Showing posts with label home-made. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home-made. Show all posts

Wednesday, 31 December 2014

Project Gratitude #update 15

Well, winter's definitely here! The last week has been extremely cold and we had some terribly high winds too. The safety of the roof is quite worrying!!! The plastic covering billowed like a hot air balloon, the wood creaked and cracked, the tiles (those remaining on the end bit) shifted, then the rain poured and the barn flooded..not a drop came through the new roof though so that's something! Seems there's a source under the land which is fit to burst because of the sheer quantity of water falling, and while the swales around the house are working well there wasn't enough time or manpower to fix a drain around the barn.


A rare duo-selfie :)
Oh yes...and the wheelbarrow got a puncture! Can you believe they make them with inflatable wheels...most stupid idea ever unless you intend to only roll it across a well manicured lawn! A new, non-inflatable wheel is 35 Euros...it's daylight robbery.

The other day was so cold (-5 degrees) that the washing I put out in the hope of it at least dripping out the excess water so I could bring it in to dry (washing machine broke - lol it's been one of those months!) that when I went to collect it at 4pm my pyjamas could stand up on their own...literally. I laughed so much, waving a t-shirt with the arms standing vertical, it was hilarious, lol.


What everyone in the country is wearing this season, lol...

Yesterday was a lovely sunny, but frosty day and as it was also dry it gave us a chance to trim some trees and chop much needed wood. The log fire is our only source of heat so it's important to keep it going once you start it in the morning...it takes an unexpected amount of effort! I've taken to watching the old Catherine Cookson adaptations to see if I can get some tips on rural life, lol.




Home-made wood cutting stand (reclaimed wood)

My watchman in India taught me well...

The new pup is settling in well and in just a week she's learnt "bed', 'allez' and 'come'...she's bi-lingual now too ;).

So we remain in hope of help and that there are at least a few friends out there who would buy us a coffee...is that you?

Love & light for now and wishing everyone on GoFundMe a great deal of success with their fundraising.


Happy New Year!

Louise (aka Mermie)

PS. Don't forget to share the link after you've deposited your 'coffee money' wink, wink: http://www.gofundme.com/chezgratitude

Thursday, 13 November 2014

Project Gratitude - Update 2#

20 days ago we received our first donation from a complete stranger!...

I posted:

Our first donation...thank you sooooo much! It came just in time as we ran out of cement yesterday :)
What we started with...
The barn renovations are coming along nicely and hopefully we'll be able to get some chickens installed within a month! I miss eggs a lot - only once in a blue moon have I caved in and bought so called 'free range'...though I know they're far from free or out on the range.

Actually it's only possible to post 3 pics on Gofundme so I'm happy to add some more here...


Tyres to absorb heat...

The chickens are gonna have a stronger front door than us...
The reclaimed tyres are coming to us for free from local garages who normally have to pay to get them removed...so our investment in the big white van was worth every euro. Plus, we have some very generous neighbours who've let us take away their unwanted materials, or sold us some second hand stuff like tools really cheap. We had only a small hammer and a screwdriver when we arrived, lol.

Home-made scaffolding
Despite constant cries from JC (hubby) that he 'needed' some scaffolding he managed very well without once he saw how much it cost - almost 1,000 for a decent and sturdy set! Bricks on the other hand are multi-functional, strong and resistant and 1 Euro each...

Polly le Poulet


We did get an early visitor from across the lane. Polly le Poulet (Polly the chicken), an ex-battery hen, decided to come and test out my succulent salad leaves. Since her first visit she comes every couple of days for an inspection and sometimes brings a friend or two...needless to say I planted more salad because we have been privvy to the odd delivery of their super fresh and tasty eggs from GG the neighbour. This is what we call the social aspect in permaculture ;)

Don't forget to spread the word and the funding site link:

http://www.gofundme.com/chezgratitude

Love & light
Louise (aka Mermie)