Tree work.

This crab apple fell down during the storm earlier in the year because it had rotted at the base. It is in the way of cutting the grass on the Bracken field so needed to be gone.

 

The tractor came in very hand dragging the stuff away to the bonfire. 

And soon it was all gone. 

Elsewhere..... the lupins are coming on nicely. 

I’m forever playing catch up.

Life continues as hectic as ever. After five days in Scotland and five days in Reading, which I can’t talk about, i ahve been trying to catch up with emails, websites and gardening. We head off to Cumbria on Thursday so time is short.  The good weather has meant that i have beeen able to get on with cutting the grass but even that has had challenges - the steering arm broke on the mower which required some ingenuity to get going again and a stuck valve on the strimmer required a strip down of the engine. In the picture you can see that one valve is sitting flush but the other is not.   

 Everything else is going and growing.  

 

 

 

 

Super catch up.

After six weeks in Australia it has been difficult getting back into the system. And another ten day adventure starts on Monday. I did manage to get the grass cut yesterday. But everything is growing and looking good. 

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!