete whim I bid on a wardrobe which just looked perfect for the cottage!  The next morning I woke to a message telling me I was the successful bidder, - and the consequently had to drag Paul off to Bath in the pouring rain on Thursday night to collect my £26 pound wardrobe !!  .... bargain :-) 

I love the detail on the panels either side of the wardrobe door, - and the fact it has a mirror on the door as wall space will be valuable @ CC.  

.. I think that brings us up to date with progress, - will be spending tonight deciding on the kitchen units and get them ordered asap.  ....  I'm becoming more and more involved with things myself now, - and loving every minute :-)

-S-

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