Autumn & Harvest

A short break at our 'holiday home' in Dunfermline - a bit of time resting out a new digital camera wandering around the Glen and Abbey - great architecture and warm autumn colours... used to be capital of Scotland apparently?

 Fashion is not dead in Suffolk - look at those colour combinations! A brace of Fieldens caught walking through the trees of Fielden Farm...

Output from the soil has continued to be haphazard, and bears little relationship to money spent or time nurturing. The weather was OK over the summer - it just didn't seem like it; we had beautiful nectarines from a tree planted two years ago, aubergines the size of footballs at our first attempt, and the naturalised japanese anenomies continue to bloom fantastically (despite our efforts otherwise)

Rainwater Harvesting and Flushing

Finally, we've sussed the plumbing and now have a fully functioning flushable toilet fed from harvested rainwater! A few obstacles were overcome, not least the 16" wall (c17th original) which proved challenging and almost burnt out the drill! Finding a fitment to plumb off the IBC was also very difficult... a couple of jokers could supply a fitting for a 3/4" BSP thread, but either £25 min order charge or £15 carriage... both were rejected in favour of a home-made solution from the 'plumbing-bits-box'.

However, the upper IBC provides enough pressure when full to feed into the toilet. A bit of funky (if in-elegant) plumbing means that we have an option of reverting to mains if it ever runs dry. One-way valves (have learnt to call them 'check-valves') mean we do not contaminate mains supply... however, if all goes to plan, we should not have to resort to this as 700 litres will keep us flushing for a long time... the overflow then feeds into the lower IBC - soon to be plumbed into watering the kitchen garden.

Summer 2009

Enjoyed a great weekend with the extended Ellis & Fielden family at Waddeston Manor - excellent weather for a picnic under the 'Lawrence of Arabia' style tent!

Spent some of the summer searching out 'something for nothing' to improve our recycling credentials; recycled processed wood chippings (free - as much as we can take!) were a bargain, even if did test the max towing weight of the trailer - at least it was local. Not quite free, but a bargain none the less, were the 1000+ forestry Tubex tree guards won off e-bay for next to nothing... shame we had to shell out some folding for a lorry to collect them? However, they are helping us win the war against the bunnies.

Grass harvest in with local farmer topping the paddock. Pity we only do this once a year as it only looks tidy in late summer! Decking got a summer re-paint, although home-made spraying equipment was not 100% successful - cheap, but equal quanitities on decking and sprayers!

Chris & Raquel's - Wedding 25th June 2009; great day, great addition to the family. 

Mid-summer project is investigating rainwater harvesting; step one - spend hours in the evening designing mad-cap plumbinng solutions that could never possibly work. Step two - buy some big tanks off e-bay. (if you're in the South-West, Alex at Toucan is your man http://www.toucanenvironmental.co.uk/) Very frustrated trailer was 1/2 inch too short for the second tank, but we have them... now just have to go back to the plumbing.

Took some time out for some sunshine in Tenerife; ate, read, drank & swam. Not alot of photo-opportunities, although the mountain did look stunning one morning whilst walking along the beach.

The kitchen garden is coming along nicely; experimenting with growing potatos in sacks (recycled old hessian feed bags) which seems to be working. The raised beds are filling out, as is the bean arch made from our old roof timbers.

Have rigged up the salvaged sprinkler system from the poly-tunnel and now have an option of instant rain. Also installed a self-watering irrigation system in the greenhouse for the toms. Have already feasted on peas, courgettes, spinach & broad-beans, looking forward to onions, beans, spuds, brocoli, garlic, leeks, tomatos, cucumber and aubergine. We may also harvest some blueberries and blackcurrants if the birds don't get them. And possibly some nectarines if you like them the size and hardness of a large marble.

Final task for early summer was planting out yet more trees - this time willow strips taken from the main tree; growing well, but it's an uphill battle with the bloody bunnies. Out of 3 acres, why do they choose to eat whatever you've just planted?

Final push to get the purple room finished and converted into the green room; Bit more plastering to true-up the walls then many hours sanding and striping skirting boards and door frames. Fortunartely, doors can be taken off, and even better fit into the back of the car. We found "Phil the Stripper" in the small ads, and he didn't disappoint!

Some very interesting 'door furniture' was revealed from victorian Hobbs & Co brass handles, Baldwin patent cast hinges and simple mechanical door locks. We also fell in love with coving. Used to think it was a bit naff, but when your walls are a bit wonky and don't quite meet the ceiling, they are brilliant. Thank you B&Q Easy-Cove. Very easy to fit - even if you do continue to ignore all Health & Safety advice about holding the workpiece in your hand... tut-tut!

Easter 2009

A few days off, a few (willing) helpers - time to attack the trees and hedging; Historical wisdom was to chuck all garden rubbish into hedge to 'thicken it up' however it has probably contributed to killing it, so some reparation was needed. Hedging has been cleared and thinned (next years logs for the wood burner - thank you!) and some 200 saplings have been back planted. Hawthorn & blackthorn for the main hedge, beech along the drive and laurel for some evergreen barrier along the road.

Another project, another toy! This time an industrial shredder to get rid of all the rubbish and mulch the top end of the garden. Bit of a beast, but did a fantastic job (Hire Standards Westbury - 01373 858001: excellent service)

Chain-gang in photo; L-R Barbara, John, Jo, Jean & Bill. Not on a break at time of photo; Kelly, Lawrence, Jon, Chris & Raquel (one tree planted!) Big thank-you to everyone who helped, even in the rain.

Despite the numerous interesting trees in the garden, some numpty decided to plant conifers nearest the house, so you can't see the rest of the garden, so they had to go. Started felling some, but stopped halfway as they cleared out the view without taking out the whole tree - sort of oriental effect? We'll leave it for a while and see if they survive.

No health and safety accidents to report. For a change.

Tree-felling; by the experts!

There comes a time when 'having a go' is just a tad too dangerous... or too near the road, electricity cables, greenhouse, windows, stables... etc., that you have to call in the experts. Given our scary but effective felling of part of the conifer last year, we enrolled Gerald to show us how it's down properly; chainsaw, rope, gentle tug and it fell exactly where he said. Can't see how we made such a lash of it really!

Spring 2009

Spring has sprung - the rabbits have started to nibble the daffodil shoots (although they obviously don't like the taste of snowdrops) and the chooks have come off winter strike and are laying again.

We've also gone a little more green-bonkers in the garden with a bio-solar-digesting-waste composter... in theory you can bung almost anything in it, and it will break down safely without smelling or attracting rats. We'll see; it's been installed in a sunny spot and it is already consuming waste that would otherwise go to landfill.

 So the website (www.greencone.com) says: The Green Cone reduces food waste to its natural components of water, carbon dioxide and a small residue. The solar-heated garden unit takes all cooked and uncooked food waste including meat, fish, bones, dairy products, vegetables and fruit.

Chicken Rescue 2009

We'd lost a few chickens to natural causes, so egg production was down, and thanks to Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fernley-Flip-Flop demand for battery hens has never been greater. Not only did we have to book them, but also pay in advance!

Thanks to Hen-ReHomers (www.henrehomers.net) we collected another dozen chooks in February who were off to slaughter. Their appearance is quite a shock (and a moral nudge for all of you who don't think about where their eggs come from) but they are settling in well. Rather dopey and with very large flacid combs, they are picking up proper chicken-etiquette very well.

Not only that, they are in semi-production, with about two dozen eggs in the first week. The original hens are also coming to terms with their new house-mates - aside from a few stand-offs, the pecking order is being determined; some of the new-comers are rather strong charcters and don't like being bullied!

So far, so good - the chickens are settling in OK - time for some over-due DIY. Only slightly more challenging than the 'black room' is the 'purple room', which is destined for a make-over. Once the walls and woodwork is stripped, it will be a great room - just a lot of dull prep-work to complete first.

Armed with a few odds & sods from the office, the "Barnes-Drinker" (NOT a member of staff...) has been fashioned from an old tote-box, wire in-tray and ball-cock plus a bit of garden hose: Automatic drinking fountain in a few easy steps!

Chooks are coming along, with new feathers sprouting, although still somewhat bedragled; quite a long way to go to be fully plumed like the originals. Proof however that rescusing battery hens is worthwhile?

Time for a bit of botany; we've discovered that in the olden days, the garden was open to the public through the National Garden Scheme - hence why there appear to be some nice plants hidden under the jungle. We've found a clump of rare white violets (viola odorata alba) - not sure what to do with them, but it's nice to find a surprise still in the undergrowth.

Winter 2008/9

Still very cold - and not much going on... however, we have at least got some carpets in - Oh what luxury after a year of rubble-floors. We have almost two rooms complete. Shameless plug time again for 1st Choice Carpets in Westbury (www.1stchoicecarpets.com 01373 827281) for a great job and friendly service. We may be in recession, but a smile costs nothing!

Chickens are proving to be very resiliant - although understandably they have gone on egg strike: whould you get your bum out in this weather? Ice & beaks aren't a great combination, so they are very excited about the daily fresh water delivery!

As it's so cold, we've invested in one of those 'newspaper-brickette-making-devices' - It seems to work, although is a lot of effort, we're waiting for the first btch to dry out. If it works, at least we'll finally get some value out of the Daily Mail... 

Rather than hod all the limelight on our own DIY efforts, we took a weekend away to help Lawrence & Nicola with some of their projects. Bloody freezing temperatures, but plenty of coffee breaks and good progress made until Jon mangled finger in electric plane... Not one for pain, Staff Nurse Lawrence and Florence Jo ably patched up what was left of finger with Duct tape in consultation with NHS Direct whilst Jon floated between shades of white, yellow and green (ever the Norwich City fan...). Now a regular at Frome Community Hospital (excellent facilities) finger is on the mend if still throbbing. Mental note to heed Mother-in-law's advice about wearing gloves and not holding workpiece in hand. Strangely, laptop fingerprint recognition has stopped working...

Meanwhile, despite injuries and snow, the bold feature wall has been completed in the main bedroom; a rather striking chocolate and gold Linda Barker design (down to £2/roll in B&Q) has created a rather stunning effect.

Update on the Daily Mail Briquettes; after two weeks in the boiler cupboard and a light finishing on the radiator they are ready for incineration and burning nicely. Full production has commenced with the aid of a redundant wheelie bin for mushing the daily papers in.