Blog Archive

Sunday 30 March 2014

Tiny House Arrives

 Great excitement at the garden/farm yesterday when the tiny house arrived.
I couldn`t believe it when Jen told me the house and trailer came from the Icklesham end of the lane
with all its twists and turns. And goodness knows what would have happened 
if they had met an on-coming vehicle.
Mark, his wife Jen and Ricky drove here from Surrey, with people slowing down 
to take photographs on the motorway.
There was a bit of drama as it came past the last barn. Tree branches had to be cut and even a bit of the barn beams, but they got it round safely in the end.




The tiny house is delightful and I can`t wait to stay in it, with its ladder up to the compact sleeping area and tiny windows which will look out on the surrounding countryside. 
In fact you could lie in bed and survey the fields.


Mark showed Tim and Anne how everything worked. It has solar panels on the other side. 
There`s a shower unit and it will have other units fitted inside.















 I love this little house. What a great addition to the holiday options at Freshwinds Camping.



And just a few feet away, the first lamb, cosy and undercover with its mum.

 

Saturday 29 March 2014

Pett Village Part 3 of 3

Here is the final part of my Pett Trilogy.
I may have to do another blog entry today as there was great excitement at the farm today.

At the far end of the village just before you go down into Pett Level, there is a bus turning area.


It may seem like a boring picture but it holds quite strong childhood memories for me.
From the age of about 2 Mum and Dad took us to the beach at Pett Level on the bus. This was before we had a car. We were dropped off here and then we walked down Chick Hill (gradient of 1/24) . Buses never went down this hill. It is very narrow and steep. 
When we came home we had to walk up the hill with all our bags, tired, after a day at the beach.
We would sit on the grassy bank (at the far end of this turning) to wait for the bus home. At the other end we had another long walk to get to our house.


From this area it is possible to see the sea and the houses close to the cliffs. Some of these are in danger of the subsidence after the wet winter.


Here is another little lane that I have never walked along. It is an area known as The Hundreds.
At the end is a view across the marshes towards the beach and Rye. It wasn`t clear enough for good photos.

After tea with Judith, we retraced our steps passing extensive badger excavations in the sandy soil, just by the side of the road.


 At the Recreation ground we cut across the playing fields, past the pavilion, soon to be replaced and along behind the church.
The farmer, on his tractor, reminded us that we were not sticking to the footpath. Whoops!



 The pavilion, scene of many stoolball teas and tournaments as well as prize-giving for the annual flower show, held every July.


The childrens` playground.



Looking back towards the Royal Oak.


We came out in the graveyard behind the church, where we met Chris tending Jimmy`s grave.

As we came back to the post office, we met Alan. (He dug our polytunnel trenches.)
He lives next to the post office.


He told us to call in and see the new puppies.


This is the new mother.


Here are the three puppies.

What a lovely way to end our afternoon walk, catching up on 
news with Mary and holding the tiny puppies.

Pett is a lovely village. I think I am a little biased as it holds many memories for me.


Friday 28 March 2014

Pett Village Part 2 of 3

Today we went for the second walk through the village right to the top of Chick Hill. 
I`ve taken so many photos that I`m dividing the blog into three parts.
There was some sunshine and it was very pleasant to walk the whole length of Pett, 
making uninvited visits to friends` houses.
My first photo is of the Pett allotments which I forgot in part 1.


There are over 50 allotments here and villagers can rent them by the year. 
They are right next to the village hall.


The daffodils in front of the church are stunning.


The gardening club have planted daffodils all through the village.


The celandine-dotted path winds round older trees until we get to the next pub.






 I love these houses. The one on the right has a stained glass window on the side of the porch.
It shows the house itself.


Here is the Royal Oak, our second public house..... serving meals as well. It is opposite the Pett playing fields. Sports clubs often gather here after matches and games.









This house is at an odd angle to the road.

This group of buildings is the Roundels, fronted by the duck pond. The round buildings are converted oast houses. In the past hops were dried in the oast houses for beer.











This is called Home Cottage. I wonder why.


 
















This is always an interesting farm to pass, with the duckpond and a bank of flowering bulbs which give pleasure from February onwards.
There are always chickens walking across the road here.


Our walk did not end here, but we called in to see Judith who kindly offered us tea, and we discussed our latest holidays....us in Fuerteventura and them in Cuba........(now there`s a thought)
See Clifford`s blogspot on my right bar - Birding Walks in RXland.
Cliff and Judith have had their holiday photos made into photobooks and the 
one I saw on Morocco was fantastic.

This seems like a good place to end Part 2.







Wednesday 26 March 2014

Sedum Roof Stage 1

We have had two visits to the garden since my last blog entry. There`s a lot going on.
Steve and Anne got stuck into the metal base plates for the polytunnel.


It is going to be huge. As we had a bun break, we discussed what we would grow in it.











Steve had removed all the recycled turves from one of the big beds and placed it upside down on some tarpaulin. I dug up great clumps of sedum from around the garden and placed it on top of the turf.


When this roots, it will be ready to go on top of the cob shed to make our living roof.
Today I bought 3 different varieties in a range of colours from B and Q. I will get some more cuttings going.
I could make a business out of sedum plants. They grow so well at Freshwinds.

I managed to get 100 onion sets in the same bed after forking over and raking down.


That day we took home rhubarb and some brocolli.


















At home I have been making my own confetti for a family wedding.
The rhodanthe which we grew last year, has completely dried so I have been hand stripping it.































I ended up with 4 bags of natural confetti and flowers left over for another celebration later in the year.

 













I have been working on the wild flower areas. We dug another one out from the grass, sowed the wildflower mix and covered with fleece.
 
 

 These little African baskets were going in the skip. Anne and I rescued them to make 
more homes in the insect hotel.

And finally I treated myself to a new border spade at B and Q. Steve broke my old one whilst digging out the old posts in our own garden.