Molehills are Mountains!

The pesky moles are only slightly less irritating than the rabbits!

 

The neighbours were kind enough to remove all the brambles from their side of the fence down the side of the lane to their field. Unfortunately the brambles were holding up the fence so I am doing some work to fix it. 

 

And when it rains, which it does, more is getting done on the Aussie layout. 

   

 

 

Still here

We were meant to be in Cumbria this week but the weather suggested we stay home. It is clearing now but the forecast for the North looks bad again.  So here we are. Most of the snow has gone but the pond is still frozen - it must have frozen very deep.

 

Today has been mainly a Quaker day, writing Data Protection Policies. Grrrr.

Some modeling is getting done. 

The goods crane got rusted, to look like a derelict, unused, unloved piece of machinery. Salt and paint!

 

And work has started on the roller coaster.

Very little snow here.

In fact the same lot of snow just seems to get blown around

This was Thursday

 

and this was today.

  Lots of starlings about, mini-murmuring. 

And a small amount of modeling getting done.  This is the model and the prototype. 

Progress.

They came, they saw, they had fun. Bella and Noah, Joseph and Finnlay. 

 The boys wanted to make things so we made helicopters and planes from offcuts of the poystyrene.

 There were several bonfires  

Joseph had the honour of being the first visitor to use the new small gate into the sheep field. It will henceforth be known as The Joseph Gate  

And today it was dry but cold so i got on with painting the stables/woodstore in timber preservative 

New gate.

Today’s work involved removing the old fencing from near the stable and putting the small gate in place of the metal gate on the far side of the sheep field. This gate had a broken post so needed fixing. 

 

A day off!

Today was meant to be a Quaker day but the meeting was cancelled so I spent the day in the shed working on the Australian layout. I have fitted the return track behind the main scene and added the small fiddle yard to the right of the layout. 

Last week....

Last week was packed with visitors, Abbi with her three children then Helen and Steve at the weekend so this week is a chance to do things before Bella arrives at the weekend.  The front gate fell apart in the postie’s hands so needed to be replaced.

  The debris from the felled trees needed clearing before the grass starts to grow.  

 

We have changed the fencing around the stables which meant installing a new pedestrian gate - luckily we had a spare gate so that has been fitted.      

 

 Lots of plants planted up - by growing them in pots we avoid having the rabbits dig them up.

   

The fencing around the stables  

And the frogs have arrive and started laying. Masses here and even more further down stream.  

   

Catch up, again.

So the car has gone and we now have this A Toyota Auris Hybrid. Even less reason to look under the bonnet.   

 

  Then a family get together for my sister’s 70th birthday. 

 

  And now we have the first of three sets of grandchildren.   

And there is always homework that needs doing. This time it was mountain building. 

All gone.

The caravan has gone...

The snow has gone....

And so has the time!

Busy days.

Yesterday was the village coffee morning and the afternoon was spent helping a neighbour with his computer.  Today was a caravan day! We have decided to sell the caravan and a prospective purchaser is calling on Tuesday to collect it. So it had to be cleaned and emptied. When the caravan has gone we can pick up our replacement vehicle - we dont need the big car now so we have bought a Toyota Aurus hybrid!

Well, it is winter so you have to expect rain.

It has continued wet and cold so nothing much is happening out there. 

More logs got chopped. Including this tree in a tree. 

More work on the Australian layout too. The station is completed  

And the Goods shed 

 

Wet days.

When it is wet there is nothing to do but stay in and work on the layouts.  The Australian wind pump has been causing me trouble but i have a satisfactory solution now. I have mounted the motor at the top and fed one wire through the drive shaft and made the drive shaft the other power feed. 

Lots of foliage gone in as well. 

Be fruitful.

Today I repaired the fruit cage after the snow damage. 

Before

After

And i also did some work on the Australian layout. The backdrop is a genuine Aussie sky. Also started making eucalyptus trees. 

Guttering.

I did manage to get the guttering and the ridge done on the wood shed. Now we wait for better weather so i can paint it all.