Oh Dear! Only the 2nd blog of the year!

 

Huge swathes of wild garlic in the woods

I’m very sorry that it’s taken me so long to write another blog – I used to be good at writing regularly! I’ve tried several times to write something interesting and entertaining but the muse seems to have deserted me.

Having gone back to Somerset at the end of February to do a weekend farm sit for the alpacas and be ready to start back gardening for my clients at the beginning of March, the weather had other ideas! One of my clients was in the process of moving house so did not envisage needing me until late April and of the other three I think I managed 4 visits in the whole month! However, there were other things to keep me occupied.

Having reviewed the state of the remaining shed (there were 3 originally) at my new house, and taking advice from several (male) acquaintances, I decided to take it down and order a new shed online – that was my biggest mistake! The shed I ordered was 8 foot x 10 foot, the same size as the one I was replacing, and I decided to erect it on the paving slab patio to deter rats from making their home underneath it. The shed duly turned up on 4^th March, flat packed in the back of a transit van. The driver was only supposed to deliver kerb side, which is what he did, took a photo of the heap of parts and drove off. I then carried all of the panels and sundry plastic-wrapped bits and bobs round the side of the house and laid them out on the grass. The instructions came in the form of a downloadable computer file which I decided to print off – all 31 pages of it! Being a female, I duly read through all of the instructions, but found them difficult to understand as quite a few were in the form of line drawings. However, I felt quite confident as Ade and Karen, my lovely neighbours, had offered to help and Ade has put up loads of sheds.

The flat-packed shed

A few days later, at about 9.30am, they arrived and we made a start. At first we couldn’t make head nor tail of the panels that we had laid out all over the grass. They seemed to be the wrong size and some appeared to be missing. After about an hour the penny finally dropped – the shed was 10 wide and 8 foot long, with the door on the 10 foot side and the windows on the shorter 8 foot side, which was totally different to a ‘conventional’ shed which normally has the door on the shorter side and the windows on the longer one. All of the pictures and diagrams on the website and the instructions showed a ‘conventional’ shed which made it difficult for me to visualise what bits went where. Karen realised that, after the initial assistance with the floor panels, she couldn’t really usefully do anything so went off to make us coffee and bring cake.

We battled on throughout the day, not stopping for lunch or further drinks, and the day got colder and darker and windier, but we couldn’t stop because, until the roof was on and secured, the structure was not rigid. None of the panels went on easily, there was one large kit of fixings missing, nothing lined up and none of the angles of the roof trusses was correct, which necessitated Ade trying to saw slots in them whilst balanced on top of a step ladder! As darkness fell, we lifted the final roof panel into place and, of course, it didn’t fit properly but we had no choice but to secure it as best we could and give up. I was cold to the bone and shaking with exhaustion, and I think Ade probably felt the same. I was so fed up with the whole thing that I couldn’t bring myself to even go into the shed for days as it sat like a large hump-backed whale beached in the centre of my garden!

Weeks later I managed to get the windows in (they didn’t fit either) and the doors on (ditto) and still haven’t been able to leave a review on the website because it would contain too many swear words!

I now have three separate piles of dismantled sheds in my garden from which I hope to build one other shed at the end of the garden to house garden tools and chicken paraphernalia – it surely won’t be as difficult as the new shed, will it? Did I mention that I am going to have a few chickens? I have been given a chicken house from my long time farm sit clients at Dundry and I intend to have four of their chickens, too. All I have to do is, modify the hen house a bit and build an enclosed run with a clear corrugated roof so that it is avian flu-proof, should we have to keep them confined again in the future. The intention is that, on days when I am in the garden and can keep an eye on them, the chickens will be able to free-range around the bottom third of the garden which I am intending to turn into an orchard and wildflower meadow!

A beautifully laid hedge - North Somerset style

In March, the local hedge laying association held a competition on the drive leading to Dave's place on the Mendips. We went along looking for inspiration and tips as I intended to lay the overgrown hazel and hawthorn hedge at the bottom of my garden to open up the view of the fields beyond. Enthused by what I'd seen I set to a few days later but quickly realised that I was not going to be able to achieve my aim with only my trusty pruning saw, as the trunks were too thick. I called in Jeni's partner and his chainsaw and we soon had some semblance of a laid hedge. Over the next few days I did a few tweaks and adjustments and it doesn't look too bad. I have also planted a few of the hedge plants that I have been nurturing in pots for several years. Most of these have been found as tiny seedlings in my clients' herbaceous borders! Some of the others are almost big enough to plant out soon and I intend to carry on the hedge down the right hand boundary of the garden as well.

The overgrown hedge in my garden

A rough approximation of a laid hedge!

Another new venture has been to attend the monthly Community Market in Wells Town Hall. I took my spinning wheel and, as it attracted people into the venue, I have been asked to bring it each month and sit in a prominent position to lure people in! It has been lovely sitting there, spinning and talking to people about the whole procedure from fleece to yarn, although I have not sold huge amounts of stock! However, I look on it as a bit of a social event with hopefully, enough sales to cover my pitch fee and parking!

On lamb watch duties

In April my farm clients, with the alpacas, asked if I could go and spend an afternoon on lamb watch duty, as they had a birthday event for their daughter and lambs were due imminently. Luckily it was a sunny afternoon and I sat, with binoculars at the ready, on the hillside and knitted socks to pass the time. Typically, there was no lambing action and I didn’t really know what to charge them for my time so we bartered instead – I got a trailer load of alpaca poo for my new raised vegetable beds and some joints of home-reared pork!

New veg beds lined with alpaca poo

A few years ago, if you remember, I created a new, large herbaceous border for a couple who live near Stoke St Michael, on the Mendips. Well, out of the blue, they got in touch again and asked if I would be prepared to house sit for them for a week in May, so that they could go on holiday. Being a ‘gal who can’t say No’ I agreed and went off to meet my charges – there was one Labrador, four cats and some geese, ducks and chickens. The meeting went well and so I went to them a couple of weeks ago and had a restful week, in a beautiful valley with a clear, rushing stream through the middle of it, walking Reg, the Labrador twice a day, and keeping an eye on the cats, two of whom were not allowed outside for various reasons.

Waterfall that powered the paper mill

I discovered that the waterfall I found and ruined stone building were part of a paper mill that flourished here in the early part of the 19^th century. There was even a small village of about 20 houses where the workers lived and a pub and of which there is very little evidence now. I love a bit of industrial archaeology – it must be in the genes, as my Dad was very interested in old mills, mines, steam engines, etc.

Old mill building on right hand side

I didn’t come away from this farm sit empty-handed either, as I was given a Lloyd Loom chair for my bedroom - I’d been looking for one for ages and they happened to have one languishing in a barn! I also have the promise of some 1930’s wooden doors to replace the hideous sapele doors in my sitting and dining rooms.

one of the 1930's doors

I was home for precisely three days before heading to Dundry  where I am doing my annual farm sit that I’ve now been doing for about twelve years! As well as the usual bevy of cats, dogs, tortoises, poultry and sheep that I look after, I also have a few chicks – 4 of which are earmarked for me! I’d better get on with that poultry pen when I get back so that I have somewhere to keep them!