Monday 17 June 2013

Errm...Ooops?!

 Ooops on many counts really. Firstly that it's taken me so long to do a new post - partly down to having trouble with uploading photos to Blogger again  - thanks for that Blogger :-P. Secondly, I've been being jolly busy! And finally, I recently realised that although I've been using the tea house for almost 2 years now (Yes, TWO years!!!) I've never gotten round to doing a post about finishing it off - shame on you Lizbeth!

So, sorry people, but here - accompanied by a drum roll of your own choosing, is.........wait for it!
The Finished Tea House! Ta Daah!

Okay - the nearly finished tea house! Firstly, the electrics had to be fitted - and have a nice dimmer switch to add ambiance. Then it had to be lined with 2" thick insulation panels because I am officially a wuss in cold weather.
Then the insulation had to be covered with plywood - including all those complicated little corners - Himself does love a good challenge!

See what I mean?!

 Despite the zillions of screw that he used, Himself wasn't convinced that a couple of panels weren't about to ping off - so he braced them......

I was a tad more worried about the bracing pinging off than I was about the panels falling down!
 Then he fitted a sort of picture rail to hide all the joints.
 Built me a cupboard for all my gubbins and rammel. (necessary bits and pieces!)
 And finally, I got to paint it. It took three coats in total of a very nice soft mushroomy-greyey brown
 ...including in all those complicated little corners!Very fiddly, with lots of edges to cut in - it took me AGES!
 I had to do plenty of filling after the first coat because the plywood was very uneven in places and faults, screw heads and general unevenness show up best at this point, and as a decorator's daughter, I know full well that 'preparation is all'!
 The finished Tea House - and, yes, I know I've not posted about building the courtyard yet, but I'm on it!
 The 3 little pictures were a gift from a grateful client and are very sweet Japanese countryside scenes. the purple agate mobile was a Christmas present from my best friend - who knows me so well!
 Looking out over the veranda and pond. It is lovely when the weather is warm and sunny to be able to do treatment sessions with the doors open - when we can hear the sound of the stream running, the birds singing, the copper mobile outside gently playing and the squirrels jumping on the roof!
 Looking across the pond into the tea house.
 The Reiki Precepts that I do try to live by - although I don't always manage it!
They are:
Just for today do not worry
Just for today do not anger
Honour your parents, elders and teachers,
Earn your living honestly and
Respect all living things
(although personally, I'm not sure that slugs and snails count!)

18 comments:

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Your tea house is lovely, and I'm sure anyone receiving a treatment there will feel so relaxed afterwards.

FlowerLady

Sue Garrett said...

Nope slugs and snails don't count although I have to admit a twinge when I accidentally stand on a snail.

The tea house is lovely

Nutty Gnome said...

Thank you Lorraine. Everyone loves having a treatment up in the tea house and so many people have commented on what a super, calm, caring atmosphere it has - and how it was built with love!

Himself and I often sit up there on the veranda of an evening when we've finished work. It faces west and gets the evening sun, so it's a wonderful place to unwind :-)

Nutty Gnome said...

I do get guilt twinges too Sue, but on the other hand I prefer the crunch of snail to the squelch of slug!!

Sue Garrett said...

Especially when you have bare feet - but then it's crunch followed by squelch!

Nutty Gnome said...

Bleuuuurgh!:-P

Gordon Mason said...

Looks lovely (altho I already knew that, having been to it!). So what is the next project? I can't believe you won't have another up your sleeve!

Nutty Gnome said...

I'm currently working on the bottom pond Gordon! (Not this weekend though 'cos I'm off to Paris!)

Himself will really enjoy telling you all the technical details about the reservoir and stuff that he's done - I'm just on the arty-farty rock placing, plant putting-in stuff!

Kathryn/plantwhateverbringsyoujoy.com said...

Absolutely lovely to see it all put together in a post. I've enjoyed watching it grow and am happy to know it now serves the purpose for which it was intended. Another sacred space on planet Earth. Well done. :) xoxo

Nutty Gnome said...

Thank you Kathryn :-)
The whole japanese garden area feels like a sacred space even though it's not enclosed as yet, and the tea house is a joy to work in - and just to 'be' in!
xoxo

Rob (ourfrenchgarden) said...

A picture of tranquility.

Himself will NEVER, EVER, EVER be accused of corner cutting!

Looks great.

Casa Mariposa said...

Beautiful! Are you a masseuse? Your table looks like a massage table. What a cool space. :o)

Nutty Gnome said...

Very true Rob, very true! He may drive me up the wall occasionally with his attention to preparation and detail, but it is SO worth it in the end!

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi Casa, thank you.
It is a massage table, but I do Reiki and Reflexology in there. I can (and occasionally do) do massages, but my real love is Reiki!
It's a fabulous place to work in :-)

Pondside said...

It's beautiful! I'd love to have come by last September....next time!

Nutty Gnome said...

Ah, dear Pondside - so close and yet so far last year! Definitely next time ...and the bottom pond will be finished by then too! :-D

Wendy said...

wow, that is sooooo incredible! I saw that photo on your blog and being a first time visitor was like - oooh, I wonder if that's part of her house! It's pretty spectacular. You've got a smart and handy guy there!

Nutty Gnome said...

Thanks Wendy - and welcome to my blog! :-)
No, it's a separate building about 100 yards or so up the garden from the house...you may have worked out that we've got a big garden?!

Himself is pretty wonderful at translating all my vague hand waving and descriptions of the finished article that is already in my head into the finished thing!
My tea house is a wonderful, calm, peaceful place to be at any time of the year. It is indeed a thing of beauty built with love :-)