Yet more rain!

Sign writing in the workshop on yet another rainy Saturday.

Al's legible signpost in 2010

What with weather constraints, Christmas preparations for Swiss Family visitors and now even more rain; the gardeners have been somewhat confined to barracks.  The ground is utterly saturated and is just singing. Much of Worcestershire is under water as the Severn has flooded for the umpteenth time. I dread having to walk down to the chickens as the grass at the Hen Pen entrance is looking so worn and muddy.  Luckily all the wood chip we put down for the girls is keeping them free from trench foot!  There has been absolutely no opportunity for any much needed border work for weeks and weeks now - sigh.

Not to be outdone, the gardeners have been busy in the workshop with sign writing!  Al's sign post which he had made using and old oak gate had become so weathered that few of the places or distances were legible.  How could we easily engrave place names on to and old signpost?  We gave the matter long and serious thought.  Pyrography using a soldering iron had failed as had using a black permanent marker.  Chiselling out so many words was beyond us - even if we could spare the time.  If we used the router, we wouldn't see what we were trying to write.  

Eventually Chris came up with a brilliant plan.  Why not put the router bit in the pillar drill and one person (me!) operate the drill while the other (Chris!) manipulated the sign beneath?  After a few practice runs, we decided to give it a go.  Even if we were capable, we didn't want a perfect machined precision finish.  A rustic look is so much more at home in this garden and a rustic finish is what we achieved!  At least it should remain legible for a little longer.

A partially restored & legible signpost in pieces

Using Google Earth to measure the distances means that we have amazing accuracy.  The measurements are literally taken from building to building.  In fact, the distances depict a far greater accuracy than the layout of the engraved letters!  Let's hope we don't make any spelling errors!

A Real 'Raindeer!'

Our Christmas 'Raindeer!'

This one was made in the rain and the dark by car headlights!  He's mostly Beech with antlers made from Acer prunings.  He's also sturdy enough to be sat on.  Anyway, he stands outside our gate and hopefully Zach & Elissa will like him!  I need to find him a red nose.

Making Reindeer in the Rain

The Pugh Herd

Rudolph himself

Meanwhile, the 'other' Chris has been really busy. He has made all 9 of Father Christmas's reindeers, decorated them and has named each one.  The entire herd is sitting on his lawn outside his house.  Delightfully rustic and so much nicer than garish lights and coloured plastic!

Terrace Extension

Unloading the bricks

When a builder needs more materials, it could only be Border Counties Reclamation - again!  After a bit of a false start (ahem) David Swire delivered the right bricks and the right numbers!  The skip, building sand, concreting sand and top soil is now accompanied by 3 pallets of reclaimed bricks on the drive.

Before and............

Chris got to work straight away and has already built the curved retaining wall.  Cutting some old (personally reclaimed) land drains in half, he built in a mini pyramid with them in the centre of the curve.  It looks really quaint.  Because of the frosty conditions, it was all covered up with bubble wrap, plastic sheeting, cardboard, hessian and boards. He even moved all the unused bricks off the drive to give us a little more room.

....after the thaw.

Following the thaw and yet more heavy rain we now have a moat where we'd rather not have one! Or, if we have any more frosts, we'll have a mini ice rink!

Let there be lights....

........for Christmas

The recycled shed.

Heroes of DSM: Joe and Owen have weathered extremely low temperatures to put in lanterns and lighting. Their hard work has really paid off.  Even the Hen Pen has lights - until 10:30pm anyway.  No Picasa edits - the Bamboo really does have a green uplighter.  In reality, they look even more magical than the photos suggest.  Even so, I think Dave should put some of these on his blog under the garden lighting tab (ahem!)  Some other trees are now uplit but it was too cold for me to take any more photos.

Laying by night?

Kay's arbour

We also had the pleasure of Chris's company and he too toiled away digging and mixing a ton of concreting sand and cement to put in as footing for the new retaining wall.  He even started brick laying.  I think he was warmer than me sitting in a sunny conservatory writing Christmas cards!  He certainly needed all the light he could find as work continued in the dark as usual!  As if that wasn't bad enough, he had to put air in a nearly flat tyre then go home and remove the wheel to grease a wheel bearing in the freeeeeeeeeeezing darkness!

Laying bricks in darkness

More photos at: https://picasaweb.google.com/100788191989823327785/LetThereBeLight

Lights & Blackouts!

Jo and Owen illuminating Wol & his tree

Our Demon DSM electricians arrived at 7:45am and began the day by putting up Christmas lights in Wol's pear tree and along the beech hedge.  Owen and Joe managed to put them up at an all time record height after which, they retired to the Hennery for cable laying in readiness for more lighting.  The girls made the most of all the extra worms revealed by their digging.

Meanwhile, Chris was more your demon demolition man and worked away demolishing the old retaining wall and digging out the top lawn in readiness for Chris G's work on terrace extension area.  Trouble is, he came up with the rather grandiose idea of extending his run and we haven't had opportunity to seek permission from O.I.C. building yet.  It's been a while since we had a skip on the drive and this time it's a big one.  Just to add to the usual chaos at PTC, the man came to empty the septic tank, blocking not only the lane but, the electricians in!  We then had a 2 hour power cut - just to complete the day!  Nothing to do with our electricians or the Christmas lights!  A fallen tree on a power cable was the culprit and dinner was cooked by candle light.

Mr. Demolition Man himself!

More squirrel jobs

TIP OF THE DAY:

When pickling red cabbage, 

1 cabbage = 3 jars.

don't wear purple nail varnish!!  

Apart from that it's just so easy.  Just slice (minding the nails!), salt, leave overnight, pack into jars, top up with vinegar and add some pickling spices - now that's easy!

Waiting for Christmas Day

Another seasonal job done (but hardly gardening) 3 plumcious Christmas puddings made.  They're only getting a mention here 'cos for the very first time I've cooked Christmas puddings without turning the kitchen into a sauna!  With such l-o-n-g cooking times; usually the condensation is running down the window panes - if not the walls too.  This year, I turned to the Queen of Aga: Mary Berry and steamed them all gently in the simmering oven for 12 hours.  Result - 3 perfect puddings and not a hint of steam anywhere at all!  I did think about another type of pud for Christmas but what else can you bring to the table flaming in brandy that's so traditional?  I know it's not a favourite but I couldn't bring myself to buy a supermarket cheapy and these are so full of such delicious ingredients.  I wonder how much will be eaten by the Swiss delegation???

Just a footnote about the pudding cloths and how to tie them.  Two of these were made by a friend a few years ago.  She was the school seamstress when we had boarders.  Each one is circular and has its own ties with a strip of tape across the top from which to hang them.  The last one is tied in the traditional way by placing a square of pleated cloth (to allow for expansion) then tying the string tightly around the basin close up to the rim.  Old sheets or pillow cases are ideal.  The corners of the cloth are brought together and tied in opposing pairs.  Traditionally, they were hung from the beams in old farmhouse kitchens and will almost keep indefinitely.  Even after a year, they are still delicious!