Going greener........

In the words of Big Cook Little Cook, "time to tidy up and put away" and so Ross has started work on laying some of the hedges. By leaving the hedges to grow, we are able to produce firewood for the cottages and so make a start on reducing our carbon footprint. Ross was telling me, there's not so much call for  laying of hedges and it is labour intensive, but it was good to see traditional skills working their magic. .

Up on the Roof...

Terry Stapleton, Master Thatcher and side-kick Ashley made the most of the sunshine and came to wire parts of the thatch that are being trashed by the Rooks and Crows - apparently it's looking like it may be "one of those years" for bird damage to thatches. So it's up with the bird feeders and out with the peanuts!

Let the dust fly..

New year and time to get started on renovations in Rook Cottage. Whilst folk have loved the "cookieness" of Rook, there's been one too many comments about the access to the double bed and Simon has now dismantled it. It's been great for keeping the fires going, but a real headache as to how we fill the gap. Discovered the reason for the original built in bed was because it sat over the stairs and so space was limited! Haven't quite sussed out how we are going to fit two singles in yet - but we are spending vast amounts of time pondering upon it. Any suggestions welcome!

Here's to 2011

Well we all wished for a white Christmas and boy did we get it! Lovely to see Great Gutton under snow but practically speaking, it's good to see it gone now. Fabulous Christmas with friends, family and guests but now it's time to take the tree down, put the tinsel in the box and start on changes to Rook Cottage.