Ready for the Off!

We're away over the pond tomorrow to see Kate Eleanor in Cambridge, visit our friends at  Littleborough Music Fest in Nottinghamshire and attend James and Lauren's graduation in Stirling. A very full and exciting few days awaits us!


When we get back, July will be nearly upon us, and we will be open, in the gallery, 7 days a week. So we've been working feverishly to get things ready, and to get the garden and greenhouse fit to leave to their own devices.


The results are incomplete, but almost there!

the modified bench and table (thanks, Angela & Martin!))

the dresser - still full of tools!

new display stands - and our road signs

a cosy corner

kitchen area

sunshine

we finished the greenhouse - today!

doesn't it look grand!

the picnic lawn,
tamed for the moment thanks to the loan of Frank's ride-on mower, a great toy

Turnip House Trassey Valley c.1800's

Thanks to David from Tory Bush Cottages I saw this picture for the first time today:

To the right middle ground is our old house.  Looking great - at least a hundred years ago!


The Lawrence Collection of pictures is renowned around these parts as a fantastic record of the times. I've been meaning to look them up in the records office since coming back in 1987, but never found the time. 


Now thanks to the National Library of Ireland, they are all online:

Fantastic resource, rightly available to all, thanks to the power of the internet!

The Transit of Venus

No one reading this will still be alive the next time Venus crosses the sun in 2117. That makes today special. On June 5th at 3:09 pm PDT, the second planet begins its historic 7-hour transit of the solar disk.

this quote thanks to Space Weather.com



A great video from Nasa:

The Gallery By Night

This weekend the Gallery has become a hint of what will be: furniture in, old bits of timber. cardboard, tolls and junk cleared away, and the kitchen worktops fitted,. All leads to a real change!


Here's some pictures from today:


Starting at the end. Sitting in the dusk, with the candles lit - we can really feel the quality of this space.

looking through from the kitchen

almost complete

Saturday

Sunday

See you soon!

Furniture

It's time to think about getting the furniture back into the Mourne end of the gallery.


That at least half of the gallery is at that stage is very exciting!


We've been rounding up all the furniture that we made for the old Turnip House. It has been much abused over the last year or so, moved stored and bumped around.


We have spent the afternoon sprucing it up and making modifications:

Charlie, as ever, is not impressed by furniture moving - makes him uncomfortable!

the long bench

This was designed as a corner unit, and fits together at right angles with another short piece. This is not suited to the new place

So, modifications were required 

the insides - used to be two drawers here.

We removed the corner piece, and made a new end piece to match the other side. We were able to reuse part of the corner piece (in green)

 Painted it ...

Just the part!

 Some more chairs and tables - sanding and painting has done the trick


All soon to be viewed in the Gallery!