Summer + Fall adventures: A summary.

(Us at Wortley Hall.)

We got married in July 2018 in Sheffield (U.K.), it was wonderful, definitely one of the most special days of my entire life so far.

The rest of the summer was spent exploring around the Cotswolds with our National Trust membership cards, and working on the house (of course, that is why you're all here.) 

(me at Broadway tower.)

Right before the wedding we managed to get carpet in on the stairs and two bedrooms, we went with a modern light gray and now that its winter I'm so glad we did it.  The rooms feel so much cozier than they would have with just bare floorboards. 

(No we haven't done the radiators yet..)

We hung loads of pictures/paintings and some pendant lights, plus curtains!  Curtains really helped to make the rooms feel more finished and comfortable, they hide the fact that the windows don't have trim yet and stop people from being able to see in. 

We also did a lot of work in the garden, we built a retaining wall to keep the trench next to the house clear, fresh grass was laid down and I pulled up several of the big flagstones to make a little flower boarder.  I put in about 65 assorted spring bulbs and a purple smoke bush and two rose plants.

More on the garden to come later in its own post (we have flamingos!)

We also chose a paint color for the back-bedroom! This room with have warm amber brown floorboards and dark forest green plaster walls. I'm hoping it will feel like a cozy retreat. 

As fall began we took on a garden allotment to grow our own vegetables (because we don't have enough going on), I went through the visa process again, (much simpler this time), and we planned our honeymoon.  Most of November was spent traveling around the United States.  We did a mega road trip (2000+ miles) through Arizona and Utah, and we had a second wedding reception in Maryland for the USA side of the family.  It was so much fun that I think we should get married every year.

(Waterholes slot canyon in AZ.)

In Tewkesbury I also started volunteering at a local charity bookshop and at the local town museums, its been a fun way for me to get out of the house and meet more people in my new community.

Those of you who are house detail junkies like me, don't panic, I'll go into more detail in later posts. I really needed to get the big picture out first before I started in on the room by room stuff.

-Nikki