Herman, Eighth Earl of Heatherfield, was jilted at the altar by the lovely Lady Lavinia Leathersedge.

He signed his stately home over to his nephew, the Honourable Horace,

and retreated to nurse his broken heart in the Folly,

tucked away in a remote corner of the grounds.  The estate carpenter

was sent to fence off a section of garden for him.

That is how Herman became a hermit living in a horrible hovel.

Although quite content to live in squalor, one day he started pottering in the neglected garden, and is now trying to bring it back to its former glory.

The inside walls of the Tower were roughly covered with polyfilla, and painted with watercolour washes.

Stairs (left over from The Anchor [Acorn Antiques]) were adapted and added

The floor and the stairs were treated with polyfilla and painted.  Furniture and a light added.

Herman welcomes you to his Hovel.

There is still quite a lot of work to be done on making the furniture suitably disgusting.

The outside of the Tower covered with stonework and given a first colour wash.

The door and window frames are undercoated.

Now the Tower (left) is nearing completion.

The battlements were built out of polystyrene, covered with plaster and painted to match the rest of the exterior.  A weathervane and nesting seagull complete it.

The door, window frames and shutters have been topcoated and distressed.

Herman has been caught sitting on the privy!

The back wall was made from thick carboard (cut from the box in which The Tower kit was delivered), covered with fibreglass brick sheet, and topped with tiny stones.

The wicket gate in the wall, which has also been aged.  I made 50 paper roses to climb up the wall and across the gate, and later added some strands of ivy too. 

The garden seat will probaby be left out, as I'm running out of space.

The yard, with privy (complete with torn up newspapers hanging on the wall) and coal bunker.  The dustbin is still far too clean and shiny.  One day Herman will get round to putting the door back on the privy

A rockery is going into the clear space at the front.

The inside (right) is nearly completed, with a dirty old mattress, pillow and blankets for his bed.  On the wall at the left is a shelf with a photograph of the lovely Lady Lavinia and a vase of flowers.

When I saw this picture I realised that the bedroom looked too flat and empty, so I changed the light fitting for one that hangs down further, added a mirror onto the back wall,

as well as a few other odds and ends.

I also noticed that I hadn't painted the edges of the upstairs ceiling.

A tree hangs over the garden wall.  Rose bushes, irises by the pond, and hollyhocks form the start of the flower bed.

Once the main flowers are in place I'll start in-filling with weeds and leaves to make the beds suitably overgrown.

There are dandelions scattered across the lawn, but I haven't yet made any tiny white daisies.

All this gardening has tired poor Herman out - and that bottle of wine didn't help, either.

I'm trying (right) to make a purple rhododendron to stand in the corner, but I'm not quite sure whether or not it will work.

I'll add some more flowers and leaves, and see what happens.

So far I've included a row of geraniums in pots, rose bushes and irises, and dandelions.

Originally I bought a large quantity of ready made flowers to go in the garden, but once I discovered how to make them myself I had great pleasure in making enough to fill all the flower beds.

I can't believe its finished!!!

This is a long shot to show the whole scene.

In the picture below can you see:

The dog looking over the fence?    The paint can hanging on the fence?   The white bird sitting on the fence?

The grey cat using the seed box as a litter tray (on the path, just beyond the holly hocks)?

The primroses growing on the grass bank outside the fence?

The dandelions dotted around, particularly one by the right gate post?

There's even a robin sitting on the spade in front of the watering can.

In the picture below can you see:

Herman's false teeth on the chair by his bed, with potty underneath it?

The spider dangling from a web?  The fishing creel and rod?

And downstairs:

Two rats eating from a discarded tin can?  Herman's frying pan on the floor under the chair, with two fried eggs in it?

A broken egg on the corner of the table with the dirty bowl under the tap?

The flagon of beer and his glass on the broken old crate he uses as a table?

The dirty, overflowing dustbin?