Our first guests arrive!

Phew ..... writing this at the end of the day, - and what a day :-) !! our very first guests at Crafty Cottage due to arrive at 2.30pm.

We left the cottage at 11pm last night,  - both totally knackered, - cleaning this and that, - moving around furniture, - .... not necessary "tweaking" things,  - just making major changes at the last minute!   tweaking to follow :-)  ...  and today - we "tweaked" !  all very very last minute and a mad panic before our very first guests arrived (on the understanding that it may not be necessarily perfect :-) !

1pm found me yet again at Barn Antiques looking for furniture !  - (not forgetting guests due 2.30!), - came back to a much cleaner and organised space - garden looking good, - all appliances suitably installed & just figuring out now how to set the clocks on all of them :)

At last I was able to take some photos for our website, & marketing etc...

"The Bedroom"

6ft super king bed

The ensuite

(Sink, WC, Shower)

The kitchen

The Lounge

The Loo !

"Crafty Cottage"

The very first guests arriving at Crafty Cottage !

x we hope you enjoy your stay x

-S-

Count down to guests arriving !

Such a busy week again,  and missing my blogging! .....  as an update and to summarize,  the week started by ....

the TV going up in the lounge!  

....  All the evenings we have spent down at the cottage  not missing the "telly" and as soon as it was up and running Paul and I couldn't help ourselves, we did what seemed natural and sat infront of the log burner to watch Downtown Abbey :-) !!

Famished too !  we were able to sit at the table for the first time and have a romantic meal!!!!!

courtesy of the Maharaja take away! 

 Maharaja take away

...and after chucking the packets & containers in the bin, - the actual curry was wonderful :-)

...  we were almost too tired to enjoy the whole meal, - but at least it made me realise that a towel and washing up cloth don't necessarily make the best table mats !!  * note to diary : buy table mats !

Trude's curtains are wonderful !

we now are fully  "curtained out" and each window at Crafty Cottage is suitably dressed!

-thanks Trude - youre a star :-)

x

Having spent most of the day with my friends Denise and Catherine, coffee had developed into another trip to Barn Antiques (bedside cabinet now off the to-do list!)  ... then 3 ploughman's lunches in the garden at the Red Lion (across the road from Crafty Cottage) Lunch at the Red Lion  .. it was a lovely sunny afternoon, and after our lunch we headed back across the road to the corner of Sheep Street, to the Robert Welch Studio in search of cutlery for the cottage.

We had a good "mooch" around the shop, and I opted for the Ammonite cutlery

later on, and back at the Crafty Cottage garden,  somehow ...  I had acquired "Lola" for a while, - who was getting a real feel for the place !  ......  It was nice to find a bit of space away from the blokes who were busy trying to get the wardrobe upstairs !!  .....  unfortunately, the wardrobe refused to go up the conventional route, - and desperate measures were taken.   Paul and Max eventually helped it through the bedroom window off the top of Paul's van, - with Rob inside to guide it through safely!  ....  what a shame my camera wasn't around, but for the sake of dignity - probably a blessing :-) !!!

- if you want to imagine the process, - just think of Faulty Towers and you won't be far wrong !

Barry Roberts painted me a lovely painting of sheep street, and Paul's added it to the kitchen wall at the cottage,  Barry is a lovely local character who also provides Cotswold Tours & private hire services - taxis etc..  - 

and finally, .....

things are being put in place for the very first guests arriving Saturday, ....

....soooooo exciting !

-S-

A quick update to be updated !

... a manic weekend, lots happening and busy busy busy .....  luckily the weather was good enough to get the garden sorted - thanks to Max on Saturday - (photos to follow)

The Oak floor has been fitted to the bedroom, (bed being delivered on Wednesday!) and work is going well in the ensuite - continued tonight - and continuing tomorrow! (shower going in)

I havent had the opportunity to take many photos due to builders vans being parked on the drive - .... not being particularly photogenic!  and inside it's much the same, - we have moved furniture in now and it's looking great, but there are still bins and dust sheets etc... spread about -so am planning a mass tidy up over the next few days hopefully and will keep this blog post updated.

In the meantime,  as I left the cottage tonight - I was able to get a shot of the doorway - with more to come soon ............ promise :-)

at a later date ..
....  and as promised i'm updating the update,  it's now Thursday evening,  the bed was safely delivered yesterday (with no gas or air!) and I have left Paul tonight continuing with the ensuite - which is looking great.  -  infact the more we do to the place, - I feel like moving in myself :-) !

I called in on my lovely friend Trude today, - who is so so talented with a cotton and thread,  and she handed me over the curtains and blinds she has created from the William Morris Strawberry Thief fabric.  I think Paul was just as enthusiastic as I was, and in a matter of minutes the small window in the lounge was suitably attired !

The lounge area is really starting to come together, - quite comfy and cosy!

Steph and I visited Barn Antiques at Quinton yesterday : http://www.barnantique.co.uk/

Actually we were looking for a coffee table, and bedside cabinets.

...... and came home with a log basket and pine shelf !

And Finally, - before I rest my weary head tonight to dream about curtains and tie backs, - a special "Hello" to Paul and Tracey who we saw at the beginning of the week, - it was lovely to see you both again and thank you for all the positive comments about the cottage.

will be keeping you posted !

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More photos to flaunt !

A busy week again,  - lots going on, and lots planned to happen next week too ....  We now have a deadline with our very first guests arriving September 28th :-)  ..... "don't panic Mr Mainwaring!!"

The week started with Nick working on a lovely new front door to replace the old, tatty temporary door which had been splattered with plaster & bashed about in the build  ....

.. and assisted by the lovely "Maisie"  

We now have the look we were after !

Crafty Cottage front door !

In search of the perfect knocker !
Chipping Campden holds host to quite a variety......
we took a tour of the High Street to sample the options

    

   

  

  

  

In the end,  we decided on keeping things simple!

Not too decorative, but serves the purpose !

Crafty Cottage knocker !

The garden and off road parking area have now been separated by a wooden frame, with an archway which will hopefully in time become alive with flowers and decorate the "garden gate" accordingly.

Paul worked hard all over the bank holiday weekend, and his work paid off as it looks great :-)

Work is starting on Monday morning prompt, the trusty skip will disappear early, and work to lower the kerb & create the parking area will commence.

... photos to follow in time I am sure ..

We both spent most of the bank holiday down at the cottage,  - Paul doing all the ground works & fence building, - with me assisting whenever possible by handing him the spirit level at crucial moments!  - We must have looked a bit like Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee to the many tourists and passers by who stopped to see what all the fuss was about :-)

The weather over the weekend was once again lovely and sunny, -  which also proved to us what a "little sun trap" the Crafty Cottage garden will be !

We both felt totally "knackered" by the time Monday evening arrived so the only sensible thing to do after tidying up at the Cottage, was to head off towards the Lygon Arms on the High Street for 

  

a smoked fish platter, and cottage pie & chips !

Yummmmy :-)

One of the best things for me this week, has been our lovely light going up !

I have been so looking forward to seeing it hanging between the beams upstairs, - and am completely "chuffed to bits" with the end result :-)

-Furniture-

We are still storing things at home, but have every intention of moving furniture into the cottage as soon as possible.  -  With a few items still on my wish list,  - I visited a couple of local antique barns & warehouses this week with my tape measure, and returned with Paul (the one on the left!) to pick up a few items!!  

Stratford Antique & Interiors


We will be keeping you posted of course !

Please "like" us on Facebook !

-S-

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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(we only have 13 likes and we need more  :-)  !!!!)

- S -