Sad beginnings and Happy Endings

With so much talk of telephone kiosks and because ours was in such a sorry state prior to restoration, I thought I should just post a collage of restoration photos from start to finish.  This collage will be hung inside and there'll be no more talk of kiosks (until we do a little hard landscaping in front of it!)

Paynes Cranes.

Craning in the Kiosk

Having spent the whole day driving  to and from Surrey yesterday to pick  up our kiosk - in Clarence (Chris's truck), today was crane day. It had to be Paynes of Upton of course.  Where lifting is concerned, real experts are required and they really are experts! First on the scene was Chris G who arrived with an assortment of woods blocks and sheets to place beneath the hydraulic stabilisers.  He was shortly followed by Chris P who, due to lack of time, had abandoned us last night as he ran into the gym leaving me to drive home in his truck with the kiosk on the back!!!!  Paynes arrived on the dot at 8:30am and, 20 minutes later had skilfully lifted the kiosk from the drive entrance, avoiding Kay's Arbour, Cordelia and overhead cables; over the hedge and precisely into place.  Why is it I wonder that experts make difficult jobs look so easy???  So much for Greg suggesting a man at each corner and carry it in!  I must tell you that Tony at Unicorn Kiosks has made a beautiful brass plaque for the back wall telling a little about kiosk history.  (He has also provided kiosks for the Harry Potter films and Tinker, Tailor Soldier, Spy.)  Chris G. will return tomorrow and install the glass and glazing frames which were omitted to allow the crane sling to pass through them.

We're now waiting for Dave to wire up its light and to be fair, he has already been out and summed up requirements as well as leave armoured cable for Chris and I to lay in and the kiosk comes with its own light fitting.

Now - how much better than the old plastic coffin does the new kiosk look?

See link below for more photos of this operation (and the old coffin!):

https://plus.google.com/photos/100788191989823327785/albums/5982812481923657073?gpinv=AGXbFGxv4YGOotb3Pe6lPdSKEO7qx_hYcAamynaEMjCVNdeTYc2vuQcU03UnHoSLNOMo8VpoZrghF4RrbnvsZtYa-qjvXK7iP-2aGp6Gcs-wkn_MBtiPJG0

Cue New View Pugh!

Kyle finishes the last tree

A BIG thank you to Chris and Kyle! After NINE whole days hard slog in the very worst weather conditions, the boys have finished topping the conifers.  They endured hours of lashing rain, wild gales, hail, driving sleet, countless storms and even lightning! My only contribution was a couple of hours helping to clear the verge and keeping them fed and watered throughout!

A completely new view opening up.

Chris also took out all the dead Elms and coppiced the Hazels on the verge side - in fact, he even bought some Hornbeams and filled in gaps in the old hedge! Now that really is above and beyond the call of duty! This is where we hope to see the return of some bluebells and white violets......? 

Kyle wondering how many more!

A GIANT brash pile!

It proved to be a massive job and the biggest project ever undertaken at(?) PTC. There is a huge amount of brash down on the ground all awaiting clearing when the ground dries up (if it ever does!)  It has made an amazing difference as half of Martley Hillside was totally obscured and now it is revealed again.  The trees - 38 in total have all been reduced from 60 feet down to about 12 feet and it's utterly transforming! This has been done in small sections to ensure that the apple trees suffered no damage from great lengths of falling timber.  They will also benefit from much more sunlight so it really is a win, win situation all round!  Chris even managed to take all these photos on his phone - determined to record this transformation.  

Lastly - I absolutely can't write this post without acknowledging and thanking our brilliant neighbour: Rob Holloway for his amazing understanding, support and cooperation throughout the whole project! 

 

As much as we can blame the weather and hopelessly saturated ground - after a record 4 week break, we might even get back to gardening next Saturday!

More of Chris's photos:

https://plus.google.com/photos/100788191989823327785/albums/5975553492258958881?gpinv=AGXbFGxv4YGOotb3Pe6lPdSKEO7qx_hYcAamynaEMjCVNdeTYc2vuQcU03UnHoSLNOMo8VpoZrghF4RrbnvsZtYa-qjvXK7iP-2aGp6Gcs-wkn_MBtiPJG0

More Snowdrops and Hellebores.

The wettest winter in decades hasn't put these Snowdrops and Hellebores off from putting in more appearances in the Woodland Border.  However, it does mean that their appearances are probably more welcome than ever before.  It's just been too wet to tidy up the old leaves from around the Hellebores - in fact, it's been too wet and/or too wild and windy to do pretty much anything in the garden!  We came home this morning to find the bird house lying on the Yew hedge!  Normally, if it's wet, I can find jobs like pruning the Wisteria but, in these gales, I don't fancy being blown off a ladder!

I never find photographing Snowdrops at all easy and certainly not when crouching down on wet ground in freezing cold gale force conditions (and no tripod of course!) with the poor flowers  being blown around all over the place! Not only that: the Woodland Border is in front of a high south facing hedge and so the lighting is less than ideal for photography but at least the Snowdrops are happy.  Anyway, the photos do show how well Chris's mushrooms have weathered over the years.  If it ever dries up, we might be able to do more work on the path and the log retreat.








A few more photos of a very WET Woodland Border:
https://picasaweb.google.com/100788191989823327785/SnowdropsAndHelleboresInTheWoodlandBorder

Indoor Colour in the Gloom!

Storms, gales, relentless rain.... but I found some colour in the conservatory! and a rare moment of sunshine!  An Anthurium bought from Costco a couple of Christmas's ago has really thrived - much to my amazement.  It has no drainage and is in its original moss covered compost and looks seriously healthy.  

Even the glossy green leaves of a ubiquitous Spider Plant is cheering on a dark day with rain lashing at the windows.  A few primulas and some leaf colour from a Calathea, the odd Begonia just cheer things up..........to say nothing of a lovely Valentine's Day bouquet which you might just spot!  The lemon tree and tree fern are also spending their winter months in the conservatory.  There are fewer lemons this year following the big prune back.  However, it's a picture of health and vigour with none of the pests and diseases it acquired when it overwintered in the greenhouse 2 years ago!

See: https://picasaweb.google.com/100788191989823327785/ConservatoryColour

Gardener Turned Baker!

I know that this is a gardening blog but with all this wet weather and half the country under water, Chief Blogger had been turning her hand to more baking.  On the 2nd attempt, she has managed to match Jan's Saturday success today, having realised that yesterday's slightly heavier bread was completely the fault of inaccurate scales!!  My Aga (Yes!  Aga) scales are 2oz out.  That's a whole 56 grams!!!  This meant that I was using more flour to the stipulated 250mls of water than Paul Hollywood states thus making the dough heavier and drier.  My new 'digital' scales arrived today and hey presto!!  A pretty perfect loaf!  It's made me wonder - just how accurate are the average kitchen scales?

Misshapen and heavy

Better shape and much lighter

Ingredients - 74p's worth!

It was a tad interesting to work out the exact cost (minus the salt!) of a homemade loaf in a 1lb loaf tin.  Waitrose probably isn't the cheapest place from which to buy Canadian strong bread flour but, hey - these loaves don't contain any preservatives, the Aga's always hot and they're such fun to make.  I know some folks say it takes too long waiting hours for the dough to rise and prove but1, be positive!  Think of the time you have to drink gin or, get out in the garden - if it ever stops raining!

Role Reversal!

Whilst the boys were all outside battling the storms and still managing to make good progress with the major conifer topping project; the girls were inside baking bread - never before heard of on a Saturday!  Jan came over with her Paul Hollywood book and the result was the most perfect loaf of bread in the world!  It definitely take a professional baker to write a book on baking and many of his vital tips are all (suspiciously) missing from other bakery books. The loaf of bread was so delicious, it was consumed with olive oil, Balsamic vinegar and herb dips before a pretty perky chilli con carne and Aga baked rice with Bay and Cardamon.  This was topped off with shared out Belgian chocolate eclairs (courtesy of Chris) and fresh raspberries with cream!  Meanwhile there are only 4 conifers left - another all round successful Saturday!