Last night the pipes froze, so it’s back to the good ol’ days and getting water from the spring in a bucket.
Soon to be a newt nursery – but luckily not yet
You might remember that last summer, several stones fell out of a retaining wall in the garden. Rather belatedly, it’s now fixed. The task was complicated by discovering, when we dug out the earth behind it, that the wall was flimsier than it appeared, a bit like the film-set facade of a Wild West town. Sections of it were visibly wobbling, and had to be removed and re-cemented.
Before and after:
On this occasion Eric mixed the cement and I was the bricklayer. (Don’t judge me.The top isn’t meant to be straight.)
I’ve also got right into the Blue Peter craft-corner spirit, with some sea-glass mobiles:
and a jewellery tree:
It turns out that curly stems of ivy are just right for this sort of project. The base is slate and granite. I trust Valerie Singleton would be proud of me.
‘The Business’
Our ads are now up to date and we’ve taken two bookings for the summer so far – one of them from guests based in Germany. As our prices are quoted in sterling, they must look like extra good value to mainland Europeans at the moment!
Ripoff America
After the painful experience of ordering some samples of wedding tulle from the USA (cheap goods but exorbitant postage, plus unexpected and heavy customs charges on delivery) the Jones establishment has adopted a new purchasing policy. In case you’re reading this, President Trump – henceforth our approach to international trade will be America Last.
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