October round-up

The weather has been very mixed this month, with some heavy rain preparing us for the worst of the winter to come. We've had a few spells of blue sky, but mostly the days have been changeable, with the kind of showers and sunny intervals traditionally associated with April. The leaves are coming off the trees in great numbers, and the average temperatures are falling.

we have had a few days of digger-landscaping, none more spectacular than the one which involved removing the root-ball of the lime tree we felled before the build started



we are slowly starting to organise the garden spaces, and I have constructed a couple of raised beds and installed 3 poles which will support espalier fruit trees to be planted over the winter

three weeks ago our air source heat pump failed and had to be replaced under guarantee - apparently the original was one of a rogue batch which Mitsubishi acknowledged was defective

we went to Scotland with friends for the third week of October and were delighted on our return to discover that the landscaping works in front of the house were underway

we will have a resin-bound path from the gate to the house, with a parking area of loose gravel

the steel frames and plywood backing of the garage doors are in place - cladding awaited

the ramp to the garage will also be resin-bound

the first line of cobbles now reaches to where the gates will be (residual fence to be replaced by wall)

the hedge to the left will also be replaced by walling, with stone gateposts supporting metal gates across the opening


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