History of the Lane

So many beautiful souls live in this lane. 

Two photos have been shared with me this week, one of the lane around 1950 and another one from the other end of the lane, from around 1900.

Sanctuary Smallholding was originally the brick furnace manager's home, the deputy lived next door and so on, as you walk up the lane. 

Originally, the railway line did not have access underneath for carts or cars and the families had to risk crossing the main line to go into the nearest town.

It's great to see the faces of the brick furnace workers and their families. The houses were built with two entrances and this was originally the back lane it's now the only entrance in. The front path is now closed off as it now runs across the gardens. 

One neighbour has lived here since the 1950's and her husband lived here from the age of 4.  

Each cottage originally had a pigsty and luckily we still have our two pigstyes. There also used to be allotments behind.

We are in the middle of a valley, :between 4 villages. Have the phone code of one town and fall under the borough of another, the church parish of another village and the village address of a village furthest away from us?  

We are blessed to live in this secret single track lane, hidden away with all these views and walks and nature.

Studio Kiln and Wheel

A dream came true for me in October when my studio space was enhanced suddenly.  I had mentioned to only a few people that I was looking out for an old kiln and wheel. 

A lovely neighbour spotted a newspaper ad and popped it round.  And I am now 

the proud owner of my very own kiln, wheel and pugmill. 

I went to meet the potter who was sorting out her studio. Ann is an amazing lady in her 80's, living in a beautiful gatehouse on the other side of the County. The house is surrounded by the most amazingly planted gardens. 

I am about to have the kiln serviced and fixed ready for firing the ceramics I dream of making.

The 300kg kiln travelled across the County to its new home in our conservatory and up those steps. 

October Treasures in and around the Smallholding

Autumn Gratitudes

The Summer disappeared in a flash of festival fun and weekends of renovations. 

Autumn seems to be rewarding us with an extended Summer, a blessing with the plans we have for the gardens here.

The eldest son has flown the nest for new adventures and is studying in Brighton for 3 years and each of us now have the sanctuary of our own spaces to sleep.  The basement (as posted yesterday) is now bedroom 4 for Oscar's visits.  

There are plans for more space to grow food and flowers to attract wildlife.  The dead wood and trees need pruning.

I am making lists of seeds to buy, need to move the greenhouse and Kirk is looking at small tractors on eBay.  We have a digger to borrow and tree stumps to uproot. 

But this week feels like a settling is occurring, the cottage itself is almost done. The dust and mess is reducing. A clearing has happened. Space. Sanctuary. 

Basement renovation

Did we say we moved from a 4 bed bungalow to a 2 bed cottage? Well we now have transformed it into a 4 bed family home.

We would not have been able to do this in such a short time without the help of many friends.  

We would like to say a huge thank you to Paul and Alison Houston, Neil, Lesley and Elliott Hanney, Jon Ryall, Andy Sturgess and Eric Jolley who helped us turn this house into a home.

So the basement went from this...

A dumping room full of stuff the last owner left behind.

To this...

We still have pictures and curtains to hang but it is cosy. 

Woodland Bath

A while back I pinned this picture on Pinterest...

I pin a lot of stuff, anything that clicks with me, or makes my heart sing. It is then added to my collection, like the hoarder I am, filed away into my app and to the back of my brain where things marinate and stew and then as I wander and dream, they pop back into my memory like bubbles of inspiration.

Then my love posted on FB that a neighbour was throwing away a bath tub together with an image of an outdoor bath.

So I took Max and the dogs for a walk up the lane, where on the grass lay an upturned cast metal bath.

In big letters the word SCRAP was written. There it was waiting to be taken. I rang the doorbell to double check. A neighbour appeared and confirmed that it was to be taken away as rubbish.  I sheepishly shared my plan, but lied and said it was to bathe the dogs in... he might not understand the new neighbour that wants to recycle a really old bath for the garden and then will actually take a bath in it, that's just weird!  Anyway, he kindly helped me carry back down the lane to its new home.

Kirk came home early and with our son's help moved it into place amongst the trees. 

They roughly placed it with recycled bricks and we had a practise run.

We then remembered the beautifully worn old fenceposts that had rotten at the base and kept for another project. 

An hour or so later...

and torrential rain.

Just some wild planting to do (thinking foxgloves and cow parsley and ivy) and hanging of some recycled glass jars in that tree and this bath will be full of hot water fuelled by the wood from our sanctuary smallholding.

 

Secret Garden Treasures - June

It's only nearly halfway through the month (our second month here) and we found a third, medium sized, Oak tree! 

The Great Oak, with its ivy coat, has been crowned and is now safe. We have logs to season for the wood burner and a huge pile of mulch for the gardens.

We did have to lose a pine, which grew dangerously over the fence but we will be using the large slices of trunk as seats and stepping stones in the garden.

We also found Alder, a Juniper, Mulberry and a Red Chinese Birch. 

I always dreamt that one day I'd have an orchard and now we have cherry trees, plums, apples, pears, hawthorn, blackthorn and hazelnuts.

The robins and wrens have been watching carefully, as have the ravens and goldfinches. The cuckoo woke me this morning. As I write blackbird sings, whilst robin is just outside the door. 

Poppies have popped open, their purple plum petals and yellow centres greeting me just inside the garden gate.

Foxglove seedlings were found in a pot I brought from our old house. These have been added to the courtyard beds with this year's tall Foxglove spikes, so now we'll have these again next year.

Gooseberries have been picked and I will collect some elderflower heads to make a gooseberry and elderflower fool.

I found yarrow and plantain in the grass with various mushrooms (which I need to identify).

Ferns are growing up the back steps next to the mossy walls. Dog roses ramble.

And we returned from Symmetry festival with lots of organic herbs and homemade teas from Bumpstead Herbs.

I also discovered a few more ways to use doTERRA peppermint essential oil...

1. Made a natural aphid spray by adding a few drops to my plant water sprayer and spritz them.

2. To remove a tick from my son by adding a drop of neat peppermint to the tick, waiting a minute or so and then see if it backs out or becomes easy to remove.

3. A drop to my organic peppermint tea or hot chocolate. 

If you want more info on essential

oils, I am also a Wellness Consultant for doTERRA. Please click on my page 

http://www.mydoterra.com/lisaigo/

Much love.

Ps Plant lovers, what is this?