Hooks with a difference

As I’ve said in previous posts, the obvious thing about moving into a new build is that you’re the first people to live there - and that means things like shelves and hooks just aren’t there. And you don’t realise just how much we take these kind of things for granted, until they’re not there.

I know that not having hooks isn’t the biggest issue in the world, but a hook-less cloakroom wasn’t going to be viable long-term so a solution - and hooks - needed to be found. It wasn’t right at the top of our list, especially as the cloakroom was initially a handy store for a few moving boxes that we hadn’t quite worked out where their contents should go just yet, but with friends and family visiting we wanted to be able to have somewhere to hang their coats, and also we wanted somewhere for ours too.

MOH was keen to just get something on the wall, but I know that game - once there’s something up that you may have compromised on, then it’s up and in use and it could be a while (if ever) before it’s addressed ‘properly’.

But I wasn’t keen on any of the hooks, or racks of hooks he kept showing me, and nor could I find the right hooks. So we remained hook-less for quite a while.

The issue for me was I’d seen some lovely hooks, that were quite distinct but couldn’t remember where I’d seen them, and so until I’d found them again I couldn’t move forward. Luckily my Google-search skills are quite advanced and I did find them again on the Nkuku site - along with many more decorative hooks (I’ve just looked again whilst writing this post and let’s just say it’s a dangerous place for my purse).

By this time of course MOH was ‘just buy the hooks’. So that’s exactly what I did, well after a bit of measuring, checking where pipes and cables might or might not be, and some soul searching on the price, but fortuitously all this meant I managed to time my order with their sale.

And the hooks arrived, three of them. Each with three moveable hooks, which required three screws for each wall mount. MOH regretted his stance when he realised that meant eighteen holes to make, but thankfully he agrees it was worth the while - and of course the first thing hung on the hooks was a cycling helmet!

And since then a lot more coats, fleeces hats and scarves. It’s quickly become a very usable storage space as we also store (amongst other things) our garden seat cushions, the internet router, umbrellas, our current go to everyday shoes - and our bottle bag for our empties ahead of recycling in here.

Though I’m hopeful that soon we’ll be able to put our winter coats away!

Walking East Stoke's Lanes this March

Two in a month - I’m getting back to my original planned schedule, well closer anyway. Though not wanting to get your hopes up too much when I looked back over my photos for March I saw there weren’t many. That’s an indication of the weather we had - in summary, rain, rain and more rain with quite a bit of wind thrown in too. None of which is conducive to pop out for a walk, but that’s how it is and it’s worth noting the weather too, and hoping that this time next year is more favourable.

It’s another month without a visit to the Red Gutter, and this month we didn’t even make it down to the Trent either. However, taking our chance with a break in the weather, and after another dismal weekend, we headed out on one Monday and one Saturday heading along Moor Lane on both occasions, so that’s where all of this month’s photos were taken.

That said, it was great to see the blossom appearing bringing with it hope that the seasons were changing, and that the rain and wind would stop at some point!

And there’s proof it didn’t rain the whole month, it just felt like it.

We made it to the bridge in Moor Lane which there and back is a decent three miler, and taking about an hour is (or should be) relatively easy to fit into our days. I’m writing that to convince and remind myself that all of this is on my doorstep and it doesn’t take that long, so needn’t be a great expedition.

It was really good to see the water levels much lower than they had been, and I’m sure I’m not the only one to be pleased with this. I can’t imagine the aggravation and hassle that the weather this winter has brought to farmers and builders, and anyone who’s work is primarily based outside.

There were other signs that Spring was on its way, daffodils growing in the wild always bring a smile. In fact daffodils growing anywhere are guaranteed to raise a smile from me.

But the fencing that was laid previously wasn’t showing any sign of growth just yet, though I’m sure it’s early days and for the ones that were cut, I’m sure it’s been quite a shock so that will take some time to recover from. (Spoiler - they look different in next month’s instalment!)

Thanks for joining me this month, I’ll be back to sharing the next instalment around the third week of the month, but in the meantime if you enjoyed this post you may also like some previous series where I revisit the same place - there’s my year in Greenwich Park and remember that time when I followed a tree?

Post Comment Love 26 - 28 April

Hello there, and welcome back to this week’s #PoCoLo - a friendly linky which I co-host with Suzanne, where you can link any blog post published in the last week. We know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked, comment and share some of that love.

Please don’t link up posts which are older as they will be removed from the linky, and if older posts are linked then please don’t feel that it’s necessary to comment on those. If you were here last week it was great to have you along, if you’re new here this week we’re pleased you’ve joined us.

It’s been a busy few days here, and colder than it ought to be too. We’ve been out for an evening of Spanish wine tasting, a garden show, my new bag making course has begun and we’ve been to a new to us venue in Nottingham to see (and hear) Henry Normal and Brian Bilston read their poetry, and I spent some time on Sunday following my niece’s progress in the marathon quite comfortably from the sofa. She did brilliantly, completing the course looking remarkably fresh and clearly happy to have completed the course.

But most of all there’s been lambs. My picture this week is of a ewe and her lamb in the field just down the road from us, and which we can hear from our house. This picture was taken during one of the rain showers (there’s been a few), and while cute looking, it did smell of wet sheep from where I stood.

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