Tottie’s Grottages Part II – Sell the Pig series
Did somebody mention wanting to see the After pictures?
The little grottage in Lincolnshire, branded as ‘unfit for human habitation’ when I first bought it, soon started to take shape. It took about four weeks of daily scrubbing with bleach to get rid of the rather rural smell. After that I set the builders to, replacing the worst of the rotten floorboards and installing a new kitchen and bathroom.
Before long, the kitchen looked like this:
and then, once tiled, like this:
There was a nice little guest bedroom for Mother whenever she wanted to visit:
With a little help from Meic, my dog, who loved digging, I ripped out the hideous old stone cladding modern fire surround and found a beautiful inglenook behind it, into which I put a wood burning stove:
And there were beautiful gardens back:
and front:
So this was Tottie’s Grottage in Lincolnshire. Soon, I’ll be posting about my second grottage, here in France, befores and afters once more.
Susan Jackson
8th March 2014 @ 8:15 pm
What a job, I am really impressed that you keep taking on such huge projects!
phil
8th March 2014 @ 8:27 pm
Ah Tottie, it’s so cute,how did you leave it…what a great job you did on it, well done you,,,clap on back x
Mickistokoe Stokoe
8th March 2014 @ 8:36 pm
A fantastic transformation! The garden looks idyllic.
Judi Hilton
8th March 2014 @ 8:37 pm
I love snug, cozy little places. This is beautiful!
Marilyn
9th March 2014 @ 1:47 am
The garden is so beautiful and awesome job on the cozy home!§
Janet
9th March 2014 @ 7:46 am
What a transformation Tottie! You never fail to amaze me, it looks really homely and comfy. Well done you.
Rae
9th March 2014 @ 12:45 pm
Gorgeous, it must have been such a wrench to leave (answered in ‘Sell the pig’, I know) x
Tottie
9th March 2014 @ 12:49 pm
Thanks, everyone, for your really kind comments. Yes, it was a wrench to leave my little grottage but a necessary one as is indeed explained in ‘Sell the Pig’. And just wait till you get to know my current ‘grottage’! You’ll have discovered a bit about it if you have already read ‘Is That Billinge Lump?’ and you’ll get to know much more when Book III (name still under wraps, code-name MWIWI) is published next month.
And when you see the photos and read about my life here, I hope you will feel, as I do, that I am in the right place now.
Susan Jackson
9th March 2014 @ 1:31 pm
MWIWI is that the new title–now all we have to do is decipher it!!
Gill Moran
9th March 2014 @ 1:41 pm
It looks lovely and just goes to show that if the place is right, it doesn’t matter if it’s compact and bijou.. My Dad was a Lincolnshire Yellowbelly and I was brought up on stories of the Lincoln Imp.
Jill Pennington
9th March 2014 @ 3:38 pm
Wow, garden was amazing!
Tottie
9th March 2014 @ 3:45 pm
This one will be too, one day. It just takes time.
Sandy
12th April 2014 @ 9:47 am
What a great job you made of your house in Lincolnshire Tottie and the garden looks lovely. I’m not surprised that you were sad to leave it.