Balcony

Follow up photos if anyone is still looking

Romeo, Romeo

Doesn't seem fair that after all the effort taken to get the garden in shape, we now have what's on the way to being one of the worst summers on record. The climate here has been so bad that the regular topic of conversation, food, has been replaced by discussions about the weather. Just like in the UK.
I have however been putting the wet weekends to good use and have finally drawn up the steel balcony ready for tender. Also in the pipeline is the construction of the terrace. I'll be building it myself in timber decking with a little bit of help from The Skater.

Star Arch

let me know what you think of the new project we have in the office:

We have to design this house somewhere in the 94 where 20 young student architects are going to live for 2 months - of course the house is full of remotely controlled cameras (reflecting the urban environment of an imminent 'google street live' future).

The students are taught academy style by tough and ruthless young wolves (winners of Moniteur premier oeuvre prizes and the like) who shout at them bawl them down and generally rip up their drawings.

At the end of each week they are told they will be able to sketch up a scheme with a great architect - on friday night Jean/Norman/Zaha turns up in his/her ferrari/porsche/mini cooper and the whole thing goes out live on prime time (well, ok maybe Arte). at the end of the evening the audience votes for the scheme that sucks the most and the poor sod gets kicked out on his arse. The show will unfortunately lack one of the main ingredients of the previous shows - the students will be too shagged out to get shagged. The winner of the whole thing (only one stupid enough to be left at the end of two months for those of you without television) gets to recover the 10 year defects liability on the house and goes on to be an outplacement student helping out  Bradd Pitt do the difficult curvy bits in Frank O Gherys office.

It's called StarARCH, or maybe TOPArch or Master Builder?

it's coming soon on a screen near you.

Update

More or less where we are today - waiting for better weather to finish off the stone wall started in the summer.




The planting arrived in the autumn of 2012.
















A lawn lift, plastic surgery on your lawn.












Photos from the works - still retroblogging to catch up with the present in time for spring.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Agent Orange

In an attempt to catch up with the present I'm retro-blogging. All this happened in June 2012. The jungle was cleared in the blink of an eye exposing the pile of reclaimed limestone from the old house.

Jungle

Petunia Girl has come up with the goods. We now have a landscape contractor onboard.  Works are scheduled to start. All the groundworks and paving will be carried out, as well as the lawn which will be laid ready grown. Unfortunately the planting will have to be postponed to the more appropriate season of autumn. The garden is currently like a set location for Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (minus burning buildings and before the Agent Orange).
Petunia Girl has done a great job, now it's all up to the contractor
I've decided to take part in the works by building the stone wall and timber decking.

Ground Designs

Every primetime makeover program needs an unrealistic deadline to hype up the entirely false sense of suspense and danger - you know, the bit where Kevin Mcloud walks off on his own to a secluded corner of the building site, looks the camera conspiratorially in the eye and says something along the following lines: 'The fondations aren't even poured. It's already the end of October. Jenny's quintuplets are three weeks overdue. Will Roger be able to lay bricks after his heart bypass surgery? Can their couple survive living up a tree in subzero temperatures?' zoom out, cue music, cue B&Q advert.

Well, our unrealistic deadline is the end of June.

Will the works be finished in time for The Skater's post exam farewell to secondary education garden party?

We're still out to tender after 2 months and still no offers......

Can Petunia Girl find a contractor in the knick of time.......