Floors

In our living room beneath the smelly green underlay we discover a quarry tile floor but it is very dirty and covered with glue.  Dave begins the long and dirty job of cleaning it, then it will need careful removal  - we have permission to put in underfloor heating but we must replace the floor surfaces so we have to drawn the pattern of this one before doing anything further.

Working in the cart shed

What fun to own a cart shed - even if it urgently required propping.  We have been very busy digging up bricks and cleaning them - maybe for the house, but certainly to make paths in the garden.  It appears as if everything that wasn't wanted has been buried in the garden - including the concrete block wall.

Fruit

Walking round the farm we find blackberries and several damson trees - hopefully next year I will be able to find my preserving pan and make jam!

Water

It's Bank Holiday Monday and a lovely neighbour arrives and kindly shows us where our water supply connects to the mains! We would never have found it as it's right across the fields off Bowling Alley Lane and the other side of the hedge.  Apparently Joe had worked on our farm since leaving school some 40 years ago and had put the supply pipes in - a real stroke of luck for us - although not so handy that the only way to turn it off is a major hike some 10 minutes up the road!! The water supply details found during the pre-auction search turned out to be for the 'other' Hill Farm and not for us at all.

Acorns and the buzzard

There are amazing acorns on our oak trees. We also have lots of holly but no sign of berries yet although I found a crab apple on our hedge boundary. We also have a boggy area which is probably a pond but it is completely covered with 'brooklime' - apparently this can be eaten like watercress. Above us we hear the call of the buzzard who hunts over our land.

Swallows

We saw the most amazing sight today of maybe 100 or more swallows swooping around and land on the roof of the farm.  Incredible - we have never seen anything like it before.

Underpinning

Work has begun on the underpinning.  It is extremely scary to see a hole being dug beneath the house but we will feel much more secure once this is done.  It seems possible that the proximately with the well may have caused the soil to move under this corner of the house.

Sunset

There is a lovely sunset.  It is wonderful to have such open views - I can't wait till we are actually living here.

Kittens

There were apparently lots of feral cats at the farm and we keep being visited by different ones.  Today a young tabby appeared whilst we waited for the builder, she had a pair of very young kittens.  I hope one day we can get a couple to stay with us. This little one is just emerging from the dairy.

Electicity

Our electricity poles are not a thing of beauty (although appreciated by the swallows) and today we had Western Power round to quote for running them underground.The plan is that we will dig the trench and then they come to make the connections - everyone warns us this will be terribly expensive but the quote arrives very promptly and isn't as bad as we'd thought so I expect we will get this done. It will also remove all the heavy 3 phase cable off the side of the house.

Strimming

We lease a strimmer/brushcutter and Dave sets about tidying the place up. Unfortunately the plastic blade struggles to do the job properly and we end up getting the hire cost reduced. I am most impressed that he fits into his old overalls - not worn for at least the last 35 years.

More rubbish

Another day another visit to the tip!!  At this rate we are expecting an invitation to their Christmas party!

Garden planning

Armed with canes we decide to set out our planned vegetable plot. After much trial and mainly error we find we can't align anything - if it looks right from one direction it seems out from another. Plus our tape measure breaks and so we have yards of it that won't wind back up. Eventually we give up and just sit and admire the view.

Rubbish

We have had to clear loads of rubbish from the farm. Since the bin men stopped coming it appears one of the barns has been used as a tip. In addition there is a sofa, cupboard and tyres in the fields and everywhere semi buried piles of hardcore.  This week Dave visited two refuse sites in one day and we are disposing of things bit by bit.

Our Farm

It's the view that makes it all worth while.  When the interior seems depressing we just have to step outside. This is what I was searching for and the requirement that was always top of my wish list.

Well travelled raspberries

These must be the most well travelled raspberry canes.  We dug them up and took them to my father's when we moved into our rented accommodation, but now this property has been sold they have had to be dug up again and have come back to their new home.

Staffordshire - Somerset - Derbyshire!!