The courtyard at the front of the house is as much of a problem as the garden with the weeds taking over everytime you turn your back for a second. There is also the problem of getting rid of the rather yucky brown colour which seems to have been so popular in the past. On the visit in August 2006 changes started to be made.
 | The courtyard when I first saw the house back in 2003 - seems a long time ago now! |  | Over the years it has proved to be a struggle to keep it looking nice and the weeds often take over |
 | I started by nuking the weeds and then spent two weeks trying to pull them out of the ground!! |  | And also painted the front of the house and started the get rid of more of the brown colour which dominates the courtyard |
 | It is amazing what a few coats of paint can do!! |  | The courtyard was starting to take shape and looked a lot better |
 | It was a joy to see the back of the brown doors on one of the barns |  | The gates also got a tidy up with a new coat of varnish to keep them looking smart for another year |
 | With the next job being to repair and paint the back of the house!! |  | Which, as you can see, is very much needed!! |