ONE CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH WOOD! - Oct 2016

For several months now, every which way I look, there are piles of wood.


Outside, we have piles of branches waiting to be cut,

forgotten heaps hidden beneath the undergrowth,

trees and hedges waiting to be trimmed or cut down,

logs in the process of being made,

and multiple piles of ready cut logs, drying out.

Inside, there are dried logs ready for the wood burner,

logs saved especially for decorative purposes,

planks ready to be used for work surfaces and internal structures,

and random piles in any would-otherwise-have-been-empty corners of rooms, lying in wait for Will to be in a position to test out his wood lathe.

Some pieces have almost become part of the family - take this beam for example which has spent years resting on the stairs waiting to be incorporated in to the building. We have become adept at not banging our heads on it as we climb the stairs, and at not tripping over it at the top of the stairs.

One day, it won't be there. It will be attached to the wall. But I bet it will be a long time before we stop tripping over the empty space at the top of the stairs it will have left behind.




Next blog - Progress

Pests . . . AGAIN! - Sept 2016

So . . . We've sorted out the wild goats. . . sort of! 

We still get occasional visits, but I think we have a more relaxed attitude with them now. We have come to realise that if we can't beat them , we have to accept them. After all they were on the mountain a long time before us. 

Maybe they think we are the pests?

Fortunately for us, rabbits haven't caused us as much of a problem as they have to our neighbours. They must have tastier plants and veg!

The squirrels appear to have decreased in number. We think this has come with the arrival of Boogaloo, who likes to give chase when she can see them - which isn't really that often as we think she has dodgy doggy eyesight. She makes up for this by using her over-sensitive nose which is constantly to the ground sniffing out the last animal to cross her path.

Talking of which, it appears that she had a confrontation with a 'pest' of another sort which frequents our mountains, and I am yet to see. An adder! A recent swollen painful leg turned out to be a snake bite, which caused her some grief for at least a fortnight.

And today, look what we found clinging onto Gizmo (the cat). . .

Eeeewwwww

Yes, lots of ticks in the fields around here, as well as snakes!


And with the warm days and evenings a thing of the past, even the slugfest has packed up and gone. They aren't even invading Boogaloo's food dish any more, but that could be to do with the small hole I found in a dusty, cobwebby corner of the stone wall not far away from the doggy dish. Since filling it in, there have been no sign of the slugs. If that's where they were hiding during daylight hours, I'm sort of hoping they were out for the day when I filled in the hole!

So, you might think, as I did, that we are winning the pest battle . . . 

But ha! No surprises -  look what I found in the garden. . . 

Several small fruit trees totally decimated!

They looked like this only a couple of days ago . . .

The culprit?  . . .

Hmmmmm! We'd best be having a good display of butterflies next year!





Next blog - One can never have enough wood!

BLACKBERRY PICKING - Sept 2016

Dry sunny weather was predicted for a few days,  so I decided to get on with some more pointing, on this wall . . .

So I kitted up accordingly, but before I started I became distracted by some blackberries in the garden which needed picking. As I followed the bramble trail it took me to a little used path which I have cleared several times - but not recently due to working on the house - as you can see!!

So that was it - another distraction. From pointing up a wall - to blackberry picking - to path clearing.

Gardening gloves - not exactly in the best condition for pulling up brambles.

Two days later - path cleared once again, with a note to self 'Do NOT let this path become overgrown again!'

And what did I have to show for the blackberry picking? Not a lot!

But I did eventually get the wall not just pointed, but painted too.

Another job ticked off the list!





Next blog - Pests . . . AGAIN!

CLEARING THE VIEWS - Sept 2016

I think in my previous message, I was just a tad ambitious. There is no way those views will be cleared any time soon, but I have started.

Here's where we were ...

then here ...

And now I've pointed up the wall . . . but hold on - what's this new addition?

That's not supposed to be here!

After staring at it for some time, eyeballing me, I decided that maybe it was after the plant my side of the window!

Actually, what drew my attention to the goat, was an horrendously loud noise coming from the conservatory. I ran to find what was causing it - only to discover this goat bashing his horns over and over again on the glass conservatory door. I ran to fetch my camera in case we needed evidence in an insurance claim. But by the time I returned, it had moved around to the side of the conservatory, as in picture. I am pretty sure that it was rutting with another goat - its reflection in the glass door!!





Next blog - Blackberry picking

CONTINUING RENOVATIONS - Aug 2016

For some weeks . . months . . . or more probably more like a year or even years, the conservatory and dining table have disappeared under a load of wood and other 'useful stuff'.

Most of this is 'stuff' and building materials which will eventually find their way to the utility room, currently under construction

Bit by bit we are getting there

Looking at photos of how it was just a few years ago, confirms we are heading in the right direction, albeit slowly . . .

The door where there used to just be a hole into the room.

And a proper roof which replaced the old metal corrugated one . . . 

And the stage in between when there was no roof . . .

Now the utility room is well on its way to being finished, we have 

the conservatory back.

 I was beginning to doubt I'd ever see the table again.

Next job - sort out the views from the conservatory

Next blog - Clearing the views

A FURTHER BLOCKAGE - Aug 2016

Fortunately I wasn't on my way to catch a train this evening because about quarter a mile from home, driving along our lane, I came across this blockage in the road - a bale of hay!

It had left a track down the bank, which made me realise that I needed to move quick - in case another bale decided to follow course from the pile stacked at the top.

Fortunately we don't live on a dead end road, but it involved a 3 mile diversion and meant I got to practice my reversing skills in the dark - not something I'm in a hurry to do again! 






Next blog - Continuing renovations







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