The view from the roof and Birdwatching made easy.

I am very pleased with this picture, not because its a particularly good picture (it isn't) but because I took it. Anyone who knows me may find that hard to believe as it meant I had to be on top of the scaffolding to do so and ladders are really not my thing. Anyway I decided to go for it as I thought it was to good a chance to miss.

The work on the chimney is progressing really well and the results are looking great.


It is amazing how many bricks go into a chimney, about 350 in this one. We have tried to make it look more in the period of the house than the one it has replaced which was put up in the last 30 years. We know from an old photograph that the original one was actually much taller and was matched by one on the other end of the house which has since been removed (vandalism in my mind!).


Birdwatchers like to tell tales about the hours they spend in a hide waiting form something to appear. Actually all you really need to do is leave you binoculars on the utility room table!

Major works begin

We had a lovely weekend, I managed to get a lot of weeding done in the flowerbeds on Saturday before going down to London on Saturday evening to celebrate a friend getting his doctorate. Congratulations again Dr Howell, it was a really good evening, seeing lots of friends and making new ones.

We have some major works starting on the house today, The brickwork of the chimney is totally rotten so the whole thing needs to come down and be rebuilt. We are going to use reclaimed local bricks so the result will be more 'original' than the existing one the seems to have been built from a mixture of whatever was laying around! I will feel a lot happier once it is done as every time it has been windy since I have known the state of the brick work I have been scared the whole thing was going to fall down.

We have also got to replace the roof on our utility room as well, the roof we had put on after we moved in has been leaking really badly and was clearly not suitable for the job. We have bitten the bullet and decided to start again, once it is done we will have to decorate the utility room due to the water damage to the ceiling.

New growth and learning to see things differently

I am sorry that I haven't been updating my Blogs recently, I have had a lot going on but that is no excuse.

At least the garden is coming to life properly now. One of my favourite plants is now in full bloom, this perennial cornflower. I just love the colour and the delicate petals.


The Greenhouse is providing almost more salad than we can eat, the first batch is now starting to run to seed but I have a second crop following on close behind.


This year I have decided to grow my tomatoes in pots, I am also growing different varieties, Gardeners delight, Shirley, Beefsteak and good old Alicante. You will notice the sprinkler on the floor, I have invested on an Auto watering timer this year, partly to save me carrying cans down the garden but also because if I use the hose I have to play with Boris and you don't always want a soaking wet dog.


The Shallots I planted in the herb garden are coming on really well


As is the garlic in the main veg patch.



One of the thing I have been doing over the last few weeks has been rediscovering watercolour painting. I should say from the start I am not very good and I will probably not be inflicting any on you just yet. I have however been going for lessons at the local evening class centre. One of the good things that has come of this is that I am seeing things differently, especially skies. I thought it was just me being a bit pretentious but when I was leaving my class last night two of the other students said the same to me. I am almost ashamed to admit this as a keen photographer but I think I just took them for granted but now as I am trying to reproduce them I realise what a fantastic palette of colour is present, of course I do have the advantage of living in East Anglia which is famed for it's huge skies. I am hoping that this will improve my photography as well my painting.