It's all gone a bit quiet

Ah yes, it's pumpkin time again. Here's a selection of this year's pickings - some pumpkin potimarron (small orange ones), prostate squash, with tasty seeds (stripey green and gold one) and some blue banana squash (the long one). We also have some butternet squashes that need just a little more time to mature.

Apart from all things edible it's been very quiet here for the past week or so. For reasons beyond your control, and our imagination, we have had to stop building for a while.

Long story short, the previous planning permission for the site had an error, so we are technically without planning permission for our build and having to seek 'retention' and aren't allowed to do ANY building work until this is sorted.

This has been quite a shock to say the very least. Yet, life goes on. (It has also been an interesting lesson in 'living in the now' and not forever 'waiting' to be done and 'in'. After all, the journey is everything .. and it's quite some journey!).There's still the polytunnel to look after and chickens and ducks to feed here etc. We can still sort out some technical details, make plans etc

I'll still be blogging - just don't expect any pictures of work going on inside the house for a while.

So, here's what we HAVE been up to.

As well as the joy of squash ...

... on the last day of September I got some seeds started and now we have pak choi, lettuce and rocket etc growing really well in the tunnel. I'm also in the middle of setting up a watering system for the tunnel, with seep hose running from water butts. Watch this space to see if it works. (You can see the brown pipe has already been laid out between the plants)

I've also been collecting seed from those massive sunflowers.

Also, this week, we have installed an automatic pop hole for the bird house. It's very useful for when we o out before it gets dark and don't want to either lock the girls away really early or leave them out late without having the door shut.

It seems to be a great success. Luckily, the door goes down slowly (I was concerned that if it went down too fast and a chicken was going through at the time that it could get messy!) There is a battery powered light sensor that closes and opens the door at dusk and dawn. Very clever.

The days are really drawing in now and shortening, but they birds are still all laying really well.

We're getting some 'free' mushrooms from our latest load of spent mushroom compost - and very tasty they are too.

We also found that there's a lovely hazel on site that has been giving us lovely nuts.

I may still mark out my raised beds this month rather than waiting until Spring, if I prepare them now and then cover them with black plastic the soil could be nice and warm by Spring. (Don't you just love a bit of optimism).

Anyway, normal building work WILL be resumed, hopefully fairly shortly, so do keep checking in.

Six months in .. but not in yet.

Here's the current view of the lawn and chicken run, from the living room.

Just been musing that it's now been six months since the shell of the house went up.

We've been pretty busy since then (and also frequently pulled away from the build to do other things). Sam has been doing great work, but morale does wane at times - it really is a lot of work for just the two of us (and just him doing heavy work). Guess I might have been a bit over ambitious and quite optimistic. We are really quite tired by now - but it is still all worth it.

Some things have gone really well, like making new friends, playing in the polytunnel, and eating from it, of course. One of the best things has been having the chickens and ducks, especially now they are free ranging. They are a constant source of amusement, whether they are using the remains of the sand pile as a giant dust bath, chasing insects across the lawn or trying to sneakily gain entry to the tunnel. The chickens have really come on since we first got them. Their faces have great colour now, their beaks are now brown (rather than white) and have grown back and their feathers are improving really well. See for yourself.











Here's a pic of the bed by the tunnel, the sunflowers are the same variety as those in the tunnel in the last post. The wind has been quite fierce at times, (hence the sunflowers are not 11ft tall like in the tunnel), even over the summer, so much so that I'm considering using windbreak netting.


People have been telling me recently how getting the shell up is the 'easy' bit .. and it is after that when the costs really soar. I can well understand what they mean. It can be frightening how money disappears (and there's always something I forgot to budget for).

One thing we had planned on was using renewable energy, preferably by being off-grid, using a hybrid wind and solar system combined with a battery bank. That plan for electricity from renewables had to be shelved and leaves us now having to wait a minimum of three months to get conneted to the ESB (grid). So, it will be an interesting time ahead with just the generator for a while longer (was ok in summer with long days, may be more challenging in winter). There may even be a time when we have to stop the build until the electric is connected. Fingers crossed we'll manage ok. (The solar hot water needs electricity to work so we'll only have cold water for a while longer). At least the wood burning stove is now ready for action.

Eventually, we'll get some renewables for electricity.

We'd originally planned to be 'in' by September and although we aren't there yet, it is getting ever closer (I daren't say a deadline, let alone go for the 'we'll be in by Christmas' idea).

For now, there is a rumor that Sam might just get the toilet plumbed in soon :)

While the good weather stays we'll also be busy plastering the outside. Pictures next time.

polytunnel progress and more roof antics

Here's a taster of what is going on in the polytunnel these days. Thankfully the squashes are starting to lose their insistence on scambling over the paths but they are producing grand fruits now, like this pumpkin potimarron.

The russian mammoth sunflowers are living up to their name and have reahed the top of the tunnel and have tree trunks for stems.

Of ourse, I am starting off more seeds, to fill gaps left by peas and brassicas (see the 'blue banana' squash growing along the bench - good in risotto so I hear .. I'll remember to invite a large crowd for dinner that night!)

The butternut squash are a bit behind. Fingers crossed they'll cath up.


My best surprise has been the green nutmeg melon - we have four, hidden behind brocolli and so unattended, but they've done fine and are very tasty - even ripened well and are even sweet.


Corn on the cob is fab too.


Brassias were ridiculously large, especially the leaves, but all came through with good heads in the end.


Of course, we've not been without incident. Last week my pop corn got badly infested with aphids (I swear I hadn't seen any the day before) which took some time and effort to sort (washing up liquid and brutality).


Also. outside the polytunnel, the pond has some sort of green gloop. Not quite sure what it is, but will feed it to the compost heap.


In the house there has been some progress.

Here is the ceiling starting to go up.



Here, Sam starts making holes in the roof again ...


... to fit the flue for the stove (note the re-appearance of Neil, our able helper back for more punishment)

Here's Sam on the roof, removing tiles.


Now, job done, saluting his fine erection .. of the flue.

Where does the time go?

Wherever the time goes, it hasn't been spent building much over the past few weeks.

With guests a plenty and work to distract us the build has been sorely neglected.

However, we've got a few things done and have been having some fun.

Here's Sam attempting to 'herd' the ducks towards the pond on their first free range outing.

Needless to say, he was unsuccessful.

The chickens are also greatly enjoying free ranging now and are looking really lively and healthy - and producing plenty of gorgeous eggs.

Despite neglecting the tunnel a wee bit we've got plenty of veg - still dwarf beans, the last polytunnel peas (with outdoor peas now starting), broccoli, cabbage, courgettes, salad onions etc

Here's one of our tunnel sunflowers.

Here's some marigolfd from the tunnel (they entice the bees in).

Here's a potimarron winter squash.


Inside the house we have managed to do first fix electrics and plumbing, so we've lots of wires hanging from the ceiling.

We've also been preparing for insulating the ceiling under the roof. Here are the hardboard sheets we (very painstakingly) put up. That took us a lot longer than we anticipated. I think if it wasn't for Test Match Special Sam might not have made it through the job in one piece (it's tricky wielding hardboard over your head .. esp when the helper (me) is undersized for the job).

The squash have been trying to take over the universe. I'm still regularly filling wheelbarrows with squashy tendrills that overtake the paths in the tunnel.

Here's some of that veg I was talking about earlier.

Hopefully, I'll have a bit more to report soon. There are rumours of a working toilet soon. Now that will be well appreciated!

Stairs, eggs and chickens

I now have the answer to the age old riddle 'Which came first the chicken or the egg?'

For us it was the egg - as our ducks started laying a week last Friday. Here's Sam with his treasured find. They taste really good too.

The chickens weren't far behind actually, we got four ex-battery hens last Tuesday, but more on that later.

That Friday was a busy day indeed, as we got our stairs put in too.

Of course, there has been lots happening in the tunnel and garden, we're now eating mangetout peas, broad beans, potatoes, courgette, lettuce and mizuna and have lots of basil and parsley too. Here's a pic of broad beans (mega tasty) and spuds.

Anyway, I digress, lets backtrack to those stairs. Here is our 'before' picture with the hall crying out for some lovely stairs.

Here the stairs are in, looking great. It really makes the place seem more like a home and less like a building site to have stairs (we had a ladder before). Sally is delighted as she can now come upstairs with us.

Here's some detail of the bottom of the stairs.

Here's Elvie playing on the stairs.

Here's Elvie playing on a haystack in the field!

At last, here are the long awaited chickens (well, 3 of the 4 felt photogenic). You can see some areas where their feathers are missing if you look closely. Mind you, we got the best of the bunch i.e. the most feathered!

Here you can see one with feathers missing on her chest. They're all settling in well although the ducks were a tad miffed at sharing their space at first. They're getting the hang of things, although only one is laying so far - but I'm happy to give them a bit of time to settle in. They have to eat the pellets as 'mash' with water rather than dry (it might be because their beaks are clipped). I'm not sure if I'll be able to wean them onto the dry stuff or not. Typically, the ducks now want mash too!

The tunnel is becoming quite a jungle. The squashes in particular are trying to take over every inch of space. I'm forever training them in circles. The sweetcorn is massive now too.

Outside the tunnel I've been extending the gravel, so it's easier to walk when the ground is wet (a job best done before winter) as the water can puddle along the paths there. The border beside the tunnel is doing ok now, with the peas starting to flower and the beans starting to climb.

The beans are now properly climbing the poles in the planters outside the tunnel too .. everything is having a growing spurt.

Now, we're getting on inside the house insulating the upstairs and getting ready for first fix electrics and plumbing. No rest, thats for sure.

I'm finally realising that this is our HOME in the making and I'm getting for of an urge to get in and make our mark on it and make it 'ours'. Time to start thinking layouts again - for electrical sockets, lights etc .. not to mention furnishing and decorating. Looks like it's only beginning in some ways.

P.S. We were hoping to get on wireless broadband but couldn't get line of sight so we're still on VERY slow speed mobile internet here, hence the infrequent postings. Fingers and toes crossed that Eircom actually bring broadband to Carrigallen and beyond in the not too distant future (there is a rumor that they might).