The Log Burner

After a lot of Google searches and visits to shops that stock log burners we finally decided on the one that would suit the sitting room best.  we wanted something with an 'industrial' look to it although modern enough to fit the contemporary style and efficient enough to give us the heat we need in a large room with a vaulted ceiling.

The Contura fire arrived in October and as you can see the fitter took over the room for the day!

The fire is sitting on a glass 'teardrop' which will protect the wooden floor and still allow the beautirful wood to be seen.  We have sealed it around the edge with clear sealant now - tip from a friend - so that the dust doesn't get under the glass!

It took us a while to learn how to light the log burner but we mostly get it right first time now and are gradually working our way through the logs cut from the felled trees from our garden. It's certainly very efficient and throws out a fantastic heat so we use it in the evenings rather than turn the underfloor heating on during the week as it would take too long to heat the room - I do love a real fire and this is certainly real and the heat from it necessitates heat-proof cloves to open the door and add the logs!
 

Garden

Spring 2017

It seems like an age since there was anything interesting to post which I guess means that we have settled into life in our home and garden and less of keeping a building site in check.  However, don't despair there is still work to do and we have a couple of 'Projects' to sort out this year but more of that later.

For now I can bring you up to date on the garden and our efforts over winter to move things along, in particular in the vegetable patch.

Let's start with the Courtyard on route to the garden.  It's looking so much better now that it's not reminiscent of a builders yard!  The hanging baskets suffered in the harsh winter but have recovered a little with the warmer temperatures in the onset of Spring.  As usual I got carried away with J Parkers and Sarah Raven and had a wonderful time planting up all the pots.  Of course by the time autumn comes around I will be regretting that as I will want to plant them all out into the garden as the pots will be needed for summer blooms in the courtyard as well.

 View of the courtyard from the kitchen doors.

Looking through the courtyard towards the front doors.  You may notice that M has also put up a beautiful cedar fence to shield the 'extraction fan' on the roof of The Crown next door.

The sunlight filters through the majestic Scots Pine and provides some shade to the pond, which is good at the minute as it's covered in frog-spawn!  You may also notice a new arbor at this end of the path - rescued from my old house as the wind decided in early january that it was time to demolish it so M worked his usual magic and we have re-cycled it for now - will need to see how long it lasts!

The raised bed, with Gabion walls, has survived over winter but will need a bit more work this year to see what will grow in it as the base is largely rubble so not the best place for plants that need deep rich soil.

The raised beds took 2 tons of topsoil on top of the contents of both compost bins and the leaves raked up in the garden over winter to fill them.  We underestimated the amount of topsoil initially so needed two deliverys but that gives us a little bit over - you can see the little pile under the white jumbo bag - to enrich the patch at the far end which will be a wild flower meadow.  It has now had one planting of seeds, followed by the topsoil with grass seed and I will add another layer of seeds in April to 'layer' the flowers over the summer.

The bed under the apple tree is beginning to come to life, still a bit green but some colour coming through from the daffodils and wallflowers with the tulips about to bloom too.

 View looking back from the garden to the entrance to the courtyard.

April in the Garden

 

Garden 2016

Spring 2016 and Beyond

 We may not have had the best of starts to the year for gardening but Spring is definitely on it's way so time to get back in the garden and tame a bit more.  Some friends visited recently and told us a lovely story about smeone he had known who always left a bit at the bottom of his garen for God to do with as he wished - I like the concept and intend to adopt that for our garden, largely because it means I might finish the taks a decade earlier that trying to do it all...........so here goes for this year's journey through the garden seasons

Taken in mid-April as the growth begins to become evident.  Weeding at this point has to be done carefully as it's not always easy to work out what are weeds and what are plants I want to keep.

If you have been reading the Sitting Room page you will recall that I mentioned my potting table and the discovery that the top was an old piece of Elm.  M has rejuvenated the potting table with a plywood top and a weatherproof coating of black paint - drying out on the patio here.

The grass (may be a lawn one day) looks quite good having had an early Spring feed.

The area under the Apple tree is coming on although lots of that green is comprised of 'wild carrot' so have to get to grips with that one of these days.  It's quite pretty but going a bit too 'wild' for my liking.

The vegetable patch has survived the winter quite well, we emptied the compost bin onto it in late winter so hopefully it will be ready for Spring Planting soon.

You may just be able to see the bird feeder on the archway - clearly it's well hidden from the little birds as it is still full - probably needs emptied now and we try again next winter - or maybe there is enough food for them in the garden as it is!

M has installed a time switch for the fountain on the pond - lots of frog spawn in the pond but not sure they have survived the recent frosts.  Oh and we have a fish (or two?) a friend needed to empty a pond and asked us to take the fish which we were happy to do but not sure if the Heron has had them already as recent sightings only reveal one goldfish.

It occurred to me last weekend that we might be able to get rid of some of the concrete from the entrance to the garden and use it as rubble in the Courtyard.  It is coming up quite easily and appears to have been concrete poured on top of cinders originally.

From this .....................

................To this - not quite finished, ran out of energy and light over the Bank Holiday weekend................more to do!

Looks quite good even if I say so myself

Rockery and pond from the entrance to the Garden view.

The Honesty is flowering under the stabilising wires of the telegraph pole.  Aqueliga and Hollyhocks also starting to grow.  Bluebells (and Whitebells) have been a goo show, now beginning to die back.

The Chosyia is looking quite good this year having been cut back hard last autumn.

Tulips, Wallflowers and Forget-me-Not under the Lilac Tree.

The flowerbed under the wall between our garden and our neighbours is maturing quite nicely now.

I have moved the rose that used to be in the Courtyard to the edge of that bed in the hope that it 'likes' the spot and I can put it into the end of that bed in the late autumn as it's new home!  the pile of bricks are as a result of a sort-out at the weekend so that hald and blown bricks could form part of the Rubble in the yard.

June 2016: Views of the Garden

 

July 2016 - Views of the Garden 

 July has been an interesting month in the Uk from a weather perspective and of course we had agreed to open our garden for the local church roof restoration fund so some significant effort was required to get it 'into shape' for visitors.  On the day the weather was beautiful and of course the garden did look good in the sunshine!

It was rewarding to discover that our efforts in combination with 14 other garden owners and church teas has raised almost £1,200 for the church roof restoration fund.