The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: mikethecamera on May 22, 2011, 10:35:13 pm
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Well hello all,
Been a busy fortnight since I last posted. 10 hour days at work leave little time (or energy) for getting the place shipshape. However, coerced by a wife with no oven, and lots of little green shooty things rapidly filling their seed trays, I thought I'd better pull my finger out.
So last Saturday, thanks to ebay I went over to Wrexham and bought a new (very second hand) kitchen, and with assistance from my brother in law (read I held the tools for him), The Sunday was spent installing the same, complete with second hand halogen hob cooker (aint we posh), and integrated fridge! (even posher). I managed to nip out from work to B&Q Monday dinnertime, to purchase some 'on offer' kitchen tiles, and, by 2am Monday (yes 2am..... yawn), the kitchen was complete.
This weekend, due to the weather man forecasting sunshine and warmth, we planned to get the veggie patch moving. I awoke Saturday morning to glorious su.... Rain! along with wind and temperatures which I thought we'd left behind in March!. Undettered, I headed off to the local hire shop to pick up the 12hp rotovator I'd agreed to hire (in my defence, exploratory prods had been made with a garden fork before I was swayed to doing it the easy way).
We managed to get the garden turned and something like useable by Saturday night and spent most of today digging in some well rotted sheep manure and hay mix which previous persons unknown had kindly left behind the big barn.
I managed to get some of the crops in this PM, before being beaten by the light, and now we are the proud parents of potatoes, peas, beans (french), radish, lettuce, strawberries and courgettes. The carrots, cabbage, and runner beans are still to go in, along with anything else that gets begged, borrowed or stolen over the next couple of weeks.
We are now both very tired, but very happy. my back feels like it has been through the muck spreader the farmer towed past today ( I know, he could have stopped and offloaded a bit here), back to work tommorow, for a rest. hopefully get the carrots pricked out tomorrow night.
Oh I almost forgot, we got one of the bedrooms fininshed (the eldest girls), painted pink and carpeted (carpet f.o.c. favour for a favour), and the chickens are now free ranging properly. All three ducks are quacking, although one of them 'peking', (I named the ducks :) ) has a rather pathetic 'quack', does this mean they're all girls?, no signs of duck eggs yet so I don't know.
Must go, I've just been informed the cistern is leaking in the upstairs loo, oh joy.... whose idea was it to move to a smallholding?
Mike & Paula :)
(http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww57/MikeTheCamera/rhiwbebyll011.jpg)
Kitchen Before
(http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww57/MikeTheCamera/rhiwbebyll003.jpg)
Kitchen After
(http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww57/MikeTheCamera/rhiwbebyll002.jpg)
(http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww57/MikeTheCamera/rhiwbebyll170.jpg)
(http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww57/MikeTheCamera/rhiwbebyll164.jpg)
Saturday AM
(http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww57/MikeTheCamera/rhiwbebyll188.jpg)
(http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww57/MikeTheCamera/rhiwbebyll174.jpg)
Hard at it
(http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww57/MikeTheCamera/rhiwbebyll189.jpg)
(http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww57/MikeTheCamera/rhiwbebyll199.jpg)
Saturday PM
(http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww57/MikeTheCamera/Veggies002.jpg)
(http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww57/MikeTheCamera/Veggies009.jpg)
(http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww57/MikeTheCamera/Veggies018.jpg)
Sunday PM
(http://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww57/MikeTheCamera/Veggies015.jpg)
Can we go in now ... please!!
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wow, makes me tired, just reading that. And reminds me of when we moved three years ago. We had retired so didn't have to fit in work as well, but we were up and out on the land at 7 am each day and in bed at about 2 am each day (evenings were spent making curtains, stripping and polishing floors etc). We managed that for about the first six months and it was worth it. But boy have we slowed down now. Enjoy the excitement of your new place and be happy.
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What an amazing amount of work you have achieved and what a transformation 8) 8) Makes me break out in a sweat just thinking about it. The very best of luck with the rest of the house and holding :wave: Keep us updated with your progress.
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W O W That is some seedbed. That was a lot of work - very impressive.
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When you have a few spare minutes just pop over to Brittany would you. I have sooooooo much work for you
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Brilliant! Loving your posts - although I don't know where you get the time ;D