Springtime and renovations

I say Springtime - well sadly in the UK this year that has been more a technical term used by Druids than an actual experience. My long-lost and long-suffering family from Zimbabwe were planning a visit in a month or two, our house was still in dire need of loads of renovation and outside, instead of blue skies and flowers busting out all over we had somewhat more Arctic conditions. These pictures were taken in our front garden in late March....




... and as you can see there was a bit of a difference between local conditions and those prevailing in Harare where brother Craig and his family somehow manage to survive against all odds (and against all reason too, if you ask me).

My plans for taking the little ones somewhere jolly for a bit of outdoor fun looked in serious danger - and of course as mentioned in the previous post, the inside of our new house in West Berkshire was a war zone of builder's rubble too.

When we bought this little semi-detached post-war place it was in spite of the interior decor and not because of it; previous owners had demonstrated bizarre tastes in plaster, Artex, artificial stone, MDF and all the 1970's and 1980's lapses in judgement we have come to know and hate here in the UK.





For example the large living room had been partially sectioned off by a bizarre circular arch which led into a sort of snug, in the rear of which crouched a gas fire in amidst a horrible pile of moulded plaster, brickwork and stone that effectively cut a metre off the room space.


Space, incidentally, that we desperately need. Not only am I a packrat of note when it comes to books, papers and photographs, but having a child with a Hogga-like attention span means we need a plethora of toys to keep her amused.

Now as already established in earlier postings, my DIY abilities are small to non-existent; I have been known to pick up injuries reading the B&Q catalogue. So what we needed was the strong right arm of my brother in law Gabi - and to prove that his dexter forelimb is indeed as sturdy as advertised I proffer this picture of our living room after he had finished swinging his hammer.




Well done Gabi and many thanks!!