March Winds Shall Blow

At long last my fire has been fitted. I thought we would be sure to have a heat wave now I've got some heat, but it seems its going to be tested under arctic conditions. Freezing mornings with warm sunny afternoons and freezing nights. Quite nice really. 

I haven't decorated the kitchen yet, but I thought I'd show you a preview of my beautiful cupboards. I'm hoping to pick up the paint brush soon. Honest.

 Walking in the woods is lovely, there's a real feeling of Spring, I came across this patch of daffodils, about a week away from flowering, just yards from my garden. Although the woods aren't exactly huge, with mobility like mine its an adventure every time. I feel so connected. The muntjac deer are mating, I have a buck barking at the gate every night, which together with the owls screeching, foxes screaming and badgers grumbling keep the dogs very active and noisy. My little cockerel starts welcoming the dawn at about midnight, so don't think the countryside is quiet.

I bought some new pekin bantams at Ross Rare breeds sale yesterday, and it inspired me to photograph them and then all of my animals, all on the same day. So here they are:

The black pullets are new and are Vera, Lynne and Gracie. The lavender pullet is Gretal and the cock is Hansel.

 This gorgeous little partridge pekin pullet is Willow, the other 2 are Hazel and Holly an the cockerel is Monty.

This is Charles, my beautiful Buff Orpington boy. He poses for the camera quite well.

Behind Charles are Camilla, the Buff Orpington Hen, and Dark Dulcie, the Gold Laced Orpington.

The bluebelles are Agatha and Christie.

                                          
                          
 Bramble, Nettle, and Holly


                                          

The Cheekiest Of Angora Goats, Bonnie and Tulip.          

                                           

My beloved Turnip, Welsh pony with attitude.


                                          


Griffin, Dartmoor pony, sweetest of souls.





Nancy, young Welsh pony, a very determined girl.





So I'm sat by the fire, warm and toasty, well fed and tired, thankful for my friends and family, both human and animal.


Thanks for looking in.
xx

Is Spring in the air?

Nettle looks so cute in this picture, she loves sitting in the window regarding her world, she quickly calls to the others if she sees an invader, like a blackbird, and they all storm off to chase it way. The are happy to play outside all day, I'm so glad they love it so much, as they were partly the reason I moved here.

There's been a lot of sunshine and the ground is really warming up. The woods look very messy, the snow flattened all the bracken and the high winds have removed any loose branches, - and some trunks - from the trees but there's that feeling of energy in the ground, 

and look what I found under the broken apple tree, its so exciting to see what comes up in a new garden. This really does mean Spring is on its way.

                                      

The ponies are loose in the whole farm, they are thoroughly enjoying themselves in the sun but still come running in when the weather turns. Jeannie and I are hoping to start driving soon, she's in Egypt at present (what a time to go, ever the adventurer) and we have sent the carriage to be modified as a marathon vehicle, and Violet is being repaired where I had an incident with a concrete post in a car park. So as soon as she returns we can begin training.

We've got a fabulous new carriage for Dressage and cones and we may even do some shows  if we fancy it!

So with all this energy about I've decided that this section of the garden is my first project. Its small enough for me to cope with  in a day or two and yet it should make a big difference when its done, and it'll have plenty of time to mature this year.

 With this one as my assistant, it might take me longer than planned.

January 2011

The coldest month on record has come and gone, Christmas has come and gone and I can't wait till Spring. I moved in at the end of October and it got progressively colder until we hit the record books. With no curtains, huge windows with thin glass, stone stairs, no insulation anywhere, and single brick upstairs it was as cold inside as out! Was this really what I wanted?

Of course it was mind blowingly beautiful and the dogs loved it!

Richard bravely managed to fit the new kitchen which involved lying on the stone floor with the door open, and sawing away outside in the snow. It is very beautiful, and Julek painted it for me over Christmas holidays, and its perfect.

Jean and I fitted a radiator in the dining room and a towel rail in the bathroom but neither could get the temperature above 10 degrees. I got used to wearing 2 layers of thermals 24/7 as well as loads of outer layers. The log burner worked but I had no logs till late December and so had to fetch them all from the farm. It was really hard and my whole day would consist of feeding and mucking out animals and trying to keep warm. With curtain making at high speed I just about got some control of the temperature by Christmas, at which time the temperature rose to around zero, which felt warm, and we had a proper white Christmas.

I had managed to get the house a little more organised, and made a real effort to tidy and get into the Christmas mood.

I do really love my little house although there are so many projects I shall be busy - and broke - forever, but thats part of the appeal. Here are some pics of the house.

No pics of the kitchen yet - not till its decorated!

October 2010

This has been a very changeable month, mostly gorgeous weather, cold but sunny, with leaves changing and starting to drop. Work has continued outside, the fences are now up, but alot of damage has been done to the ground, although I am reassured that it will be fine by Spring. Now I am in the process of dog proofing the fences, a considerable task in one and a half acres!

Its not all mangled, though, still got some green.

Not your everyday garden machinery!

Inside it seems slow, the painting is all done, but that's about it. Part of the kitchen is built and fitted, but I'm waiting for the electrician to fit the cooker and the lights, the plasterer to finish the plastering in my bedroom, and someone to fit my fires. Jeanie and I have been building trellis's to dog proof and goat proof the courtyard, and the boys have felled the ash tree (so my winter fuel is sorted.) here are some pics of the inside.

We'll get there in the end.

Today, at last, John came with the bulldozer to start the fencing. I had almost given up, although gradually the house is coming together. The painting is almost finished, and although there are still some jobs to do, after this week it should be ready to move in.

This week I've had to cope with the painters, the plumber, the electrician, the chimney sweep, the fencers and the neighbours. Help !

That was the befores, here are the afters.............

At last, when the fences are finished, I can move in because the dogs will be safe and so will the neighbours chickens.