Autumn Days

Autumn always seems to come faster than I expect. I do love it, but it is over so quickly and before I know it the fire is lit and winter is here. 

But Autumn has plenty of treats and I'm enjoying trying to use my evening once I've picked the kids up to enjoy them.

Apple Diversity

I'm late in "summer" pruning my cordon apples this year. But as I trimmed them back I was amazed by the variety and quality of fruit in this trained hedge. 

It's a great year for apples and for the first time my main orchard is loaded with fruit, as are my cordon trees in the veg garden.

First Day At School Number 2!

So Tuesday it was time for my youngest daughter to start school.

Sisters ready for school

Like when my eldest started, I enjoy sharing milestones with people and friends that have read this blog for years and it's also something I love looking back on.

She was so excited about this and has been ready to start for well over a year now!

More Kitchen Progress

Sorry I haven't posted this last week or replied to comments - I've been working flat out to try and get so we can use some of that space again before the weather turns and we can't eat outside anymore!

Lots more progress though.

Everything was plasterboarded and ready for Sean, my good friend and plasterer, to come and skim it. 

Building A New Fireplace

Last week was another hard one, made worse by the fact I broke my toe! I just limped a bit - it was only my little one thankfully!

It was finally time to tackle the fireplace!

A little bit of me has always hated this old open fireplace. We used to hide it with an old bookcase I made my wife for Christmas years ago.

Trouble was it was built with the same iron hard bricks and mortar as the rest of the house - not easy to take down I can tell you!