Hedge Laying

In my last post I said we were going to lay the hedge round the carpark . . . . . well, we've done that now!  Carol and Graham came for a couple of days and wanted a bit of a project for while they were here, so this seemed like a good one.  Ben is here as well, so there were plenty of us to haul on the taller trees and to chop up the brash and stack it ready for a mega bonfire.  We got quite an efficient team going after a while with Bob on the chainsaw, whoever was necessary persuading the tree to fall in the right direction and then clearing away to the log pile or bonfire pile.

The planning meeting - chop here, pull that way, check
escape route

OK, take the strain . . . gently now . . . . and . . .

. . . . . RUN AWAY!
This was quite funny to watch!

This bit of hedge didn't have much in it that we could lay and so looks a bit sparse to say the least.  We have photos taken about 50 years ago showing a lovely, thick well tended hedge all around this field, but it hasn't been touched for at least 30 years and so the thick bushes had turned into very leggy, tall trees.  So, along this bit we have just had to chop the trees down and they should sprout again from the base and we can fill in the gaps with new plants when we plant the new hedge across the field.  The other bit we did, along the lane, had much more usable material in it and doesn't look too bad considering.  Again there were some quite big trees we had to just chop down and we had the added excitement of the telephone cable the other side of the lane to spice things up a bit.  At one point there was a small tree we wanted to lay growing right alongside a bigger, split trunk we had to take out, but the tops were all tangled up.  So Ben grabbed the smaller one and was pulling it back and forth to free the tops, to add a bit of extra force he pushed on the bigger trunk with his foot while he pulled on the smaller one.  Once they were free he let go of the smaller one which pinged back towards the smaller one trapping his foot between the two about 5 feet in the air!  Oh, it did look so funny!

This does look better, but it could have done with more little trunks to lay which makes the hedge thicker and higher, but you can only work with what you've got - it'll grow.  Now that the hedge has been reduced by about 25 feet in height, it does make everywhere look a bit open and vulnerable - it'll take a bit of getting used to, but it definitely needed doing and will look fine in a couple of years.  I think I now need to tidy up the builders yard that has built up and was hidden by these bits of hedges and is now in plain view.

We now have a huge pile of brash to burn (doesn't look very
big on this picture, but believe me it is!).  Luckily, Ben and
I had managed to burn all the previous pile (from clearing back
to lay the carpark) a couple of days ago in readiness for this next lot.

Work-wise, Bob has just finished making a big, round oak table.  It's a good job Ben was here to help as it was very heavy and Bob couldn't have kept turning it over to sand, etc without his help.  It took the three of us to cut it into a circular shape with Ben and I taking the weight and feeding it round while Bob manned the bandsaw and made sure it kept to the line.  The finished article looked really good and the customers were really happy with it.  Phew!  Bob was quite nervous as it is a bit of a leap of faith on their part to tell you what they want and hope you can interpret their ideas.  He needn't have worried though.  This table was to go in a winter house (as opposed to a summer house) in the garden and has a hole in the middle for a Japanese cooking plate so you sit around and cook your own food as you go.  Bit different, eh?

While Carol and Graham were here, Graham and Bob finished off the rocking chair Graham has been making for the last 6 months on odd weekends here.  Bob hasn't made a rocking chair before, but people are always asking about them, so good to now be able to say he has made one and Graham will send us some photos when he's oiled and waxed it at home.

We are in the middle of a visitor frenzy - Mum and Dad were here last weekend, followed by Carol and Graham and then Bob's stepmum, Jan, is coming on Monday.  So, the washer's working hard and the pub in the village is doing quite well out of us as each set of visitors wanted to eat there.  Funny how we go for months and months with no visitors and then everyone comes within a few days of each other . . . do you think they plan it?!