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July 04 Project Kenyan HutThe Kenyan Hut is well on the way to completion - well, it could have been completed weeks ago, but we have had weather and busy-ness and... excuses excuses!
Our volunteer thatcher turned up last week and then volunteered his wife to help too. Having taken her role as thatcher's apprentice for a few hours I was not sorry to surrender it to her. It involved standing underneath the structure and locating wires which then had to be turned around and poked back up to the thatcher who was working from above. The consequence of this was that the "thatch" - recycled from an old farm building and full of the dust of ages - distributed its contents on your head and in your eyes, up your nose and in your mouth. That thatch got to places I didn't know I had places!
Anyway, the process continued for a couple of days, took a break and then started again on Monday. Tuesday was to be "Topping Off Day" and we were all excited about that. I had made the sandwich lunch and it was sitting in the kitchen, covered in cling film, awaiting the lunchtime celebration. Then the Thatcher (AKA Peter B.) started on a new roll of wire. Thick wire. Untamed wire.
Next thing I knew his wife was asking for the first aid kit - nasty gouge on the hand. Nurse Anne donned the special gloves and waded in to the rescue only to realise fairly quickly that it was a stitching job! So off went the thatcher and all went quiet - just me and Archie the dog, looking mournfully at each other.
But, be undismayed! The thatcher returned and did a bit more work before lunch. Next week should see the roof completed and then there is only the ground to sort out, a net to put in place and - piece de resistance - a fantastically cunning waterproofing device to be put in place - a kind of "umbrella" structure to keep us toasty warm and dry underneath.
Now, I'm sorry to tantalise you - but the photos will be added later. Watch the photo gallery.
In the meantime you can be designing a suitable opening ceremony for me! The official opening will be in September - so plenty of time for epic poems / dances / music / feast menus etc.
Have fun on the beach! June 15 June BluesHave you noticed just how vibrant the June colours are - particularly the blues? Summer is still 'new' and the dust of July and August is still to come. On my sick bed (again) I was idling away an hour watching an episode of the tv series Coast, where Alice analysed the special qualities of the light at St Ives... blue, blue, blue. Glorious. In my 'Summer cold blues' I have had plenty of time to think. Awake in the night, listening to the foxes hunting and watching the shadowy forms of trees and cattle emerging in the secret pre-dawn light, the poetic was not far away.
On Raasay I discovered the wonderful healing of the blue sea and sky, the far distances and the seemingly ageless hills. O blues - both hurting and healing. So, if you have an hour to spare, seize the moment and don't miss out on the blues. Find a place where you can look up into the fathomless blue of a June sky and devour it, absorb it, consume it and fill your mind with its enormity and depth. We spend too much of our lives with our eyes cast down. Look up. (But not at the sun of course!)
This done, you will have stored up a little 'blue' with which to fight the winter blues if, or when, they come. Enjoy! May 26 Now, where was I?Ah, the answer to that is - the island of Raasay off the west coast of Scotland, just north of Skye!
My expedition began at an early hour on a Somerset station platform wondering why I had such a heavy suitcase (and ended at the same station - same suitcase, but with a broken handle - it just had to contain my heavy walking boots - and that fruit cake wasn't really so very heavy!)
In between I spent a couple of days at Glenelg (map books out folks!) and the best part of a week on the island of Raasay, followed by a little gentle 'cat-sitting' in Cumbria.
Scotland put on its best show - apart from a downpour on our first morning there - we woke to it, fearing the holiday would be a saturated one - then, by the end of our excellent B&B breakfast the sun had come out, to stay with us for the rest of the week.
Highlights of the week:
1 the ferry crossing from Glenelg to Skye - manned by three delightful characters (including a 'mobile sawmill' operator!) accompanied in the water by a group of seals and met by a wild otter.
2 the welcome at the Glenelg B&B + the delightful litter of puppies just ready to find homes
3 the brochs (look it up!)
4 Calum's road on Raasay - the courage and determination of one man
5 miles of solitary footpaths
6 good food and good company - oh, and at the end of each day, hot showers and comfortable beds!
7 flying (and other) pigs, lambs and other wildlife
8 rugged coastlines
9 deep blue sea, so clear you could see deep down to the bottom near the rocks
10 clear blue skies and huge distances - upon which to gaze and gaze
So Anne, what did you do? I walked and wandered and gazed and drank in the beauty. I laughed and chatted and enjoyed the company of both friend and stranger. I did a very little sketching (blame the midges). I allowed the place to repair me. I set no targets. I listened and I watched.
When did you last do the same? May 04 Spring cleaning?It is truly amazing how the spring sunshine shows up dirt that one had been living with quite happily over the winter, making one ashamed and eager to set things to rights. I can't say I am winning the battle. All the busy activities of this life seem to bring their tide of books, papers, junk, mess and detritus which has to be cleared away before one can spring into action. I am good (like Austen's 'Emma') at making lists and (like her) failing to complete the tasks thereon!
This bank holiday weekend I have all manner of targets of a home-based nature. They range from furniture moving, through a sewing project to the ironing and a bit of cake baking. I'll let you know, dear reader(s), how many/few I achieve and how I score on the Efficient Housewife Scale - it may cause you to smile a little and feel less alone in the daily struggle to keep on top of things!
For those of you who enjoy the odd nature note - the toadpole is alive and well (in the pond) and the tadpoles are hiding from him. Birds are nesting. OV and I accidently discovered a nest yesterday whilst trying to site the new water butt. I'm just hoping we haven't disturbed the owners. No eggs in it.
Water butt waltzing is, of course, not unlike furniture waltzing (v earlier post - can't do clever things like links yet - must take lessons) but MUCH more ecological I hazard.
Now I must 'hit the day'.
(You may notice that African hut building is not on the above list - only because there are more pressing matters to hand! A friend has commented that it will go well with my gypsy caravan - also built from recycled materials - going on to ask whether I was creating a museum of buildings. Now there's a thought. Any offers of help to build a Devon cob cottage summer house? I jest!!) April 20 Out of Africa?Here, as promised, the 'African Hut Story' - but no Meryl Streep in sight!
As you can see, the ground was first cleared by the simple process of having a couple of bonfires in the middle of the lawn (turf removed first!) OV then 'pile drove' (sic) some tree stakes into the ground. Hazel, donated by a villager, was woven between the posts and a brush fence - from France - was tied to it. Further poles were then driven in to strengthen the structure. The logs on the floor are the remains of the tree which fell down - could they be converted into seating do you think?
The hut now awaits its roof and floor - the first will be a tree stake and hazel construction - to be thatched later in the year, the latter will comprise a porous liner with a generous layer of wood chippings on top - as we felt the authentic beaten earth floor was not compatible with Somerset weather!
More anon. (including the Grand Opening Ceremony)
(Please note the intrepid Vicar man-handling the 'machinery' whilst teetering on a set of kitchen steps!)
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