Finally some sun, and a new polytunnel
Rather surprisingly the sun came out today so we dashed out and got to work. Claire and Lyra were on weeding duty in the small polytunnel, and I managed to put up the frame of the new big polytunnel, although some interesting acrobatics were needed as I was on...
Composting loo – a toilet reborn
Something that we’ve desperately needed since arriving is a decent outside composting loo, if only to save muddy hordes coming in and out of the house in the depths of winter. We inherited an old tin hut of an outside loo, that had the particularly...
Off grid
It isn’t a huge amount of solar, but it’s enough to allow us to manage almost entirely without the mains grid. (The washing machine is too much for this system). We have, in theory, enough power to keep us going for 5 days in the event of it being...
Pruck around the clock
‘Pruck’, as Dougie assures me, is the local word for things that have been scrounged, recovered, recycled or blagged, and a marvellous word it is too. This week has seen what I can only describe as a pruckathon, and we have many people to thank for...The vampire horse
Horses are the most benign, friendly non agressive creatures, right? Well – never annoy one, or you might just end up like Mel. He must have upset Sherafey yesterday, because he came in from the field with a huge hole in his neck. She must have been very...
The need for resilience
A fundamental part of our thinking here at Lackan Cottage is resilience – being able to cope with whatever life happens to be throwing our way at the time. For us, this means doing more ourselves and being less reliant on outside sources. The mainstay of this is...
Our animal friends in their wintry wonderland
At last the rain and snow have stopped, and there is a hint of blue sky above us now. The wind is still bitterly cold though, and the snow shows no sign of leaving us any time soon. This winter has been an especially difficult one for anyone with livestock, and we...
Help to save a beautiful home
This beautiful home is, according to Pembrokeshire Council Planners “harmful to the rural character of the locality”, and must be demolished. This despite the fact that it is situated in a private spot, not overlooked, and built from natural materials. The...
Spring – not quite what we were expecting
This is our pond. Rather unexpectedly as it happens – we didn’t line it or fill it, the volume of rain and snow over the past 24 hours has simply been so huge that it has filled itself. Quite handy really as we can see how the levels will work out,...
Six months old!
Well, Lyra is six months old today, and here she is with her first wooden spoon, which she seems to think is extremely tasty. She’s thriving in our ‘new’ home, which is of course six months old too – nothing like a deadline to get the work...