Rafters on site

Weds 21 November 2012

The final wood delivery arrived today, great news, the last lap – in the wood frame part of the build, anyway.  Huge lorry, small space, tall trees – the guy in charge of the hoist was a bit stressed, and nearly helped our sun shadow problems by lopping the top off one of the cypress.  I was working in the shed, and Dave came running in and said, ‘they’re putting the roof beam up’; so we dashed out onto the decking just in time to see that the delivery hoist was being used to raise the 14 metre long, 20cm deep beam  into position.   Yiannis the woodworker was then left precariously holding it in position while Rap helped stabilise the rest of the delivery before he could go to Yiannis’ aid.

Fungus Fiesta

During our walks with Sid we’ve come across an amazing range of fungus, none of which are in our mushroom and toadstool spotters’ guide.  Bright red, yellow and orange,  among others.   (Fingertips included for scale in the first shot).

Pickle mania

Dave has thrown himself enthusiastically into pickle-making.  Only a few jars of each type: red cabbage, onions, piccalilli; as we only have a little bit of storage space.  This is the book responsible.

Walkies

Weekend 16 to 19 November 2012

This weekend we tried having Sid the dog as a long-stay visitor, complete with his doghouse which we set up behind the camper van.  The first night he whimpered all night, then on Saturday night he slipped his lead and moved onto the decking, where he slept happily on the rug by the sofa all night.  So that’s okay.  The chickens and the cats got a bit used to him, and he got very bored with them, so that’s okay too.

We had lots of walks over the weekend as a result, exploring our environment:

 Amazing flower growing wild that we couldn’t find in the reference books

 Cyclamen are back in action in the hedgerows

 It must be nearly Christmas, these don’t look indigenous

 More burial sites found by the archaeologists

 Sid exploring a mountain stream

Pine Forest

Saturday 17 November 2012

Must get the zone moved, look at those trees, the poor writing hut is getting lost in the woods, and there's such a small window of sunshine for the zone and the water heater.

Then on Saturday, it came together.  Amanda from art and her boyfriend Joe, and Michael and Alison from the Winnebago, and us, moved the zone – very easy with six people, not particularly heavy, it just flexes and needs support at each side.

 Now look – the shadow can’t reach it.  It also opens up our view, the way it’s meant to be.