It has been a long three years!

Before the 2009 floods this was an unsurfaced lane with a blackthorn hedge along the riverside. There was a an abundance of wild flowers along the banks and always some wildlife to spot from herons to dragonflies and occasionally the kingfishers or an otter.

Then came the floods and washed away the hedge and peeled away the river wall.This picture was taken after the water had dropped a couple of metres.

This was the mess that we were left with that prevented any vehicular access for 14 months. We had a long drawn out hassle with insurers and engineers till at last the river wall was rebuilt with the final top row only going on this summer.

Because the lane is a public footpath we got up a petition to get a proper surface put on and this week the tarmac arrived! Funny to think that there has probably been a track along here for a thousand years to the mill and the mill beyond and yet this is the first time there has been a surface on it. It looks a little manicured at present but hopefully we will be able to encourage something to grow along the riverbank pretty quickly.

At the end of the lane where those stones are there was a clump of Sweet Cicely with its heady aniseed smell to the crushed leaves. I can remember it being there when I was small so it must have been very well established. It, of course, was washed away in the flood so you can imagine my delight when I found a seedling just at the corner of our field garden. Once we get some better weather it will be transplanted to the bare patch. :o)

So that is our three year session over. My heart goes out to all the people who were flooded recently as they are just started on the journey. Only can hope that lessons have been learned from floods that have gone before.

Now to think about getting ready for Christmas! :o)

Nearly May.

We seem to have missed the drought and the rain (?) that the rest of the country has had over the last month and have been able to take advantage of the dry , sunny weather to try and restore a little order in the garden.
Did I mention we had a wood stove installed before Christmas? What a difference it makes to the house!
This was our first winter with this stove so we hadn't laid down any wood supplies and had to buy a load to start with but ultimately we hope we can keep ourselves supplied from the field garden.

There is something strangely fascinating about building the stack to season. 

 

This is a photo taken from the bottom of the garden towards the house  before the garden tidy up started.

 

This is another looking uphill where we have been clearing. It has all been mown since this was taken.

Remember how we had work done last summer rebuilding the river wall?

Well we were totally unhappy about the wall not being built as high as it was before the 2009 floods and have had nearly another year contesting it all, but today we see that plans have finally been passed for the wall to be raised.

 You can imagine the relief that is for us! It is like a sack being taken from our backs!

Work should be starting by the beginning of June. Once the wall is done the fence can go back on and the road surfaced properly.

 

Remember the little fairy from earlier?
I can show the whole quilt now and am delighted to say that it won an Aurifil suitcase and some Fabric Freedom fabrics as First Prize in a competion in Patchwork & Quilting magazine. :o)

 

This is a snippet of one I am working on just now.

A mixed month so far

A very belated Happy New Year! Where has January disappeared to?
The days seem to have flown past.

The biggest thing we have had to deal with so far was working out where a temporary drive could be driven through our garden and cause the least disturbance. We haven't been able to get any vehicles to the house since the 2009 floods and the way the powers that be are talking it could be autumn 2011 before our river wall and lane are rebuilt.The gate leads out into the lane along by the river that was our usual route pre-flood.

We are not feeling too happy about the time the insurance company have taken and this drive is a bittersweet pill!

However we can now drive home and will also be able to get rid of the 14 month accumulation of items for recycling thus making space in the garage. Sadly the drive has had to be cut through two mature hedges which will take a long time to restore. Some of the trees have had their roots bruised and cut through too.

I am trying not to think too much about the potential damage to them.

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On a brighter note I have been gradually getting back into sewing both playing with decorative stitches on some silk and also learning my new Bernina Cutwork tool and software.

I was very wary of it at first but am getting quite familiar with it now. The applique names were an experiment in using fonts from the computer to make applique shapes and they worked beautifully and very easily.
The cushion was another experiment of using a simple shape that had rows of decorative stitches programmed in as borders. The alternate squares are quilted with a design built into the 830. I hadn't made a couple of borders wide enough but I joined them into a cushion anyways and will just add a little hand embroidery later.
What was really good was that I starched and ironed 10 layers of batik cotton and the Cutwork Tool just went through the pile like a hot knife through butter. Now I have sussed those bits out I can start to be a little more adventurous.:o)