Logs, logs and more logs!

We finally got round to hiring a log-splitter last Friday and what an easy job it made of our piles of big logs.  It took us all day, but was nothing like the arm/back-aching work it would have been by hand.  In the morning Ben was around to help and we got quite a rhythm going - one passing logs to the splitter, the splitter and the other loading the split logs into the log store.  In the afternoon, with all our log stores full to the rafters, Bob and I split the remaining logs and piled them up ready for our next store.

And here it is.  As I said before, it's made from the timbers from our old tin barn and is going to have a slate roof so should look quite 'swiss chalet' I think.  This one's not huge, so we'll definitely need another on the other side of the 'carpark'.  You really need to stay two or three years ahead of the game with firewood to make sure you are always burning dry wood, so you just can't have enough log stores!

The hedge we laid is greening up  nicely with loads of new buds, so that's a good sign.  Mind you, when Ben and I were cutting some logs we noticed that some of them had new green shoots on too, so Maybe we'll wait a while before we declare the hedge-laying a success.

A few weeks ago we planted our 'orchard' . . . . does four trees count as an orchard I wonder?  We moved a little pear tree from the other side of the house where it wasn't very happy and bought a cherry, plum and apple to keep it company.  In the Autumn we will plant a Shropshire Damson (makes amazing jam with a dash of Port added) where the pile of logs is at the moment and maybe something else, so that'll be six trees.  There's also a couple of crab apples in our new hedge, so I think that will count as an orchard.  Rob and Becky have also planted a variety of fruit trees the other side of the new hedge, so they'll all help each other with pollination.  At the same time we planted an ornamental quince on the other side of the house between the lounge doors.  The chickens are very grateful for their new bath!

All the Spring flowers are coming out everywhere - we are up to the bluebell stage here, with lots of primroses, wood sorrel, wood anemones and daffodils.  The snowdrops are over and the cowslips are just starting to appear.  Everything is shooting up in the borders too - weeds and plants!  There are a couple of things coming up that have us completely baffled.  One in the middle of a border has a stick next to it to mark where it is, but neither of us can think for the life of us what it is or where we got it from!  Nice to have these surprises . . . every year, I'm not very good at keeping track of where everything is at all!

Our little woodland just covered with primroses, sorrel,
anemones and violets

This isn't a very good photo, but can you see they're even
growing in a crevice of the branch of this Cherry tree
which looks so pretty.