More foundation work

 

Building the form for the foundation

The bags of concrete and hard pack arrived the other day, so we need to get a move on and build this foundation so we can build the greenhouse! As it was my last Friday off in June, we got straight to it and worked all day.

It was a long and arduous task to build this stinking form! We got there in the end with the help of some old cricket sticks and the floorboards from our bedroom that got pulled up about 5 years ago. Nice to put this scrap wood to use! Tomorrow we will tackle the concrete pouring since we were able to borrow Martin's mixer for the weekend. 

Meanwhile, the garden. The courgette and butternut squash plants sure aren't too eager to crawl up the beautiful pallet I laid for them! Come on little guys, grow!

The runner beans, brussels, chard and peas are all coming along nicely though.

Tryfan playing piano

Tryfs has been doing a lot of practicing piano

Summer morning bliss

Today started so wonderfully. It had rained overnight and the morning was bright and warm. It was a bit chilly to sit outside in the shade so we opened the doors and sat just inside to enjoy our morning coffee and toast. 

As we were sitting there, we could see and hear many types of birds flitting amongst the trees. We busted out the binoculars and admired the bull finches, robins, thrushes, blue tits and a pair of woodpeckers. Today is the last Friday that I am taking off as part of the Q2 effort to conserve cash for my employer by taking unpaid leave 1 day a week. It has been suuuper nice to have these days off!

A girls beach trip

This evening after school and work, Rhiannon and I drove down to Newhaven to meet Aggie and Leigh at the beach. We had never been on this road between Lewes and Newhaven, and we also had never been to this sandy (!!) stretch of beach. We all went in the water, though at different times. 

It was such a wonderful afternoon, to be out in the evening sunshine with my girl and our homies, wiggling our feet in the sand and swimming in the sea.

Then we drove home and made dinner and were grateful for this day.

Morning check of the veg patch

Carpet installation day

Today was the day that "Carpet Dave" came round to do the big installation into our room. Here is the before:

And after, with Dave looking proud:

Monday nights at the Rec

It has been gorgeous weather lately, and today was amazing. How wonderful that Hellie has started running her yoga class outside on the Danehill Rec in the evening.

Father's Day 2020

Today was a gorgeous day and we went for a walk along Firle Beacon.  We brought a picnic and enjoyed the far reaching views out to the sea on one side, and across the Sussex fields and hills.

We took it pretty easy today, but it was wonderful to be up high on the plateau and enjoying the weather and the day.

Another weekend of work in the back

We spent all day working in the back, getting the trench dug and all that. You can see from the body language how stoked the kids were to be helping.

Wine walkers

I've gotten quite accustomed to taking Fridays off! Today I was invited to join Naomi and Heather on a wine walk in the afternoon. I rode my bike down the hill to their neighborhood and we set out on foot from there. We walked for a couple of hours and then stopped for our refreshing beverages on the side of field near Heaven Farm.

We sat and drank wine and told stories for awhile, then headed back to the hood. By that time I was really not up to riding my bike back up the hill to Chelwood Gate so I texted Rhods to pick me up. So that turned out pretty well actually, and it was a really fun start to the weekend!

Mid June veg patch check

I was sad to discover that something has been eating the brussel sprout plant so Tryfan helped me by building a moat of coffee grounds and egg shells. Hopefully that will deter the snails or whatever is eating my plants!

Here is the view from the bottom of the garden, with the greenhouse footprint in the background.

It is so nice to wake up in the morning and just walk out to check on the plants to see how they got on during the night. It's a lovely way to start the day.

The greenhouse build begins

Now that we have an eta on the Elite Craftsman 6 x 10 greenhouse that we ordered a couple of months ago, we are going to start digging the trench for the foundation.  The site is going to be located next to the tall tree stump, which means that we were not terribly surprised to encounter some roots.  We just took the hacksaw to it.

So, it is looking pretty promising I think!

This year's Elderflower champagne

I wasn't going to make Elderflower Champagne this year, but after talking to Nia this past week I decided to go for it and then send her some. Last year's batch totally failed, and I think it was because I used paper coffee filters rather than muslin cloth at the straining step, as this must have strained the yeast out.  Anyway, I followed this recipe again which is just so easy and simple.

 

I got the troops involved and they filled up 10 x 1 litre bottles.  Now we will let them sit in the laundry room for a week and they will be ready to drink after that.

Mushrooms too

When I ordered some seeds a few months ago, I also ordered some spores in an attempt to grow mushrooms. Today was the day we started the process! Here is Tryfs with the instructions and the project. Now to let it sit in a dark warm spot for several weeks...

Pallets

I've been wanting to get hold of some pallets for awhile now, and today was my big chance. I met Alex and followed her to her brother's work where he has loads of pallets. I came away with 7 but have only deployed one so far.

Here is the inspiration:

And here is my reality, using the butternut squash plant that Corinne kindly gave me:

Let's hope it grows!

Garden extension

The garden is doing well!

In fact, it is getting a bit crowded so I decided to extend it by laying down some newspaper and piling soil on top. Rhodri helped by putting old floor boards around the perimeter to hold things in place. Looking good!

The sky was crazy dramatic this afternoon, but it didn't amount to any rain. 

It's my favorite kind of sky though.