Reacquainting myself with my greenhouse

What with the preparations for our 110th party I haven't had much time to get into my greenhouse, and of course it suffered - and I think I did too a little, so when I found myself with some time to myself last Saturday morning I knew how I'd spend it. Yes, reacquainting myself with my greenhouse.

First up was taming the lemon balm. Usually I chop it just as it starts to flower, not quite the Chelsea chop, but more of a when I remember to chop. And it needed to be first up as it's growing just inside the door.  A fragrant job though.

Once I'd chopped my way in (it wasn't that bad really) I finally got around to labelling the wallflower and sunflower seeds I'd saved. I've sown many of the sunflower seeds and they're doing really well, and I've still got plenty left for next year. It was timely to have found the wallflower seeds, as according to Monty I should be sowing those already, but I haven't just yet. Soon maybe.

Looking around the greenhouse my tomato seedlings were still miniature, which was disappointing. This year was the first time for a while that I've sown them in modules like this, usually I chuck way too many seeds into a seed tray, and most likely would have potted them on by now. So that became my job to pot on my tomatoes. And of course, as is tradition I seemed to mix up the plant labels so once again I'm sure there'll be a surprise when (and if) they grow!

The sorrel had gone to seed. Again. I'm quite partial to a sorrel omelette, but I guess I'll be waiting for it to regrow a bit first.  It's pretty though.  The sorrel and lemon balm were sown the same year, and both have thrived in the greenhouse for a good few years, despite my neglect.

I've still some onions that need to go over the allotment. I know they should be out by now, and hopefully they will be soon. Everytime I water these two toads hop out looking most disgruntled.

And of course now the party is over, the tiny bedding plants have had a growth spurt. I think these are scabiosa, which have tight pom-pom like flowers. Hopefully they'll be a decent size by the end of the summer...

In more free-plant news I've some more succulents on the way. These leaves came off as I planted out a leaning succulent, and you can see teh roots are just starting to grow.

My squash is doing much better and is looking a more usual size. I've some butternut squashes, crown prince pumpkins and little munchkin squashes again. 

They clearly loved the heat, the greenhouse topped 43 degrees, unlike the climbing beans which failed to germinate.  I've only one courgette, and again I've no idea what type!

The tomatoes from dad are doing much better. He tells me they're giant ones, and in comparison to mine they really are. They'll be heading over to the allotment this weekend hopefully.

Given my lack of success so far with courgettes and climbing beans when we were at Hyde Hall on Sunday I bought some newer seeds, just in case that was the problem and quickly set about sowing them to give them the best chance.

And while we were there, somehow, i left with this purple chilli too.  Funny how that happens, hey?

My last task for this weekend's pottering was to collect seeds from the fading yellow marigolds. They went into two brown paper bags, one for me and another for dad. All I need to do now is remember to deliver them.

Usually by now I will have posted a Sow and Grow post,  but this month I haven't - mainly because I've sown and grown very little - and I'm not even sure I'm up-to-date with my magazine reading. So I've decided rather than beat myself up about not doing this, I'll skip this month, but will return with a July post, and if I get my act together I may have something new alongside that too.  You'll have to wait and see what that is, but I realised it's the sensible way forward.

So the pottering is back on, and so will the quilt making. I'm looking forward to get back into both of them.  How's your growing going? Hopefully better than mine!

Let's talk spiral staircases...

It's been a while since we completed what I call Phase 1 of our redecoration project, which included some work on our spiral staircase. We'd ummed and ahhed about getting the work done because it's a big job and well, because stairs are pretty essential in any house aren't they? But it's one piece of work we've never regretted, breathing new life and beauty into this feature in our house was worth it.

Just last week I shared a beautiful papercut which featured our stairs and so it's timely that today we can talk about spiral staircases. We've been in our house so long now - fifteen years - that I forget that spiral stairs aren't usual!

But there's definitely advantages and drawbacks to them:

They're space savers

Definitely a benefit in our house, and often it's the case that they take up much less space than a traditional straight staircase. It uses a lot of floor space, which allows gives you more space in the rooms upstairs, and if you enclose your staircase can give you some amazing shaped bedrooms. Or you could even use a spiral staircase for access to the loft, or a single bedroom.

And can be traditional or contemporary

So you can match the style of your stair case to the decor and fittings in your home. Although our house dates from around the 1890s it has no traditional features (sadly) but that means contemporary styles fit well in our house, which is a good thing, and much of our storage and pipework is hidden (yay!).

In Medieval castles and Georgian homes, spiral stairs were considered a standard aspect of the design. The winders (the proper name for the treads) were usually made of traditional oak for a natural look. In modern homes, spiral staircases can be made up of glass or metal, to look more contemporary. 

Photo by Lynne MacMath on Unsplash

But are they suitable for everyone?

It's a concern, it's true. The people who lived here previously had children and they said the children coped well with them, but for younger children I can see this would be a worry. It's similar for ageing parents too, they take much longer to ascend and descend our stairs, and do it much more carefully. As we've no downstairs loo, it does mean they have to go up there when they visit.

At our party recently a six year old guest was wowed by our stairs and his mum realised he'd probably not seen a spiral staircase before. He was so wowed that we said he could try them out, so up he went, with mum calling after him to stay on the wide part of the steps. On the way up he met my MIL who was on her way down, much more slowly. 

He reached the top floor and called down asking what he should do now, to which of course we said "come on down" with mum adding "carefully" and MIL smiled knowingly and remembered the days fondly when you just went upstairs for fun!

People expect moving furniture to be tricky, and it can be. Although we've had a fridge-freezer on the top floor and that went up, and came down again relatively easily with two people. A new carpet in our bedroom caused a few more problems, but that too went up, carefully - I was thankful for that as everywhere had been decorated and I wasn't keen for any scuff marks.

Most things have gone up easier than we thought they would. The trickiest thing was a piece of moulding for our old wardrobes that stretched over five wardrobe doors, and it was the length that was tricky. With some careful maneuvering through the ironwork and into the bathroom and then the bedroom in a triangular movement, that got up there too.  It's something we consider when buying furniture though!

About spiral staircases

As you know they consist of wedge shaped treads usually known as winders. But what's even better is that you can use a mixture of winders and straight treads to get a customised layout that works for your space. If you're doing this then it's best to buy from a stair parts manufacturer who will advise you on the correct parts for your ideal spiral staircase.

Installing a spiral staircase

If you’re transforming your staircase from straight steps to a spiral staircase, you will need to consult a professional. You can do the fitting yourself, but you should always get advice to avoid making the opening too big, or another mistake which will make your staircase faulty. Be sure to do your research, and choose materials that are long-lasting, stairs get a lot more use than you think.  That's something we discovered when our renovation work was underway and we were temporarily left with alternate treads while the work took place.  There was no dashing down the stairs quickly, and it seemed, everything was upstairs when we were downstairs or vice versa.

If you're going to the trouble of changing your staircase then I'd always opt for a custom layout over a pre-assembled one. It's likely that a pre-assembled staircase will need adjusting during the installation process, which can be more costly than buying a custom staircase in the first place. 

Transforming an existing spiral staircase

If, like us, you already have a spiral staircase and want to make it your own, there are several ways you can achieve this. Perhaps it's a simple as staining the wood with a stain - for us, we had our winders sanded to reveal the natural beauty of the wood, or maybe paint the treads or replace a wooden balustrade for a modern chrome alternative. 

Although spiral staircases may be impractical in busy family homes, there’s no denying they look stunning and can be a real feature. There’s a reason that medieval kings opted for them in their castles – they represent opulence and elegance.

Would you consider a spiral staircase in your home?

This is a collaborative post, but all views and opinions are my own.  

Have you ever heard of recycled paint?

No me neither, but it makes perfect sense. So if your shed or garage looks anything like this - or has maybe one or two tins less, then read on as I'm sharing a fabulous guest post on recycled paint here today.

DOES YOUR SHED OR GARAGE LOOK REMOTELY LIKE THIS?

Recycled paint, really?

Really. 

Hi, I'm Amy from from EPS and Amy I am a parent blogger at heart, but am here today to talk about another topic which means a lot to me: Paint Recycling, no I’m not talking about scraping paint off walls (how many times have I heard that?!), we take the half empty tins which everyone has in their sheds or garages (collected from household waste recycling centres, aka the local tip) and batch it all up, add a bit of chemistry magic and turn it back into brand new, beautiful new paint, which is available in 28 colours from Reborn Paints.

The process itself was “invented” by my father, Keith Harrison, patent pending and we now licence the process to others so paint is being recycled up and down the country. Between us around 1000 tons of paint a year is being stopped from ending up in landfill. We add various clays and limestones to the “unloved” paint and filter and treat it, and re-pot it into our own livery.

The paint itself is “as good as Dulux” (quote is from a professional painter), available in premium quality flat matt finish it is £29 for 2.5 litres, but if you order a sample pot we will send you a £5 off code for use on a full sized pot, so you get your sample money back if you decide to go with us!

There are a couple of stockists across the country - we are looking for more if you are interested - but the easiest way to purchase our paint is directly from our online site: www.rebornpaints.co.uk.

Thanks Amy, that's totally fascinating and I can see lots of mileage in this. It's a shame you can't take paint direct from the general public, as I've a few tins in MOH's shed that I'd willingly donate (don't worry we'll get them to the tip!).

So, what do you think? Would you buy recycled paint? 

* All photos are with thanks to Reborn Paints.