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!

A busy start to the year

 

A selection of Spring flowers from Mum's garden

Well, we’ve made it into 2024! The time seems to be rushing past and my intention to publish at least one blog a month has already failed!

There was a flurry of viewings of my house in January which resulted, finally, in an offer. It was spectacularly less than I’d hoped to get back in the early part of 2023, but I accepted anyway as I need to move forward. I assume that the whole process will take the usual snail’s pace to complete but I am allowing myself a small glimmer of hope that sometime, in late Spring, the transaction will be done and dusted.

The Hobby Room (note dust on lens!)

The finished Hobby Room

Meanwhile, back in the ‘new’ house things have been moving along. I finally hired the sanders – a big, heavy brute of a drum sander and its little cousin, the edge sander, for a weekend in January. My first challenge came when I went to get them out of the car – I couldn’t lift the drum sander at all and had to ask my friends to come and help me and then carry it up the stairs, as I was going to start on the two rooms upstairs, before tackling the two reception rooms. Even then things did not proceed smoothly. Karen busied herself in the main bedroom attempting to scrape off the remains of the old, double-sided carpet tape that had virtually become part of the floorboards, while Ade got to work using the edging sander. Meanwhile, I started using the drum sander in the smallest room (henceforth to be referred to as The Hobby or Craft Room!) and it was all looking good until, inexplicably, the machine suddenly stopped and refused to start again. I knew that it probably had a thermal cutout to prevent overheating of the motor but couldn’t understand why it would have overheated so quickly, but I decided to leave it a while to cool down before attempting to restart it.

The Main Bedroom (note dusty lens, again!)

The finished floor

Back in the front bedroom things were also going badly – the tape was welded to the floor and the only thing that seemed to loosen it at all were copious applications of WD40 and vigorous scraping, and the edge sander kept ripping off its sanding discs and destroying them. I’d been given armfuls of sanding discs and sheets in three different grades and would only be charged for the number that I used, but at this rate, we would run out before the job was half done! Ade discovered that by using two discs, one on top of the other, and also the judicious use of gaffer tape as a strengthener across the back, it improved the life of them, but it was still a worry.

I’d collected the sanders at 9.00am on the Friday morning and by lunchtime we’d made very little progress: the drum sander was still refusing to start; the edge sander was still occasionally destroying discs, but at least most of the double-sided tape had been removed from the edges of the room. At this point, Karen and Ade had to go home as they had other commitments for the rest of the day, and I rang the hire company and asked them to replace the drum sander with one that would actually work. Fair play to them, they drove over almost straight away with a new one, came up the stairs and checked the first one which, of course, started straight away, leaving me red-faced with embarrassment! They took that one and I proceeded to use the new one which seemed to be a lot more enthusiastic about the job and kept trying to pull me across the floor!

The heavy drum sander

I’m very glad to say that my son, Dave, volunteered to help me over the weekend and did a sterling job with the heavy drum sander whilst I wielded the edge sander. It was a messy, dusty, frustrating, energy-sapping job but by the end of the weekend we had managed to sand all four floors with three different grades of sandpaper and had some beautiful floorboards awaiting varnish. It was at this point that I returned to Cheltenham to spend some more time with Mum.

During the latter part of 2023 Mum had developed arthritis in her left ankle and this was making walking painful, so that she was struggling to keep up her level of fitness. The wet and windy weather that we had endured during the autumn and winter had also curtailed her outings, so she was feeling very frustrated. Her podiatrist suggested a course of laser treatment which meant two appointments each week for three weeks, so I was very glad to be on hand to take her to the majority of them, saving her a bus ride or a taxi fare. She also had a couple of hospital appointments – one in Cheltenham and one in Gloucester, so I have become very familiar with hospital car parks and waiting rooms in general. Unfortunately, the weather was still wet and windy, so we didn’t stray far from home but the weekend that I went home again the weather improved and Lynda and Paul came down from Sheffield so were able to take Mum for some nice drives in the Cotswolds and to see the emerging snowdrops at Rendcomb.

Back in Somerset for a couple of weeks I got on with the floor varnishing – 3 coats in every room plus a light sanding between coats 2 and 3 and am thrilled with the results! I’ve tried to ignore the new signs of damp on one of the walls in my freshly decorated bedroom, the exploding damp plaster in the sitting room and the internal drip of water onto the windowsill in the dining room – all these things can be sorted when the house is finally mine (I keep telling myself!). I have also finished the wardrobe cupboard that I created by blocking up one of the doors and doubling its size – it will now be a useful storage space with shelves on one side and a long shelf with hanging rail beneath.

My newly created wardrobe cupboard

In my spare time(!), I managed to go to the first Craft Fair of 2024 in Wells Town Hall. To be honest, it was a good excuse to sit down for a day and concentrate on something else! It was a slow day as the weather was not great, but there was a trickle of customers, and I made a small profit whilst networking (chatting!) with my fellow traders. One chap made owl and other bird boxes, bat roosts and bug hotels out of reclaimed timber so I am hoping, at some point, to buy a couple of items from him for my new, wildlife-friendly garden. Next time I have a stall, in early March, I am going to take my spinning wheel with me as this always creates interest.

I am now back in Cheltenham for a week or so, where I have managed to repair the larder floor which I put my foot through the last time I was here! Dad had made a false floor over some old, disconnected gas pipes using chipboard covered in vinyl tiles, not long after they moved in some 40 years ago and one piece of the board had obviously aged more than the rest! Cue a trip to B & Q in Cheltenham to buy plywood and new stick-on vinyl tiles and a day later I’d managed to make good the damage I’d done. Phew! I’m supposed to be here to help Mum not create more jobs that need sorting.

Mum's reinstated larder floor!

I’m off back to Somerset soon as my gardening jobs will restart at the beginning of March, and I need to do some work in my own garden, too.

End of 2023 blog

The extent of my Xmas decorations!

I thought I’d sneak in an end-of-year blog, even though I haven’t a lot to say! 

There was a lot of rain and wind throughout November and December which disrupted a lot of my gardening jobs – normally I finish for the winter at the beginning of December, but I was so behind with the autumn tidy up that I intended to carry on into the second week of December, but the weather gods had different ideas and sent deluge after deluge across Somerset, causing the area around Glastonbury to resemble it’s ancient marshland status with flooded fields in all directions. 

The week after a very wet Bonfire Night, Yeo Valley put on a fireworks display for their employees and families on one of the only dry evenings. It was held right next to Dave’s new home so we all congregated there and then wandered round to the yard outside the barn where there were food stalls and a bar. The display was amazing and seemed to go on for ages – it was the best display I’ve been to since the sad demise of the Priddy Village Fireworks many years ago. 

My new log burner

After that brief respite, the weather returned to its wet and windy condition which was a shame as I had booked the stove guy a few months before to come and install a log burner in my ‘new’ house. He had to do some remedial work on the top of the chimney so had hired a cherry picker for a day. Of course, it was hammering down with rain, but he still had to go up in the basket and was soaked to the skin despite heavy waterproofs. Whilst he was up there, he discovered a slipped tile, which may account for a damp area in the sitting room wall as he said the water was running down into the cavity like a gushing tap! He did a temporary fix which should hold it in place until I can employ a builder to carry out the rest of the external repairs and, since then, I have been running a dehumidifier in the sitting room to try and dry out the wall. The log burner is an updated version of the one that I had fitted two years ago in Glastonbury, and I’m really pleased with it. If I’m up at the house for any length of time I have taken to lighting it to help dry out the room and the internal surface of the chimney which, prior to the remedial work, leaked water into the fireplace. 

Stud wall

Plasterboard in place

There has been no movement on the sale of my house, but I am continuing to do some work on the ‘new’ house, although I am not going to spend any more large sums of money until it is actually mine! I’ve watched several YouTube videos on various topics (what did we do before them?) and have added a new skill to my repertoire – I have built a stud wall, albeit a small one, to block in a doorway and I am continuing to paper the bedroom wall with lining paper prior to repainting. All these small triumphs have stopped me getting totally downhearted about the situation and made me feel as if I am making some progress. I had booked a floor sander for the weekend of 16th/17th December but sadly went down with Covid on the Thursday and decided to postpone that job until the New Year. 

I had three Christmas Fairs booked to try and sell some of my knitted and felted items but the first one was a complete washout, in both senses of the word – the weather was pretty dire so there were not many customers, even though it was in a pleasant village hall, and I sold nothing. The second Fair was cancelled as it was due to be outside and the weather forecast was for lashing rain and gale force winds! Luckily, the third one was in the middle of December, in Wells Town Hall and on the same day as the weekly outdoor market, so it was quite busy, and I sold several items. The Wells Town Hall markets are due to restart twice a month from February, so I think I will try and make it to, at least, some of them. 

Right at the beginning of December I was booked to do a weekend farm sit for the alpacas and arrived on Friday afternoon to find Chris and Sarah desperately trying to put coats on three of the alpacas, two adults and one cria, as the forecast was for sub-zero temperatures and all three had thin fleeces. One of the adults already had her own coat that she wears each winter but Sarah had had to buy large dog coats for the other two. The one for the cria fitted quite well but she had had to cobble together extra Velcro fastenings for the adult male. Finally, they were finished and could set off on their weekend away. 

A cold, frosty morning!

The forecast was very accurate, and I awoke on the Saturday to a world suddenly blanketed in heavy frost. None of the outside taps were working and all of the buckets/water containers were frozen solid, so it was quite a task to get water to all of the livestock. There was a brief thaw at about lunchtime, but it only lasted about 45 minutes before the freezing conditions reasserted themselves. I went up to feed the male alpacas and found the one alpaca wearing his coat under his belly, dragging it on the ground, so I had to get all of them into a pen so that I could try and remove the coat without being trodden on, kicked or spat at! Luckily, I managed to grab one end of the extra Velcro fastening and the whole coat fell to the ground without injury to me or any of the alpacas. Breathing a huge sigh of relief, I made my way to the girl alpaca paddock only to be confronted by one small cria wearing his coat as a bib and tripping over it at every step! Obviously, I couldn’t leave him like that, so I had to get all of the female alpacas into a pen and try to take off Clyde’s coat. This was easier said than done as his Mum decided to be very protective, placing her body between us, kicking out with her rear legs and spitting at my face. Again, I managed to grab the Velcro fastening and pull the coat off before any injuries occurred! I didn’t want any of the alpacas to freeze to death overnight so I was relieved to find that the forecast for the next day was wet and mild. 

Two of the older chickens had succumbed to the cold overnight, but I handed everything else back in good health on Sunday evening. The next day I had a message from Sarah to say that the river rose so quickly that the little footbridge into the alpaca field was underwater before she could get the geese back across to their sheds. It was nearly disastrous as they are prone to panic and three of them ended up in the river, some made it across the flooded bridge, but the rest had to be herded out of another gate and along the road to safety. It took Sarah the best part of an hour to get them all safely shut in by which time the bridge was a foot underwater! I was so glad that that hadn’t happened the day before!

 On 23rd December Jeni and I headed north to spend Christmas at my sister’s in Sheffield, as we have done for many years now. I felt pretty much back to normal after Covid but Jeni was on standby to take over the driving if I felt unwell or tired. The journey was long (5.5 hours) but the weather was much better than predicted and we chatted and sang along to the radio so the time seemed to pass quite quickly. Weirdly, Dave arrived at the same time as us even though he had set off at a different time and taken a completely different route. We had a lovely Christmas with nearly all of the family present (my brother and his family were visiting Jo’s sister in Northern Ireland for the festivities) and then on 27th I drove Mum back to Cheltenham and am staying with her until the New Year. 

I would like to wish you all a happy and peaceful 2024 and hope to catch up with some of you during the year. xx

Where did all the time go?

Another puffin commission

It’s been a strange year for me so far, and I really haven’t felt inspired to write a blog for my devoted reader(s)! However, I have decided to give an explanation of my blog reticence:  

A long time ago, back in the mists of time (well, February actually!), I was at my friend’s house having a lovely aromatherapy massage, as I do every month. We’d finished the massage and were sitting having a catch up over a cuppa when she told me of the sad, unexpected death of her elderly next-door neighbour. The lady’s husband had died back in the middle of 2022 and she had struggled on without him, but become ill during the winter. Her only daughter had got her into hospital, but she had been too frail to survive and now the poor daughter was left with the house to clear and sell – not a quick job as it had been rather neglected as her parents aged.

Suddenly, I had one of those moments where the world seemed to pause, hold its breath and wait for me to make a life-changing decision. With barely a moment’s rational thought I plunged in and suggested that they might like to sell it to me! In no time at all, it seemed, we’d started discussions, agreed a price and my home of two years was back on the market! I refrained from mentioning this in my previous blog as I didn’t want to risk jinxing it in any way but, as the year has gone on it now appears that the deal is jinxed anyway so, what the hell! 😊 

At first everything seemed to be going really well, as I found a buyer within the first couple of weeks and searches were done, questions answered and we proceeded, at the usual snail’s pace, towards contract exchange. The day before contract exchange my buyer pulled out as he had, allegedly, lost his job (it didn’t stop him coming back and making an offer £30,000 below his initial offer a few months later, though!). This was at the beginning of July when the cost-of-living crisis and mortgage ‘wobble’ were just kicking in and, since then, I have been unable to find a buyer and my property has plummeted in value ☹. 

Luckily, the owner of the property I want to buy is adamant that the property is mine and she will wait for as long as it takes for me to sell mine and complete the purchase, which is very generous of her. Consequently, I have been living in Limbo Land since March of this year and it has taken up most of the space in my brain as I mull over the pros and cons of continuing!  

Trying to maintain some sense of normality, I have continued with my usual activities of gardening three days a week interspersed with farm sits, which seem to have increased in number this year, as I have done a couple of extra ones at Dundry and one back in Cornwall at the home of my favourite sheep! Incidentally, she is still alive but showing her age now as she lives in retirement with her friends in the orchard at the farm. My stay could hardly be described as a farm sit as, since Jo and James have now retired, I only had the ageing sheepdog, Jess, two farm cats and 5 geriatric sheep to look after, but I had no hesitation in going, as a week back in one of my most favourite places in the world was just what the doctor ordered. I only ventured off the farm once in the whole week and that was on my last day when I arranged to meet Jo and James’ daughter, Mary, at the local farm shop for a coffee. It was some years since I had seen her and her hubbie, Richard, so we had a great catchup – I was startled to realise that their son has just left university and their daughter has just turned 18 and is taking a gap year before she, too, goes off to uni – where did those years go? 

Number 74 💖

Jess, waiting to play sticks

There have been several high points through the year, which have served to keep my spirits up: 

Jeni landed a new job working for Yeo Valley Organics as a Farm and Estate Administrator, and this seems to have been an entirely positive move. After initial doubts about her ability to do the role, she has now settled into the job and actively enjoys it, even though it is quite busy most of the time and she is often tired by the end of the day. Her colleagues seem to be lovely and the whole company exudes a feeling of friendliness and caring. I started to reap the rewards of this move almost immediately with a trip to their organic garden and lunch in the garden restaurant, which was delicious. I also, occasionally, have gifts of Yeo Valley produce which is much appreciated (mainly the butter!) I’ve been a fan of their products for many years and feel that their Live Natural Yogurt has contributed, in no small way, to the saving of two animals’ lives, namely the aforementioned sheep, No 74, and one of our own, many years ago! 

Dave has also got a new job and, more importantly, is back in the West Country and living only about a thirty-minute drive from me! The move back has not been without its dramas however and involved me doing an emergency repaint of his new home’s bedroom, while he camped out in the living room! It is wonderful to have him so near after an absence of nearly 10 years in the wilderness that is the East of England!! He has only been back since the beginning of October but twice already we have met with Jeni for lunch on a Friday at Yeo Valley HQ, where they have a canteen that has recently reopened to members of the public – I feel this may become a regular ‘happening’. 

This year I also decided to go to Cropredy again but this time I managed to persuade Jeni to come with me as she now ‘felt she was old enough to go to a folk festival’! The camper van pretty much flew through her MOT this year which was a huge and delightful surprise and I also realised that I felt more confident driving her, although the hill in Bradford-on-Avon still left me dry-mouthed and trembling slightly! We went to Oxfordshire via Cheltenham, staying overnight with Mum and setting off at about 10.00am the next morning. I’d bought some levelling-up chocks for the van as the gas-powered fridge will only work if the van is on the level but, in the end we didn’t need them as we were parked in a really flat field. 

First cider of the Festival!

The weather forecast for the festival had not been good, but it was never as bad as was predicted and we managed to stay mainly dry and warm. Luckily, Jeni really enjoyed the festival, the food and the canalside walks and may well accompany me again, if only to get some more water buffalo ice cream! 

Cropredy Festival

Sadly, the Shepton Mallet Sunday Markets have stopped running, but I was able to take my stall to a summer market at the local farm shop and also to the Theale Village Show, just outside Wells, where I spent the day happily spinning under the shade of an old apple tree in their community orchard. Jeni and I had both been persuaded to enter several of the classes and did quite well. I undeservedly won a large silver cup in the 'beverages' section - I entered 3 of the 5 classes and got a Third out of three for my Sloe Gin, a First out of one for my Homemade Lemonade and a First out of one for my Elderflower Cordial - so hardly a deserved win really!

My stall at the last Sunday Market

3D needle-felted pictures

Needle-felted woodland creatures

I have just finished another farm sit, this time for the alpacas where there are 5 new cria (baby alpacas). Did you know that alpacas don’t calve or lamb or foal but ‘unpack’ – how descriptive is that? The babies are incredibly cute and I spent one evening, as the dusk settled in and the moon rose over the alder trees at the river’s edge, watching 4 of them playing chase around the field. Then my eye was caught by something in the next field and I watched, transfixed, as a beautiful barn owl ‘quartered’ the hay field on the lookout for voles – a magical end to my day.

Dee, Lewis and Braemar enjoying lunch

Hopefully, I will not leave it so long between blogs next time and it would be nice to be able to report that things are moving forward on my house sale/purchase, so keep your fingers crossed!

A Spring farm sit and lots of gardening

 

Well, we seem to be galloping through the year again at breakneck speed! Having told myself that I really ought to try and cut down on the jobs I do, I’ve just acquired a new gardening client! She lives in Wells quite near to the Cathedral and, as I weed away in the herbaceous borders, my time is marked off by the quarter jacks and the hourly chimes. It’s a small, pretty garden with a high wall to one side forming the boundary between her property and the Cathedral Music School, so I get serenaded as well. This wall has a beautiful rambling rose growing over it, fronted by a couple of acer trees in different colours, a Magnolia stellata and several smaller shrubs, and I am enjoying working in it enormously!

New client's garden

I have recently returned from the first of my Spring farm sits – this one at Dundry for the poultry, sheep, tortoises, cats and dogs. I realised when we talked about the ages of the dogs that I have been coming here for at least 11 years now, usually twice a year – it doesn’t seem possible that it has been that long!

When I arrived Sally was having a cuppa with a veterinary nurse that she’d known for many years and I thought, at first, that one of the cats must be unwell. However, she had just delivered two more tortoises to the menagerie, so now there were seven for me to look after! These two were younger than the others being 17 and 23 and my goodness they had big appetites – every lunchtime I was cutting up bananas, nectarines and lettuce, grating cucumber and lightly cooking broccoli and then watching over them all as they ate. This was because the two Labradors would have gulped down their food at one side of the house and then galloped round to the ‘tortoise lawn’ to finish off the tortoise picnic!

Hungry torties!

Spring was definitely in the air for the three male tortoises who spent most of the time, when they weren’t eating, trying to persuade the females to be more friendly! I can’t blame the females for declining their advances however, as tortoise courtship seems to involve biting legs and heads and some very aggressive shell battering! Hardly subtle!

A tray of eggs arranged my someone with mild OCD!

The weather, for much of my stay, was warm and sunny and I was able to finish creosoting a refurbished chicken house and do some work in the vegetable garden. We did have a couple of spectacular thunder storms with lots of rain, but they didn’t last long.

Sally warned me about a couple of aggressive cockerels and the cantankerous gander, who’d given her a very nasty bite on the hand that took weeks to heal and left a scar. Most of the poultry are fine but every year seems to throw up a couple of cockerels who are just too big for their breeches and will fly at you with beak and spurs outstretched! Needless to say I did not go into any of the runs without a large stick in my hand and, sometimes, the big fishing net that she uses to catch hens for any reason – they absolutely hate that and even the most pugnacious cockerel beats a hasty retreat when he sees it!

Another aspect of my stay is keeping the bird feeders topped up. There are multiple bird feeders hanging in the trees outside the kitchen window and they attract an amazing number of wild birds. I didn’t stand at the window for ages watching but I still managed to see at least three pairs of bullfinches, blue tits and great tits, goldfinches, chaffinches, robins and a pair of great spotted woodpeckers. There was also a nest box with a camera rigged up to the TV, so I was able to watch a pair of blue tits incubating their eggs, although they weren’t due to hatch until after I left. The female was such a busy little housewife, continually re-ordering her nest material and fidgeting about!

I had to leave before they got home from their holiday, as they’d been held up by a puncture and had to use their spare which can only be driven at 50mph – at least they had a spare, as I believe some modern cars don’t have them as standard!

The next morning, after unpacking and repacking my bag, I picked Jeni up from her house and drove to Cheltenham to spend the Coronation Weekend with Mum. Dave also came over from Northampton, so it was lovely for us all to be together and, while he cooked us a Sunday roast, Jeni and I took Mum to her favourite garden at North Cerney House where we had a short wander in the walled garden and then made our way to the bothy for tea and cake!

I’m due to go off for another farm sit this weekend – this time for the alpacas, but a couple of weeks ago I received a message from Sarah asking if I’d like to go and help with the alpaca shearing. I’d never seen alpacas shorn before so jumped at the opportunity and got there part way through the afternoon. They’d been shearing since 10.00am but with 25 animals to shear and each one taking about 20 minutes, plus the catching and tethering time, there was still plenty for me to see. You cannot shear an alpaca in the same way as a sheep as they are, physically, just too big, so the traditional method is to catch the animal and turn it onto its side, then tie its front legs together and its back legs together and then stretch it out between two stakes so that it is immobilised. It looks a bit brutal but is the only safe way for both the animal and the shearer and most of the alpacas were relatively sanguine about the experience. However, a couple got a bit stressed and I fully expected them to gallop off to the far side of the field as soon as they were released. Not a bit of it – they calmly got up, wandered off a little way and then came back to inspect the generator at close quarters and then to inspect the quality of the shearing of their fellows! You could almost hear one of them say “You’ve missed a bit!”. 😊 We finally finished at about 8pm and I was invited to stay for supper before driving home as the last light died from the sky.

Initial tethering

The shearing begins

Incredibly long fibres!

Looking slightly smaller!

Finally, coming right up to date, last Thursday afternoon I drove to Mum’s to do a bit of gardening for her and take her to a nursery on the other side of town to buy some bedding plants. On a whim we dropped in to see an old family friend who can’t get out anymore and had a lovely reminiscing chat with him for an hour or so. On Saturday morning I drove from Cheltenham to Northampton where I did a weekend’s gardening for Dave and we went to a local nursery to buy him some bedding plants, so his garden is now smart and summer ready. I drove home on Sunday evening, went to bed and got up on Monday morning ready to start on my next gardening job. Talk about a busman’s holiday!

Before...

... and after

Before ...

... and after

An Epic Walk!

Bristol Harbour with St Mary Redcliff in the background

My intention to write a monthly blog seems to be slipping! I hadn’t realised that it is six weeks since I last wrote something, and I really don’t have a good excuse. I sometimes find it very difficult to get into the right frame of mind to commit something to paper (or screen in this case) and can fully appreciate why professional writers experience a block occasionally. Telling myself that I really ought to write something just seems to make the situation worse and, if I try, there is no flow to the words.

After the brief disruption caused by winter weather in March, I managed to get to a couple of my clients the following week and start on the Spring tasks in their gardens. One client needed her raspberry canes moving to new beds and, first of all, I had to clear the new area which involved digging up some rogue ash saplings, a briar rose and a lot of deep-rooted nettles and then I could dig up the raspberry canes and hope that they wouldn’t notice that they’d been moved! I had a good look at them this morning and they all seem to be thriving – nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Buoyed up by my successful rambles whilst at Mum’s, I rashly suggested that my brother, Richard, and I should walk along a stretch of the Kennet and Avon Canal, as he enjoys walking. He took me up on this suggestion and Jeni agreed to come part of the way, too, so on Saturday, 18^th March we set off. Jeni came to my house, and we caught the bus from Glastonbury to Bristol sitting in the front seat upstairs so we could see the view. Rich had travelled down from London the night before and stayed in a Premier Inn close to the Bus Station so that’s where we met up.

The start of our epic walk!

From there we walked to the Floating Harbour and the ‘official’ start of our walk at the statue of Neptune. We were staying away for two nights in two separate hotels, so had to carry overnight requirements, clean clothes and wet weather gear, so my rucksack was quite bulky. The weather, contrary to our expectations, turned out to be unseasonably warm and sunny and we were soon as stripped down as far as we could be, without being indecent, and were still too hot!

The first part of the walk took us along the River Avon, through the heart of Bristol which looked so different from this perspective that it was difficult to get our bearings, and then out into the Conham River Park, which is a beautiful area and totally unexpected. By this time we could have murdered a sit down with a cold drink and an ice cream and got quite excited when one of the information boards promised a café ‘just around the corner’. What it failed to mention was that it was located on the opposite bank of the river and was only accessible by a small ferry which didn’t run until later in the year! We had bottles of water with us, but it wasn’t the same somehow.

An old brass mill

The whole of the valley at this point had been the site of major industrial mills, smelting copper and zinc ores from Cornwall, brought up the river on barges, and using coal from the Somerset Coal Field situated around Radstock and Midsomer Norton. It was very difficult to imagine that this beautiful, peaceful and green valley could ever have been filled with smoke, noxious fumes and the constant noise of brass foundries, but there were a few reminders in old mill buildings, some derelict and others converted to dwellings, that we saw along the way.

An abandoned chapel in the middle of a field

I had hoped that long-distance walking might be my ‘thing’ to build up my fitness levels into my more senior years, but I hadn’t factored in my dodgy back which began to play up after only a few miles of carrying my backpack. I found myself lagging behind the other two and wondering how I was going to make it to our first overnight stop at Saltford, midway between Bristol and Bath. My lovely brother then insisted on carrying my pack as well as his own huge one, by slinging it across his chest like a giant baby sling. My back was still painful but at least it wasn’t getting any worse.

My hero!

We’d started walking just after 11.00am and at just gone 2.00pm we had walked as far as The Old Lock and Weir pub at Hanham Mills, on the outskirts of Bristol. Luckily, they served food until 2.30, so we stopped for lunch and an ice-cold cider, sitting outside in the hot sunshine. 

Lunch stop Day 1

Suitably replenished we set off again and soon saw the old Fry’s Chocolate Factory at Keynsham. At first it appeared in front of us, slightly to the left, but the river does a large loop round at this point so, half an hour later it appeared on our right hand side! A bit further on we met up with the cycle track that has been created along the old railway line from Bath to Bristol and, as it cut off another huge loop in the river, we decided to follow that to Saltford and the end of Day 1. At this point the cycle path runs alongside the Avon Valley Railway, a preserved stretch of track, so as we had heard the engine whistle a little way up the track we just had to wait for it to come chuffing past!

Obligatory steam engine shot!

My sister had suggested that a hot water bottle might be a good idea to take with me, if my back got painful, so not only did my backpack have nightwear, a complete change of clothes (for when we got soaked to the skin in the rain that we’d anticipated), waterproof outer layer (including over trousers), a book to read before settling down to sleep (otherwise my head doesn’t switch off), and a bottle of water, but a hot water bottle as well! I thought I was travelling light! Imagine my surprise when we were shown into our room at The Riverside Inn to find that hot water bottles were provided! Jeni looked after her decrepit old mum by filling the hot water bottle for me and making a much-needed cup of tea while I clambered, thankfully, onto the (very comfortable) bed and sat there until dinnertime with wonderful warmth at the base of my spine.

End of Day 1 - that cider tasted so good!

We met up with Rich at 7pm for dinner and then decided we were all so tired that we’d just go back to our rooms and meet up for breakfast the next morning. I think we’d put the light off by 9.30!

The next morning we were greeted by another warm and sunny day and the hot water bottle had done the trick (I’d slept with it on my back most of the night!) also Rich insisted on carrying my backpack from the start, so I felt much better physically but mentally very guilty! It wasn’t very far from Saltford to Bath and we were soon on the outskirts of the city. Jeni had originally planned to leave us at Bath and travel home by bus, but she was enjoying herself so much that she decided to come the rest of the way with us, which was wonderful.

The canal proper starts at Bath

Up until now we had been following the River Avon which, although it had a few locks on it, was still not completely canalised but, in Bath, the Canal becomes a separate entity and rises up from the river level by a short series of locks. At this point the canal architecture becomes very flamboyant in style to fit in with Regency Bath. 

The old pumping station chimney

At the top of the locks was all that remained of a pumping station – a very ornate chimney, and there were some beautiful stone bridges arching gracefully over the canal as it passed through the Sydney Gardens. The views over Bath at this point were stunning as tier upon tier of regency houses, in mellow Bath stone, climbed up the hillsides. However, the large hill at Bathampton meant that we walked a huge distance around it as the canal follows the contours rather than goes up and over, making a big loop round it to the north.

Beautiful, elegant Sydney Gardens

The day got hotter and hotter and my feet in my waterproof walking boots felt as if they were on fire plus I could feel a blister forming on my little toe. By the time we reached the beautiful Dundas Aqueduct at Monkton Combe (another triumph of architecture designed by the canal architect, John Rennie) I was again lagging behind and limping. However, I couldn’t fail to be uplifted by the sight of colourful narrow boats moored almost nose-to-tail at this point and a heron catching his lunch on the far bank. We also saw a cormorant and a buzzard sitting side-by-side in a canal side tree.

The Dundas Aqueduct

We finally limped in to Limpley Stoke where we were staying at the Hotel of the same name and trudged up the driveway. What I hadn’t realised when I’d booked it, was that it was a rather grand place albeit slightly faded in its grandeur, and we were dressed in very casual clothes and extremely muddy boots! We took our boots off at the front door and padded to Reception in our stockinged feet, but the chap on reception was completely unphased and readily changed my double room to a twin-bedded one as Jeni was extra to my initial booking. Again Jeni looked after me, making a cup of tea and running a bath in which I wallowed for quite some time. We reconvened in the hotel bar where we decided to stay and eat as it was quite comfortable and had a cosy atmosphere. Again, we were so tired that we ate, drank and went straight to bed.

Initially, I’d planned a Day 3 walking with my brother to Trowbridge via Bradford-on-Avon and crossing the Avoncliff Aqueduct. From there he was going to catch the train back to London and I was going to get Jeni to pick me up or spend several hours travelling a tortuous route from Trowbridge to Glastonbury, by bus. However, the blisters on my feet meant that walking anywhere was out of the question so, after a hearty Full English breakfast we parted company – Rich to continue on alone and Jeni and I to catch the bus home. The bus route from Limpley Stoke to Bath Bus Station more or less followed the route we had walked the day before and it was quite galling to realise that what had taken us several hours to negotiate took just over ten minutes by bus!

It began raining as we travelled homewards and the weather deteriorated quite dramatically over the next few days which made our slightly sunburned faces look quite incongruous. Apart from feeling a bit of a physical wreck, I also felt quite proud of myself for completing 34 kilometres (approximately 22 miles) in 2 days and would still like to continue the walk from where we left off, at some point, but with little or no luggage and cooler footwear!

Journey's End - the view at Limpley Stoke