Digging for treasure

“And the secret garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles”

The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Those of you with a sharp eye may have noticed from the photos in my last post that our ‘new’ London terraced house desperately needs some TLC. The garden was overgrown, the floors scuffed, the ceilings showed cracks, and there were stickers and stains on the walls and moth-eaten carpets. 

We also found some treasures in the house and garden.

Have a look…

First, we brought in a team to fell trees and clear weeds and undergrowth. There was an Amazon-like population of mosquitoes living in that garden. We’ve disturbed them, and they are angry, but hopefully, they are, as we speak, seeking new accommodations. In the garden (and house), we found a few treasures and lots of junk.

In the loft, we found a Teasmade, which, after a bit of cleaning, turned out to still be working and makes a good cuppa.

 

In the garden, we discovered a lovely fern (Mama thinks it’s a ‘leather fern’), which we potted and tended – very excited! We also excavated an old spoon (keeping with the tea theme), a shopping trolley (or 3), an antique cast iron French fountain ‘thingy’, a lot of glass, slate and rocks, and a covered pond/water feature hiding under the fake grass.

 

But the pièce de résistance was discovered by the 13-year-old son of a friend who was earning some pocket money by turning soil and removing bits of debris and weeds during his holiday. Like most great architectural finds, this was a complete surprise! He found a terracotta lion (approximately 40 x 75cm).

SMALL PRINT:
P.s. Watch this space for refurb pics.
P.p.s. The next stage is de-‘greenifying’ the house.