Granny blankets, scaffold poles and sailing ships.

Some recent pictures of progress on Seaside Lodge’s renovation.

We’ve got our first 4 bookings (yay!), and are getting very excited about reaching the finishing line. We’ve had some fantastic feedback from visitors, and several people coming for a look around on spec.

Available to let from 1 June 2015. For more info, drop us an email at info@boltholeproperties.com

Bedroom 1 at Seaside Lodge has an en-suite shower room.

The open plan sitting room has large doors opening onto a deck over the fishing lake.

The open plan living area has two sitting areas, one by the lake and log burner, the other in a quiet study space (ignore the tree clippings, they’re toast!)

Soon-to-be-organised library and study area by the original 1958 south facing window

Steering into harbour. Me hearties.

Kitch + 1950s + nautical.

We’re feverishly opening boxes at Seaside Lodge, unpacking all the pieces we’ve been collecting from the four corners (of the UK) to give the lodge a special lodge-y-1950s-slightly-Scandi-a-tad-nautical-English-seaside-creative feel. It’s exciting, we forgot we had stalked and hunted down some of these treasures.

A post about the finishes touches shortly – when we finally get to the bottom of all the bubble wrap.

Renovation-wise, we’re nearly done inside. Some final painting, kitchen door fronts and scaffold shelving to complete. Here are some pics from the last week. Happy to report the lodge definitely looks more like a messy home than a building site. There’s progress for you.

Now, on to the garden. The planting is underway. We start building the deck over the lake in a week or so.

Technically, a stag isn’t a seaside animal. But this one is wooden. So it’s allowed.

The bedrooms are finished. Yay!

Lousy shot, great view at sunset. In future, we won’t let the photographer near the rosé.

The main living area is getting there!

Kitchen wall – bear with, it’s going to look great.

Stop press: duck egg 1950s tiles now on kitchen wall.

Waking up to the view of the lake – bliss.

No matter what time you open the blinds, Colin the Moorhen will be doggedly swimming across the lake. And back again.

The first print is up – Ground Swell by Edward Hopper. A present from our pal Mandy.

There are many more paintings and prints to follow.

Seaside Lodge’s personalised postbox.

Totally unnecessary postbox, but kind of sweet.

Love chilly evenings at Seaside Lodge.

You too will come to love a cold snap. It’s an excuse to light the log burner and snuggle down for the evening.

To enquire about staying in our 1950s lakeside hideaway (near one of Britain’s ‘best undiscovered beaches‘), please drop us an email: info@boltholeproperties.com

Your totally beaching holiday (retro style).

I’ve come across some lovely old images of Anderby Creek. I thought you may find it interesting if I group them together and post a batch from time to time. So, here’s no.1 – Anderby Creek’s lovely beach. Although the landscape has changed little over the last 8 decades, the amount of people on it has. I’ll start with a picture I took one sunny Sunday last September. Me and the fisherman were the only people on the beach. It’s easy to see why it has been voted one of Britain’s best undiscovered beaches. Bliss.

Voted one of Britain’s best undiscovered beaches

The beach at Anderby Creek pre-1953

Hard to date this picture of Anderby Creek beach – any guesses?

Anderby Creek beach, late 50s-early 60s (looking at the clothing and donkeys!)

Anderby Creek beach…I’m guessing sometime in the 1950s

The beach at Anderby Creek, late 40s/early 50s. At first I thought later, but those high waist trousers tell their own story. Unless it’s Simon Cowell’s dad.

I think this is one of the earliest Anderby Creek beach pics here – probably 1930s.

Donkeys! Tank tops! Hair grips like her off Follyfoot! This Anderby Creek beach pic is late 1960s-early 1970s, I reckon.

Seaside Lodge was built in 1959. I wonder if the first owners used their knitting machine to craft cossies like these little beauties?

1959 knitting pattern

Clunch, Mizzle and Arsenic

It’s a decorating fact of life that:

1. All the best paint colours are the most expensive paint colours.

2. All the best/most expensive paint colours have the silliest names.

This week, we have been throwing Duck Egg at the walls, and covering the plaster with Elephant’s Breath. We’re trying to use the colours in the surrounding landscape in interior of  Seaside Lodge, whilst keeping a colour palette that’s true to its 1950s heritage.

That means no shocking pink, no glitter and no feature walls. I hope that doesn’t disappoint.

It’s great to be at the stage where the dust and dirt are nearly a distant memory.

Choosing paint colours that reflect the view outside the window

Colours of the surrounding lake, dunes, sea and fields.

2 large skips and a broken vacuum cleaner

Most of the renovating dust and rubble is behind us – hurrah!

We’re moving into the next stage. Both bathrooms are going in, and the floor and wall tiles chosen. I’ve found a bathroom floor tile that looks just like the sand on the beach, which has made my week. Scrub that, month.

The temporary kitchen is now where the permanent one will be in the next month, albeit a little less appealing to the eye.

For a freezing mid-January, the lodge is lovely and toasty too!

Rhapsody in blue

The drive to Seaside Lodge always seems to take us through several different climates, and the sky gets bigger and bigger the further east we drive.

I’ve fallen in love with Lincolnshire sunsets.

Leaving home at 7:30 on a freezing cold January morning

As the day dawned, and we drove east, the sky got bluer

Coming off the Lincolnshire Wolds, the Anderby sunshine was there to greet us.

Leaving Anderby Creek and driving into a glorious Lincolnshire sunset has become one of life’s simple pleasures.

The Lake, at dusk in mid-January.

Fading light and al fresco sausages.

Fading afternoon light in the south facing what-will-be study area

Teatime bangers

November.

Things are really coming on. Although technically, that phrase is banned, along with “It’s coming together nicely”.

Clean walls, natural light.

All the rooms bar the big bathroom are now plaster boarded. The space looks much cleaner and more delineated. The picture above was taken from the front door. Behind Jon will be a small library/study area.

Looking North over the lake.

This picture is looking north. The window at the end will be replaced with sliding glass doors, onto a deck, overlooking the lake. In the space between will be a simple kitchen and then a living area with log burner. I shall probably devote a whole future blog post to the log burner. It’s gorgeous.

The view through the soon-to-be glass doors

On the picture above the lake is empty of geese, ducks or other water fowl. They are often on the lake throughout the day, congregating noisily, or just gliding along and then flying off again in unison. Watching them and figuring out their schedules is becoming a favourite pastime.

A very public convenience

The blog wouldn’t be complete without a picture of the central bog. So, here it is.

Late afternoon over the lake

Time to head back back West. Two pictures of the lake before we drive into the sunset.

Bird on a wire

Breakin’ Down the Walls of Heartache

Last weekend, we tootled off to Seaside Lodge again. The truck was much lighter than the previous weekend, but we did take a selection of wall-knocker-downer things, secateurs, more wine than strictly necessary for 2 for 1 night and thicker ganseys.

Here are some pics from the sales brochure of the front living room, a bedroom in the middle, and the back living room over the lake.

And here is what we (royal we – I was measuring/skiving) and Steve, who’s going to be helping us with the renovation, did. The whole of the west side is now opened up, so the 3 rooms above are now just one room. To eventually be a study area up south, kitchen/dining in the centre, log burner/lake action up north.

The floor boards are in great condition!

Finally here’s a picture of rush hour at Anderby Creek 22/9/14.

Rush hour, Anderby Creek 22/9/14

A birthday, two airbeds, a spider and some champagne on the beach

The keys to Seaside Lodge – all 64 of them.

We collected the keys to Seaside Lodge on Saturday morning. Back of the truck loaded to the gunnels with airbeds, chairs, tool kit and the desert island essentials – Marmite, foot file and my second best fit flops.

We unloaded the gubbins, then surveyed our new kingdom. It was the first time we’d been inside since we viewed it back in May.

Comically large spider in residence – tick. Smell approximating a fusion of boiled cabbage, wet newspapers and something I haven’t smelt since I helped mum deliver Meals on Wheels circa 1972 – tick.

Comedy spider at the lodge

So, here are the pics. Jon had started ripping things about before I got the chance to take pics of the lodge untouched. But let’s just say after 2 days we hadn’t found a screw or a piece of wood thicker than a greetings card. Thus far, it appears the lodge has been constructed of nails, balsawood and sticky back plastic. Lots of sticky back plastic.

This original heater makes your lips stick to your teeth.

The VIP suite with zip ‘n’ link luxury airbeds and complementary chisel.

I’m going to miss that door when it’s gone. “Tonight, Matthew…”

…Bit late for that isn’t it?

Sunday was my birthday. So I sashayed around measuring things, then we went to the beach, drank champagne and dozed in the late summer sun. Daydreaming about log burners, tartan rugs and sitting on the deck by the lake. Well, I was.

Huttoft Car terrace and a kite surfer.

Getting going at Huttoft Car terrace

Birthday poo on the beach

Footnote. People keep walking into our garden to view the lake. I found a man there at 6am. One word: fence.

Completion is just the start.

Hoorah! We completed on the purchase of the lodge today. Now to be aptly called ‘Seaside Lodge’.

We are now the proud owners of a 1959 large garden shed by a lake on the East Coast, a scant 2 minute amble from the beach. Un-modernised since Noah was a lad.

We’ll be blogging regularly, as we renovate the Vic Hallam lodge (also called an Anderby Chalet) and (hopefully) turn it into a restorative, creative bolthole for those of us who just need to get from it all from time to time. (If getting away from it all includes Malbec and a log burner).

Please follow us on our journey. Fun times and knackered manicures ahead!

Welcome to Anderby Creek

It’s going to look a little different in the next few months. The back of the lodge before renovation.

Seaside Lodge compass

The garden needs a bit of TLC

The view from the back of the lodge #Nofilter

Looking back from the beach – The Hamptons? No, Lincolnshire!

Looking over the dunes at the beach at Anderby Creek

The fields over the lake