Thirty tons of tyres and plastic - gone at last!
- Hils B
- Nov 7, 2022
- 3 min read
The last couple of months have been spent concentrating on the great outdoors at Old Dairy Barns. In October we've finally cleared the site of the last 10.5 tons of tyres, 20 tons of farm plastic wrap, 16 tons of scrap metal, piles of gas canisters, left over building materials and so much more - how glad we are to see them all finally taken away!
I think our neighbours are also rather pleased that the eyesore of our 'front garden' is finally being tidied up. We have got to the point where hopefully we won't be finding too much more rubbish and we are starting to seed, plant and make the outside look less like a scrap yard. We are beginning the process to create a much more fitting approach to our beautiful new home. Getting as much grass seed down before the winter sets in has been the recent challenge, but at last we are seeing some greenery replace the mud around the building.
We've forged ahead with fencing and seeding a 'utility' garden to enclose the dogs and we have also just completed enclosing the annex garden too. The boys have been busy fencing and building the raised beds, while I 'rustically' repaired a tumbling wall, made a path and laid the terrace. Seeding, turfing and lots of general wheelbarrowing has been the order of the day, everyday. We've been very glad of help with the hard labour from visiting friends too!
It's been nearly 3 months since we started the process of moving ourselves into Old Dairy Barns and it is now beginning to feel like home. Like any good love affair, it's been filled with highs and lows, but sadly most of the lows seemed to have come at this end of the journey. What should have been a celebration of reaching our goal was overshadowed somewhat by the struggles created by our main contractor dumping us in the proverbial poo. I'm not going to bleat on about the horrors we are left with, but suffice to say since their departure, we have had no end of problems to try and resolve with the house - normal you might say at this stage, but what would be normal would be having someone to call on to put things right! A very steep learning curve...
BUT, when the house feels like a burden and the worries are piling up, we just look at our view, go for a walk in the hills and remember that we are really enjoying a good new life here in the West Country. Having blocked pipes, faulty windows, loos out of action, no heat or leaks we can't trace all become unimportant when we indulge in the autumn scenery which has brought us fabulous treats that we literally have indulged in. The fungi particularly - our giant puff balls from our fields have been amazing and are absolutely delicious pan fried in garlic breadcrumbs! Who knew?!
The animals too keep us entertained. We've had Boris The Ram join us for duty the last few weeks - such a charmer with the ladies! So the cycle continues. Another Autumn leads to another Winter, which will in turn lead to the joy of lambs in yet another Spring. We continue to enjoy seeing our family, as well as old and new friends coming to visit, and we do try to remember to value each day for what it brings us. Definitely continuing to be thankful for discovering this beautiful corner of Somerset!
For some clever 'before & after' images of the barns at the start compared to now, click here, or go to the 'before & after' page via the main menu.
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