Igloo

We've had Hazel and Alex (friends from Cambridge: I was a student with Hazel) staying with us since Monday, when they braved the snow to get to us. After lunch yesterday, we managed to get our car along the lane to near the 'main' road (which is not main, but is at least properly constructed, and gets gritted/ploughed). The car's been at home since the 18th, so we took the opportunity to get it out, as the track will be impassable longer than the road will be. Anyway, that will at least allow us to attempt to get to work next week.

Alex's parents live close to my parents (near Ripon/Northallerton), and Alex and Hazel have been staying with them until coming to us: they went home this afternoon. Not, however, before helping us build an igloo outside the kitchen window. It looks marvellous, and is big enough for the four of us to enter. I suggested taking drinks and mince pies out to it, but I think everyone may have been too cold...

On Sunday, we went out to B&Q, and picked up some 'kitchen' wall cabinets. They're actually going to go in the utility, which doesn't have any storage space, but which would be really useful. Also bought replacements for the lights above the cooker, and some coat hooks to mount in the cloakroom. DIY for another day; maybe Saturday.

We're off to my parents' tomorrow, for the New Year, and then have the weekend at home before work kicks off on Monday.

The cats are unimpressed with the weather: they're barely going out, and are a little bored---and cold.

Christmas Day

Well, we're not entirely snowed in any more, but it's still pretty tricky. On the positive, it's very pretty; went out after breakfast (before turkey cooking) and took a few photos.

We tried a new way of cooking the turkey: I deboned it, and detached the breasts as one, stuffed it, and reformed it. Much moister, and no compromising with the joints (which will become some form of casserole).

Tomorrow is ham day.

Received a pleasing Titchmarsh fruit & veg book, along with some garden supplies, and some kitchen goodies.

Anyway; disjointed post aside, a good day.

Not Going Anywhere

We're utterly snowed in. It was a bit tricky yesterday (got a lift into town, in a four-wheel drive), but today, although, ironically, the (ungritted) track is passable, the publically-maintained (nominally) road it comes off is ice. And steep. So we're not going anywhere; at least not immediately. Hopefully the turkey will still be delivered tomorrow...

I'm delighted, in some ways, to be past the solstice: it'll be nice to have dawn creep back towards when we're getting up. On the downside, it can be a very pretty time of year.

It is, however, extremely pretty. And there might be snowman (and snowcat) making later.

In the mean time, we're pickling onions, and doing other Christmas-related baking. Aaah, holidays.

Halls Decked

An altogether successful weekend, methinks.

The plumbing didn't entirely happen, but that was deliberate, as it were---not to make it sound as though I wander around accidentally attaching pipes. I went up in the roof-space from the main bedroom (i.e., into the eye-level cupboard, then through the ceiling, as you do...anyone who's visited will know what I mean, at least), and discovered a lack of anything. The roof-space confirms my suspicion about how the house is put together, as the loft is divided into three, corresponding to the two normal cottages, and the extra 'half-cottage' that contains the kitchen and both bathrooms. This much wasn't surprising. Anyway, the loft above the master bedroom is largely empty: the one access hatch, above the stairs, and beams and wiring. All looks fine, and the waterproof membrane under the roofing stones looks in reasonable condition (sigh of relief duly emitted).

Now, it shouldn't really have surprised me, as given that the separation of lofts was logical, then the tanks should---also logically---be in the loft above the bathrooms, but there were no tanks in the loft above the bedroom.

So, I climbed up the shelves in the airing cupboard (well, with the help of a step-ladder), and clambered into the corresponding loft. Where, behold, there were two tanks. So far, all to plan. One (biggish) tank to feed the hot-water cylinder, one smaller tank to top-up the heating system. I thought it must be an open feed CH system, given that the leak in the dining room (in mid-October) seemed not to affect the water levels. Obviously, also much easier to refill than a sealed/pressured system.

Anyway, having established that the tanks are there, and relatively easy to lock off, I decided to leave draining the system and re-fitting the radiator valve to blame for the October leak. Come next summer, I'd like to overhaul the system:

• New (double) radiators where there are only old ones, preferably moving them (at the same time) further from the walls;
• Possibly a pair of towel radiators in the two bathrooms;
• Thermostatic valves on all the radiators;
• A new room thermostat (the existing one, to maintain the house at about 15ºC (which, given our homeothermal credentials, is all we heat the house to) needs to be set to 22ºC. This seems a little silly.
• Running a pipe cleaner through the system for a bit, and then replacing the water with corrosion-inhibited water.

Given the last item, I don't really want to drain and refill the system just now. Anyway, that lot will be quite a pricey operation (I'd reckon £2-3000), so it'll wait 'til spring/summer.

I was, while in the loft, delighted to discover that there was minimal insulation.

Sounds bizarre?

Well, only a little. The house is big and old. There's nothing I can do, really, about the walls (which are stone and rubble filled, so no chance of cavity insulation), short of attaching plasterboard mounted insulation on the inside, which is ugly, and will make the rooms smaller. That'd be a 'no', then. The windows are a mix of single, double, and single+secondary glazing: the double are mostly satisfactory, but the single's awful (both halls are freezing; the top hall's not helped by a complete lack of radiator), and the secondary's not great. It also doesn't ventilate very well. So new double-glazing is on the cards.

But the discovery that the loft insulation is sub-spec is great, because that's much cheaper to install, and should make a noticeable difference: the upstairs is reliably cooler than downstairs, and this---and the windows, which are worse upstairs---is probably why. Hence, a trip to B&Q (or somesuch) to buy around a hundred square metres of something suitable will be in order...(£300?). Oh, and the pipes and tanks will benefit from new lagging.

Then, the more exciting stuff: we put the Christmas tree up, and a load of holly, and bits-and-pieces; there are even gingerbread tree decorations. Also tried out a recipe for poached pears (our guests next weekend may benefit from the success of this experiment!), with ginger, star anise, vanilla, and cloves. Very good. And we even got round to hanging some pictures, which has been waiting a while. The lower hall is still full of boxes, but hopefully we can get them a bit more sorted over the next week or so.

Crumpets and Gooseberries

Sadly, the two are not properly in conjunction: crumpets with gooseberry jam would be a delight.

Instead, I have just planted the three 'Invicta' gooseberries, and come inside for a couple of crumpets (which, of course, were toasty-hot, and well-buttered). It's a surprisingly lovely day outside: crisp and clear, and not too cold if you're moving about. Sadly, I've had to come back inside to work, rather than spending more time pottering.

I might, if I get round to it, append this with a crumpet recipe, just because.

Local Plants

Found this article on the BBC Gardeners' World blog, which (in turn) links to a Natural History Museum site where you can find out the plants local not to your country, not to your region, nor even your town, but to your postcode.

Shucks.

In addition to a large number of plants not considered 'garden worthy', there are a few interesting finds:

• Common poppy, which I've seen about, but not many. Would be nice to try, alongside some not-so-common poppies;
• Crane's Bill (cut-leaved, meadow, and dove's-foot), which a neighbour has in profusion, and is rather pretty;
• Autumn Gentian;
• Foxglove, which--again--the same neighbour grows plentifully, and which does rather well;
• Harebell;
• Honeysuckle, hop, and ivy (just as well, as the first and third are quite popular with us!);
  
• Daffodil;
• Yellow iris;
• Wild pansy;
• Wild strawberry, so hopefully the cultivars will do well;
• Crab apple (ditto re. cultivars);
• Elder and holly (absolutely no surprise there, as the moorland around us is studded with both);
• Yellow loosestrife (so, again, hopefully the cultivated Lysimachias will thrive);
• Common comfrey (useful for green manure/plant food purposes!);
• Bilberry, gooseberry, bramble, raspberry, which all bodes well for the fruit bushes;
• Alder, ash, beech, field maple, hornbeam, oak, rowan, silver birch, white willow and wild cherry are all 'native', which pretty much covers what's already present, tree-wise.

Fascinating stuff: stick your postcode in and see the results!

Raised Nano-Beds

The plants that arrived earlier in the week have now been planted: we did them in half-buried pots (eponymously), so that they have better drainage, but can still extend their roots. we'll try to actually raise the beds next season, so they can be 'permanently' planted.

The Cambridge Favourite strawberries weren't looking all too happy, so we also potted them. Hopefully that will help...

We're now off to Cambridge (city, rather than some strawberry destination!) for the weekend, so there will be no more playing in the garden until next weekend at the earliest. The last gooseberry still has to arrive, and will then be planted, but we're almost done, I think, with major efforts for the autumn/early winter. I could, of course, collect the last leaves that still litter corners of the garden.

Oh: don't forget Tree O'Clock tomorrow!

All Bar One

At last, almost all of the outstanding fruit plants have arrived. The three blueberries (V. corymbosum 'Spartan', 'Gold Traube', and 'Patriot'), the 'Red Lake' redcurrants, 'Versaille' white-currants, and 'Wellington XXX' blackcurrant, and two-thirds of the gooseberries ('Hinnonmaki Red' and 'H. Yellow', but not the 'Invicta') are all now with us. We'll be trying to plant them on Friday afternoon, before we head down to Cambridge for the weekend.

We may plant them in (biggish) pots that are half-buried, to improve drainage chances, and so they cope better if/when we raise the beds...we'll see. The beds aren't looking too bad, now it's stopped chucking it down, but I think raising them would be wise, when possible.

Now I just have to wait for the last few gooseberries to arrive...

Tree O'Clock

While I remember: this is National Tree Week, and on Saturday (5th December), the BBC is organizing Tree O'Clock, between 1100 and 1200. The idea is to set a world record for tree planting, and free trees (2-year-old whips, it seems) are being given away all over the place. We've got a little wild cherry to plant. Go on, join in...