letting the grass grow under your feet.
Just a half day today on the Hafod to save myself from permanent decrepitude. A lovely sunny day and I took the time away from Hafod to bottle 40 pints of Yorkshire bitter to be ready to start drinking in around 2 to 3 weeks. Katherine has spent the afternoon in our garden; she’s planted out broad beans and onions and sown more seeds in the poly tunnel.
We reseeded the levelled off camping plinths with meadow grass last year and now have a flourishing growth on the 4 plots including inside the garden dome. We have a large half round rag rug to go in there, so yesterday Katherine had to cut the grass inside the dome before putting in the furniture. It’s very tempting to take a pew and watch the birds but onwards for another couple of weeks. We saw a large Hare this morning lolloping across the field in that lazy way they have. Then Muffin spotted him and barked and he took of like a what do you call it, a Hare! I’d seen him in the woods yesterday but apart from that he’s not been about this year.
Linda came over to visit on Wednesday and she and K spotted our first visiting swallow. I thinks he’s just hanging about on his own at present awaiting the arrival of the rest of the gang. It’s not unusual for us to have half a dozen nests about the place in the summer so when they all hatch out it can be a massive squadron as the beginners learn to fly. Can summer be much further away? With heavy frost every night this week, well yes! So blackbirds, a thrush, a swallow, sparrers, finches, a jay, red kites, wagtails and a pheasant. Must be a lot of nests being built.
The week down in Jane’s field and Hafod has seen lots of changes. A pelmet has been made and fitted to the famous curtain track and a mattress and bedding has started to arrive. The bean bag sofa has been filled with beans and the missing fitted kitchen items arrived on Thursday. So next week I should get the kitchen finished and the sink plumbed in.
Meantime the bathroom is taking shape. The walls are all lined with a marble effect waterproof board now and the 1st fix wiring is complete. The urinal, vanity unit and toilet have been loosely fitted in place to check that the units all have enough free space around them and a storage cupboard has been made in one corner for cleaning gear, mops etc. I had a few of the decorative flooring boards surplus and they have found a new life as cupboard walls.
The Hafod dome is a long way from any sewer so the toilet we are installing is a Norwegian made “incinerator” loo. Basically, beneath the seat, inside is a stainless steel drum with a gas powered burner and once the toilet lid is closed the system ignites and your offering gets burnt to dust. If you open the lid the burner stops so there is no chance of singeing your bum. The system has been around about 20 years and eliminates the need for any drains and hopefully will work well for our visitors.
Our first visitors to Norwegian Wood have been and gone but were welcomed with our take on a Welsh high tea served on a 2 tier cake stand courtesy of Viki Yorke ceramics and design. The tea consists of Welsh cakes and Bara Brith plus short bread all home-made and served with our own black current jam and Welsh butter. It’s excellent and how Katherine resists eating it all amazes me, I’d pig it all down if left unsupervised.
Norwegian Wood is decorated in cool greys colours and style. The new dome Hafod is going to have a more country style with yellows and blues and pine tables. I'm still aiming to have everything finished for Quality Unearthed to photgraph on 30th April. We have guests in Norwegian Wood coming and going now, so I also have to change over and clean that dome. Busy busy busy.
The loads of spring sunshine has addled the device that records the PV generated. The control box is still working but the display is all garbled and needs resetting. Suffice to say that we have more electricity than we can use or store. If you’d like some for free just come by with a bucket and help yourself.
Solar PV Kw
Wind Turbine 11.27Kw
Power Created on site ??? KW
