Mediterranean garden

You might (or might not, more likely!) have noticed from the webcam that I wasn't in work today. That's because I was "working from home" (cough) in London. Before you start saying 'cor blimey you skiver', there was a very good reason why I abandoned the beloved Baumhaus. Early last year, I decided (in my stupidity as it happens because it was a horrible job), that I wanted a mediterranean garden so that I could pretend to be exotic. It took a week to design, and months of digging out mud, laying drains and cables, foundations and building work, building wooden structures and planting flowers and stuff. But guess what! Today it was finally finished - Hurrah upon hurrahs! Two tons of gravel arrived to complete the 'gravel area under wooden gazebo' bit of the design. I no longer have a mudbath outside my door - it's so exciting!

Here is what the garden looked like when I bought my house:

Here is what it looked like in December 2008 when it was 2/3 rds complete:

And here is what it looks like now:

It is a shame that the work only finished after it went dark because you can't really see anything. I can however assure you that there is a superb gravelled area with path, just behind that patio thing.

Bummer that it is too cold to go outside.

In between the gravel excitement, I have been working on a potential new range of furniture for Baumhaus customers. Can you guess?.............. nope, not painted furniture, or children's furniture....... but sofas! Here are some interesting facts for you:

1. A good sofa range will normally be a retailers number 2 best selling range after solid oak furniture.
2. Despite this, not many people retail sofas because they come in so many variations that they are hard to manage; you know what I mean - different fabrics / with or without sofa bed / and loads of different sizes etc.
3. Retailers traditionally don't like selling sofas because they are really expensive to deliver and are prone to damage because they are difficult to package.

So Phil and I decided that we needed to come up with a 'plan so cunning that you could stick a tail on it and call it a fox', that would make sofas easy to sell.

I was tasked with working on the sofa designs, fabrics, and pricing. Phil has been working on the easiest way to get them delivered and the best way we can deal with the variations. Obviously my job is a lot harder than his, and to prove it, I have taken a picture of the number of fabrics I have had to review today. Probably about 300 - and for some reason, the picture shows all the 'granny fabrics' on the top. If you look closely, you can also see my 'Dominos Pizza' special offer leaflet on the left. If you have REALLY good eyesight, you will also be able to make out that I used a voucher yesterday to order a small pizza and loaded bacon and cheese potato skins for £7.99.

I am off now to work my way through the Dominos Pizza vouchers, but before I go, there is one bit of exciting news. Hazel has now been added as an author to this blog. That means you can read two sets of ramblings, not just mine! It is just a shame she can't figure out how to publish what she has written!! Enjoy your weekend!