I never, ever, imagined in my wildest dreams that I would be starting over a third time, and on an extremely strict budget. But life has a funny way of throwing things at you when you least expect them.

I have always wanted to live in a cottage with a big back garden, and after a lot of trials and tribulations I have finally succeeded in fulfilling that dream. The cottage desperately needed modernising, and over the last couple of years I’ve managed to revamp a lot of the rooms by creating and sticking to an affordable budget.

The garden is over 120 feet long. I have already made some changes including adding a third lawn, sheds, a greenhouse, and a vegetable patch at the top of the garden. I have dabbled in growing kale, parsley, mint, rhubarb, raspberries, and gooseberries. I have also succeeded in growing an abundance of tomato and cucumber plants in the greenhouse. This year I intend to grow cottage garden style cut flowers and more vegetables in an attempt to be more frugal.