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happy no-longer-so-new home
I was recently reminded by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
galathea_snb that I never have posted any pics of my new flat, so, for Chris (and anyone else who may be interested), here's a picspam.
Okay, so I don't actually have a photo of my house, but it just so happens that Google Street View does, so here it is:
Mine is the house with the green front door. This image was taken before I moved in, so the bins and the hedge are much tidier now and all the weeds are gone. Well, most of them, anyway - I left a bit of the corydalis because it's pretty. The house on the left belongs to a young family with two very boisterous small sons called Luca and Hugo plus a baby, so they have their hands full. The house on the right belongs to an elderly couple named Clive and Celia, who are really lovely and gave me a Christmas card and a present when I'd just moved in; Clive likes to sit out the front and we often stop for a chat. It's much more neighbourly than I'm used to!
The upstairs flat belongs to a single mum called Samar with her two kids, Eslam and Yasmin, who are both under 10 but seem pretty well behaved, as I don't hear them very much. There's also a boyfriend who seems to virtually live with them, which is more of a nuisance as both he and Samar like to keep their bikes in the hall, but aside from that they are pretty good neighbours on the whole.
The ground floor flat is mine, and here it is. First up, we have the front sitting room, which is where my DVDs and TV live. I can't get a good shot of the whole room in one go, so here are a few panning shots.
Next is the bathroom, which is huge.
Then we proceed along a small passageway and down the only three steps in the flat
Which leads to another hallway, in which we find what looked to be an enormous cupboard under the stairs until I started putting things in it
Along this hallway is my bedroom, which is the smallest room in the flat - but that's okay because it's also the room where I spend the least amount of time (waking, at least). The bed looks unmade because it is - I'd stripped it to do a bedding wash on the day this photo was taken.
Along to the end of the back hallway we reach the living room, which is my study, library and craft room all rolled into one.
And last but not least is the kitchen
That leads us out to the garden, which is the biggest garden I've ever had sole care of; technically the upstairs flat also has access to it, via the fire escape, but they never use it so it's mine. There's a bit of a yard along the side of the house, a functional space to keep pots and things (plus the lawmower that came with the house but is completely busted so I just use my dad's old strimmer instead).
Turn to face the other way and here's Alfie modelling the garden path leading out to the back lane. The bamboo and laurel hedge might look a bit straggly here, but believe me, this is tame compared to how it was when I moved in!
And then we come to the actual garden. Here's Alfie again, modelling what it looked like when I first moved in, back in October.
This is what it looks like now:
It's been a huge job, rooting all the weeds out of the lawn and creating a flower bed along the borders - I think I've probably spent more than I should on plants, plus my mum gave me loads from her garden. She's been telling me for years that she was bringing on this or that for when I had a garden of my own. It's taken a lot of hard work and is still an ongoing job, as everything is so young and tender still, but I've got fuchsias, day lilies, roses, poppies, aquilegia, iris, alchemilla, sedum, alyssum, convulvulus, arabis, aubretia, heuchera, fennel, melissa, campanula, oxalis, lobelia, periwinkle, lysimachia, thrift, dicentra, fritillary, nigella, buddleia, bellis, forget-me-not, hellebore (not doing terribly well), salvia, gazania, anemone, phlox, achillea, violet, ajuga - oh, and goodness knows what else. Plus all the pots I already had. There are still loads of weeds, of course, and the lawn still needs a lot of work, but it already looks loads better than it did!
Actually, forget about weeds, pot holes and couch grass, the biggest problem I have with my lawn are these guys:
That's a cinnabar moth - my lawn is full of them, so every time I go out with the strimmer I have to be really careful not to accidentally murder them!
Spot the Poppy
So there we have it - a whistle-stop tour of my new flat and garden!
galathea_snb that I never have posted any pics of my new flat, so, for Chris (and anyone else who may be interested), here's a picspam.Okay, so I don't actually have a photo of my house, but it just so happens that Google Street View does, so here it is:
Mine is the house with the green front door. This image was taken before I moved in, so the bins and the hedge are much tidier now and all the weeds are gone. Well, most of them, anyway - I left a bit of the corydalis because it's pretty. The house on the left belongs to a young family with two very boisterous small sons called Luca and Hugo plus a baby, so they have their hands full. The house on the right belongs to an elderly couple named Clive and Celia, who are really lovely and gave me a Christmas card and a present when I'd just moved in; Clive likes to sit out the front and we often stop for a chat. It's much more neighbourly than I'm used to!
The upstairs flat belongs to a single mum called Samar with her two kids, Eslam and Yasmin, who are both under 10 but seem pretty well behaved, as I don't hear them very much. There's also a boyfriend who seems to virtually live with them, which is more of a nuisance as both he and Samar like to keep their bikes in the hall, but aside from that they are pretty good neighbours on the whole.
The ground floor flat is mine, and here it is. First up, we have the front sitting room, which is where my DVDs and TV live. I can't get a good shot of the whole room in one go, so here are a few panning shots.
Next is the bathroom, which is huge.
Then we proceed along a small passageway and down the only three steps in the flat
Which leads to another hallway, in which we find what looked to be an enormous cupboard under the stairs until I started putting things in it
Along this hallway is my bedroom, which is the smallest room in the flat - but that's okay because it's also the room where I spend the least amount of time (waking, at least). The bed looks unmade because it is - I'd stripped it to do a bedding wash on the day this photo was taken.
Along to the end of the back hallway we reach the living room, which is my study, library and craft room all rolled into one.
And last but not least is the kitchen
That leads us out to the garden, which is the biggest garden I've ever had sole care of; technically the upstairs flat also has access to it, via the fire escape, but they never use it so it's mine. There's a bit of a yard along the side of the house, a functional space to keep pots and things (plus the lawmower that came with the house but is completely busted so I just use my dad's old strimmer instead).
Turn to face the other way and here's Alfie modelling the garden path leading out to the back lane. The bamboo and laurel hedge might look a bit straggly here, but believe me, this is tame compared to how it was when I moved in!
And then we come to the actual garden. Here's Alfie again, modelling what it looked like when I first moved in, back in October.
This is what it looks like now:
It's been a huge job, rooting all the weeds out of the lawn and creating a flower bed along the borders - I think I've probably spent more than I should on plants, plus my mum gave me loads from her garden. She's been telling me for years that she was bringing on this or that for when I had a garden of my own. It's taken a lot of hard work and is still an ongoing job, as everything is so young and tender still, but I've got fuchsias, day lilies, roses, poppies, aquilegia, iris, alchemilla, sedum, alyssum, convulvulus, arabis, aubretia, heuchera, fennel, melissa, campanula, oxalis, lobelia, periwinkle, lysimachia, thrift, dicentra, fritillary, nigella, buddleia, bellis, forget-me-not, hellebore (not doing terribly well), salvia, gazania, anemone, phlox, achillea, violet, ajuga - oh, and goodness knows what else. Plus all the pots I already had. There are still loads of weeds, of course, and the lawn still needs a lot of work, but it already looks loads better than it did!
Actually, forget about weeds, pot holes and couch grass, the biggest problem I have with my lawn are these guys:
That's a cinnabar moth - my lawn is full of them, so every time I go out with the strimmer I have to be really careful not to accidentally murder them!
Spot the Poppy
So there we have it - a whistle-stop tour of my new flat and garden!
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/sticky-beaking
HI ALFIE AND POPPY!
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Alfie and Poppy loooooove the new garden, now they've got used to it. Every time I cut the grass, Alfie goes out and rolls in it!
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The house is very similar in design to the one I lived in in Ninian Road (Roath Park) when I was a student. I had the front part of the ground floor, which meant a huge beautifully light and airy bedroom/study, dark middle room (general living/dining) and a lean-to divided into a kitchen and shower room/WC. If I'd stayed there longer I'd have been able to take over the back part as well, which would have given me the extra space you've got beyond Harry Potter's bedroom - but winter and a frozen cistern intervened. I really do NOT recommend lean-to toilets with nothing but a couple of sheets of corrugated plastic and a bit of moss between the plumbing and the outside world!
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I know the houses on Ninian Road, so can picture your little flat!
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Spot the cat accessories ;)
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Now I can fill an entire house.
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(Anonymous) 2014-06-24 04:17 pm (UTC)(link)You've certainly worked hard on the garden! I hope, if the upstairs neighbours do exercise their right to use it, that they respect it and your hard work.
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(Anonymous) 2014-06-24 04:18 pm (UTC)(link)Sue
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I think I'm safe from upstairs intrusion in the garden. Samar's come out onto the fire escape to talk to me while I was in the garden exactly once and she wouldn't even venture down a single step, she doesn't think it's safe. It is a bit rickety, but seems sturdy enough - I wasn't going to argue though! My garden!
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The cinnabar moth is so pretty! I've never seen one before.
The cats look happy in the garden :)
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Your new flat looks very cosy. It looks like you've been living there for years already; I get that nicely lived-in feel from the pictures. :) I love the garden, too. Personally, I don't have the patience for garden work at all, but I admire people who do. Also, your kitchen and bathroom look much more spatious (and a little more modern) than your old ones. Seems you really found yourself a nice little spot there.
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Well, up close you get to see how shabby the decor is - desperately in need of re-papering and re-painting, but it'll do for now, I can look at that down the road. My investment so far has gone into the garden because I must have green growing things around me! It's hard work, but I love looking out of my kitchen window at the garden while I cook, sitting out with a cool drink and a book on a sunny day, just wandering around seeing what's come into bloom now (very exciting at the moment because I scattered some random seed and I'm just now getting to the point where I can actually begin to identify what's come up from it! What? It's exciting to a gardener...)
These are the biggest kitchen and bathroom I've ever had. And yet I fill the space so easily!
The flat is further out from the centre than I'm used to, not such easy walking distance as I'd have liked, and is also further from a supermarket than I've ever lived before, but it's a lovely quiet, friendly neighbourhood. I'm really comfortable here now, and so are the cats. Now if only I could get my wifi and phone signal to stretch through the whole flat instead of only one room each, I'd be completely happy...