Since July we have been in Malaysia planning the renovations for Caroline’s family home. The works began on October 1st and were (sort of) completed on December 20th, although, as you’ll read, there is still stuff to be done. We’ve spend the last couple of weeks moving all out stuff back in and furnishing the house. Christmas and New Year happened without us really noticing.
For the next twelve days we’ll be posting one blog about a specific section of the house. Today’s is about the front yard, and by ‘yard’ we mean a concrete driveway, a garden, and several perimeter security enforcements: gate, wall, and grille.
Our first idea was to leave everything in its current state, but after some outside consultation we conceded to a new paint job, new outdoor lights, new concrete on the driveway, and a new gate. None of these changes involved the garden directly, but the workers not only managed to destroy or throw away about half of our plants, pots, and a nice wooden planter, but they also managed NOT to throw away several bags worth of rubbish and cigarette butts that they left scattered among the trees.
A word here on the original gate. Caroline’s family used to own a dog called Nico. Whenever somebody walked past the house Nico would do running backflips up the inside wall, barking once for each cycle, and then would shoot a stream of urine in the walker’s direction. This eroded the steel on the gate and left a small archway at the bottom. This hole is visible in the first picture, bottom left of the gate. It was previously used by Gato, the cat, to come and go as she wished.
We also removed a mummified shrew from the front grille.
A view of the house before anything was done. Notice the house on the right with the yellowy paint job. In the course of our renovations they moved out and put the house up for lease. Perhaps they disagreed with their fresh laundry being covered in white-wash chemicals from the water blaster. Now that we have moved back in, so have they.
An unwanted surprise: the builders decided to paint the brick wall a garish red. Apparently this is ‘normal’, according to Mr Lee, our contractor. We protested.
And so it became grey.
The view from the front door, looking left. Sadly, most of the plants in this photo have now vanished.
The new gate. Designed by our contractor, Mr. Lee
Here’s the final view with the new gate, drain cover, and driveway. The difference between our house and the house on the left is evident. Eventually we’ll buy new plants and make this area a lot nicer
This is the garden after we removed all the rubbish and salvaged the remaining pots. It’s pretty wild and needs a lot of love.
The entranceway. The major changes here are the painting, the new hanging light, and the clear windows. More plants will be added soon!