Changes

There have been so many changes in and around Bealtaine Cottage over the past two years. These have included repainting and a little bit of remodelling, in particular a new stove.

Here I am standing in and under a new veranda, with new wood, roofing and major repairs done to the roof along the edges of the cottage.

Woven through the past two years of work has been a consistent amount of energy spent repairing the woodland and gardens from the severe storms experienced last autumn, winter and early spring. This has afforded me the opportunity to do some practical work on the garden around the Veranda.

The most important aspect of this work has been the opening up of the space in order to have regular access to keeping the gutters clean from moss and leaves. This involves me climbing a stepladder and manually clearing along the gutter, for if left unchecked, a problem with flooding around the back of the cottage becomes an issue.

This problem is now solved and I am busy working new gravel onto the ground. The plants that were removed were carefully dug out and replanted near the tunnel in the Lughnasadh garden.

After storm Aeowyn I struggled to come to terms with the destruction, but have worked and planned to insulate the gardens and woodland in every practical way I could think of. As the work on these plans comes to a close, I am feeling much more confident about riding out future storms.

There is little doubt that future storms will be equally strong and terrifying! However, it is vital to ensure we recognise and deal with the changing weather patterns.

It’s important for me to note that even though the storms brought much destruction, that same destruction allowed much more light to permeate the lower canopies of fruit trees and as a consequence there has been a wonderful fruit harvest from blackcurrant, rhubarb apples, and plums.

I am using pollarded wood from trees to create another dead hedge, but this time a fully enclosed round one!

There are no videos at the moment and many of you know why this is, but I am ensuring that much of what I am doing is recorded here on the website.

This website is my online sanctuary.

Blessings of peace and hope to you all in these troubled days.

Colette and Patsy

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