Digging, Digging, Digging.

We've been given a shed.

A new neighbour was showing me the work they were doing in their garden and said they were getting rid of the shed. I offered to buy it from them and they said we could have it for free.

Of course everything has a cost.  Mine was about 6 days of work. In one back corner of our garden there is a wasteland.  Think post-apocalyptic.  We had no idea what we were going to do back there as it would require quite a bit of work, and until there was a purpose, a vision if you will, we didn't know what the work would be.

But now we have the vision, the purpose.  We have a shed.

As a result I spent a number of days excavating - the land is not level. And I had to go slightly deeper then I would have liked.  There were rocks under the fine soil, some as large as a schoolboy's head. And tree roots as well.  The tree is long gone, but those roots were up to 4" across.

So as well as a shed I now have an axe.

In the end I dug out more than a ton of soil, and although I didn't find any Roman ruins - not uncommon around here - I did find some bottle cstoppers that are amore than 80 years old. 

 I then carted nearly a ton of pebbles from the front to the back in smallish tubs.  We might have a shed and an axe, but we don't have a wheelbarrow.  Oh, and front to back is mostly steps.

The excavation then needed to be leveled, with a weed membrane put down, and cement blocks to keep the shed of the block. Then a layer of pebbles to allow for drainage, and it was done.

I must say I am pleased with the results. It was a race again time before the weather became too cold, and despite being chilly and damp each day I did beat the clock. There still needs to be work done in that corner, and the now-dismantled shed needs a few repairs before being assembled, but that corner is now almost civilised.

And so we have a shed, and and axe.  And in telling this tale to a friend, who asked why I didn't use a wheelbarrow, we now have one of those.  He had a spare, an old one which he was getting rid of.

I might wait till the weather warms a little before erecting the shed.

But did I mention, we now have a shed.

Whoosh!

This year seems to be rushing past. It's already late August, and it shouldn't be!

I suppose in reflection, I can see a lot that I have achieved so far in 2022, and yet there was so much more I wanted to do.  Work has been busy, but then when isn't it? Projects around the house, renovating and maintenance. They never seem to end. At least there is great satisfaction when we see the finished product, something we've both worked hard to achieve.

I have a few things in my planner to look forward to in the latter part of this year. There are trips, visits, and even a convention in there. I'm rather excited about all of these.

A new story dues for publication early next year has lifted my spirits no end. I was also privileged to have the editor not only tell me how good the story was, but also that he was making it the featured story for that issue.  Always nice to have a cover. 

So there is more writing to be done. I must write more stories, but beyond that I am currently involved in four other secret writing projects. Lovely things which will bring me great joy. Two are quite labour intensive, but the rewards will be intense.

Winter is coming, and already the mornings are darker and evenings are drawing in. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as I quite enjoy the seasons. But it does mean there is more time suitable to not be sitting outside but inside and writing.
 

Sometimes we need to take the motivation where we can find it.

Move Close To The Fireplace.

Winter is coming, which it is, and isn't any sort of reference to Game of Thrones.

It's getting colder, the days are getting shorter with dark mornings, and the leaves are falling. I've already had a couple of icy mornings where I've had to scrape the windscreen. Firewood has been delivered, which means the Chateau Cameron is cosy in the evenings, and we're eating more soups and stews than in the warmer months.

Christmas, as a festive season, seems more real here.  Growing up in Australia, Christmas always seemed out of place. I remember watching The Proposition, the Nick Cave film, a few years ago. It's a gritty Australian 'western' and is very much a commentary on the hostile landscape and environment in which the colonists and convicts lived. Here's the thing - they simply didn't belong, and I seem to recall dialogue along those lines. One scene that stands out is the family trying to have a traditional English Christmas lunch in 40c heat while being swarmed by flies. It belongs firmly in winter, and is very much a northern hemisphere festival.

Oh, and that in no way, shape or form suggests I never enjoyed Christmas in Australia.

But once again I am reminded of Marigold by Steeleye Span. (From the Sails of Silver album)

When the marigold no longer blooms
When summer sun is turned to gloom
See the forecast winter snow
See the evergreen that lonely grows
Move close to the fireplace
Neglect the garden
See the ground harden

At a ghostly place

The golden summer sun is silver now
The fruit has fallen from the bough
The season moves to chestnut time
Toffee apples, treacle and mulled wine
Quilts and furs and woolens gay
You wrap around you
But the cold confounds you
On an autumn day
Stout and strong the walls of home and hearth
Curtains drawn against the draft
The rake has reaped, the blade has mown
Nights draw in to call the harvest home
The quiet of a heart at rest
In peace abounded
By love surrounded

Here the home is blest

Who's Pushing The Pedals On The Season Cycle?

Soon I'll be dragging out my winter coat and scarf as the days grow short and the evenings close in. But for now we're enjoying lovely days. Blue skies, fluffy white clouds and an array of autumn colours in the village.

Ask people around here about winter, and they'll tell you it's not like it used to be. They used to be long and cold, but the last heavy snowfall that brought Lincoln to a standstill and closed the schools for four days was in 2010.  I've seen pictures of it. Family sent them to me at the time.

Last winter was mild in comparison. We really only had two light snowfalls, and the flakes melted quickly - all traces gone within an hour or so. Not that I desire to be snowed in, but it would be nice to have some real snow around - if only for the photos. Long range forecasts for this year are mixed, and suggest it could either be mild again or we could have a really cold one. They just don't know.

Either way, we've already stocked up on firewood. Last Friday was quite cold, and we used that as an excuse to light our first fire for the season. It was lovely, homey and comforting. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it. I won't need too much pushing to light another one soon.

I've been here more than a year now. We've been through one complete cycle of seasons, and I've enjoyed them all.

But enough on the weather report. I do have more publishing news to share, but I'll save that for my next post.