Catch Up - what have we been up to?

Well how remiss to not post for so many days - that's not the point of a blog I know, but We have an excuse dear reader. We are now Grandparents! Read on for more ...


Diary of events at Turnip House for the last xxx days



8 September Strapping Down



Christy and Paddy levelled and strapped down the mobile - really skilful and patient work turned our tin box on wheels into a potential home! Now we can begin to fit out inside

belts and braces - we're not going anywhere!

9 September Decorators`

Painting all day - finished in the evening; now looking really good

clean - and bright

10 September - Road cutter



We have to run electricity to the mobile - and the recommended way is underground, for safety. All that lies between us and underground is an indeterminate depth  of concrete. So, we got road cutter delivered from Duggans Hire Centre Maghera, and John and Niall set about cutting groove for electicity and telephone wire 

- great concrete! all we need now is a Kangol Hammer!


11 September


The concrete was so good - 5 inches thick in places, that plan A to prise the stuff away with cold chisel and wrecking bar was a no hoper. So, Duggans to the rescue - Kangol Hammer duly arrived. Kangolled all day - trench now ready....

That night we stayed in the mobile home- Our first meal at home - Beef stroganoff and Champ with bubbly - superb!

Spent the night, cold and a bit damp but exhilarated


12 September


A day (mostly) of rest. Repaired guttering on mobile home - should be drier now!


Garden planning begins (more to follow)

Our Inspiration

13 September moving again!


We brought some of our old furniture from it's home of 6 months in Rathfriland, brilliant to see it once more the right way up and in place!


Kate taken in to hospital - now the pressure is on!


14 September


all a blur, seem to remember lots of travelling, and snatched food


15 September
likewise 

spent alot of time round here - the rainbow presages momentous events

16 September Arrivals day:

1. electricity connected
2. telephone and broadband connected
3. Eleanor born 

Elaine and Eleanor, day1

17 September
Back in the ordinary world, we got the fridge installed plus more 'things' from Rathfriland!


18 September
Visiting


19 September
Breakfast at home


Brought Kate and Eleanor out of hospital


20 September
Connected waste pipes;


Eleanor's first visit home splendid!


21 September - The Outbuildings


We are lucky to have a legacy of many farm buildings - in many shapes and sizes and various stages of decay, from 'OK' to "look out"! 


Adjacent to the Turnip house are the piggeries the ones with the beautiful iron 'pig proof doors'. These will do us fine for shed and washroom type needs. 


Today We cut a doorway for washroom access at the back of piggery no. 2. We hired (thanks to Duggans) a diamond tipped saw to glide through the concrete block, but puny as I am, I could not get the thing started! So resorting the the favoured tool of the trade - sledgehammer-  I battered my way through without too much trouble. At least this block work was not of the same standard as the concrete yard!

what - another door?

22 September


'Real' work for John and Elaine - no visit to site!


23 September new water pump installed 


The well looks so good, that we thought we would try using it first (with obvious precautions regarding it's purity). 


So we bought a water pump from Combined Harvesters - This sits suspended in the well and turns on when a tap is opened, and off when the flow stops. It is electronically controlled, with self priming, overheat and dry protection and seems to be more or less 'fit and forget'  Niall and John spend the day installing it, and now we have water  in the home! 


A few leaks and kitchen tap to sort out, but that's another step complete. All services (except gas) now ready.

get your water from the well - old and new style

24 September


To Armagh to register Eleanor - and also to pick up new taps for kitchen!


26 September Castle Vets


Castle Veterinary practice in Castlewellan celebrated their 20th year today - we were invited to exhibit our produce. A great day was had by all, perfect 'garden party' weather with plenty of fun and craic, loads of people for Eleanor to be shown off too!

fire on the mountain, Sunday morning

Saturday morning - at the cattle

Our new neighbour - and friend - Frank visits his cattle on crisp September morning

Philosophy

Why?

Everyone has been very kind so far, and not laughed out loud at our antics, but some must be asking 'why bother'


Since we first decided to come back from England in 1987, our philosophy has been about the journey; enjoying what we do, celebrating the time together, and  trying to do things a bit better. Sounds a bit pompous, but is really just a simple ethos that gets us through.


I was looking at a publication that inspired us in 1987; called 'Dwellings in the Mournes, a Design Guide' prepared by the Department of the Environment very interesting reading, 


In the introduction it says:

Those who are fortunate to live in the Mournes must realise the natural beauty of the area and the appeal of the heritage of simple local materials in the dwellings built by past generations.

They are possessions of importance because that are so attractive to look at and are a record of man's successful impact on the countryside.

It is important to protect the existing traditional buildings and every means should be sought to encourage their maintenance and careful rehabilitation.

If it had been heeded more, the Mournes landscape would be very different. 

The house in Clonachullion. For Sale as a 'building site' in 1987.  Loved and cherished by us for 22 years, now home to a new family and good for another couple of hundred years!

Charlie and the bucket

Charlie encounters a bucket - what is going on in his head?

Trailer Trash!

The Upper Courtyard, all cleared and very big!

Moving Day

Many thanks to Christy who, at first light on Sunday towed our mobile home the 3 miles up the hill from Leitrim. A stirling performance! 

just a bit of levelling perhaps?

We can now get the services connected, and after  bit of levelling and tying down (it is very windy here today) we'll be all set to move in.

that pillar had to go - it will be rebuilt

Overnight

We had our first 'sleepover' on Saturday night Elaine Kate and John. We fund a big iron lid to make a fire pit, and assembled the barbecue. Very civilised and much fun, despite the rain. We did put the tents up inside the Turnip House though, so not quite wild camping,- more slightly annoyed actually!

Morning mists precede a stunning, sunny day

3 Cats

Our strays have become regulars now - despite dog visits, large vehicles and many humans invading their territory. Still very shy - looks like mother and two kittens:

Mother (very like Elsa, one of our most favourite cats) Kitten, like Thomas, Kitten, the image of Jaffa

Cats

3 kittens have come to join us! Only one caught on camera so far

Water

there was a metal door covered in grass and cow muck at the edge of the field - this was the well, the only source of water at the moment. We set about uncovering it without great expectations, but were amazed by what we found - a very high spec concrete lined well, 20 foot deep with 3 feet of clean, cold water.

Pictures from the past

We've been given these fantastic snapshots of the house and garden from over 40 years ago!

The front of the house - that door is still there - check out the previous post

The front garden - so open The laurel by the gate is now as high as the house!

What an opportunity to see into the past to what was there. At the moment the debris of decade covers the ground to a depth of at least 6 inches. We are slowly making our way through it though, and once on site, will be able to do more.

Tea Break

Doors and Gates

You'd think there were better things to do, but we counted all the doors and gates yesterday and found 35!

Here's a selection:

Front Door - only just rediscovered.
See the newer post for what it looked like in it's heyday!

piggery doors - we've loads of these beauties

front gate detail - hand wrought

After The Storm

We had a big thunderstorm yesterday - the mountains completely disappeared only to return in magnificence half an hour later:

The Mournes after thunder

Gates - and doors

Having come back to Newcastle, looking at the pictures, I realise that we are now the proud owners of an incredible variety of doors and gates, in many vernacular styles.


Tomorrow I'll present an inventory, in the meantime, Elaine has uncovered the front gate to the garden:

uncovered for the first time in decades

nearly half way to the front door!

Charlie not too keen on being stuck on the outside

New Friends

We met our new neighbours across the road today. A more kindly and generous couple you could not hope to meet. We count ourselves very lucky to have been welcomed so readily and look forward to growing a long friendship with them.

Friends

We had a visit today from Helen and her family - to survey the wreckage and supply moral support!

the (extended!) family group

and one stargazer

Secret Garden

We've been at the house today - beginning to uncover just what is there.
In front of the house is what looks to be a traditional cottage garden - at some 45 feet square it is pretty substantial. It is so overgrown that it has begun to take over the house, with ivy rising over the roof.It's really hard to get a feel for the size of it from the outside, and impossible to get into it.


There are three garden gates, one in each wall We have started to fight our way in.


We didn't think much would have survived the overgrowth of 33 years of neglect, but amazingly, plants are staring to appear!


We have roses, laurel, ornamental grasses, and more - a list will follow!

It is so exiting to work our way through

the jungle

a glimpse

still preserved: the formal path edges

like a sleeping beauty

hidden away - a secret garden

more to discover!

Legananny

less than two miles away is Legananny Dolmen; one of Ireland's finest prehistoric monuments.It has been standing for over four thousand years.

The New Beginning

We are delighted to report that we now have bought our new renovation project; the home to the new Turnip House.

It will need a new roof to begin with - of course!

We are on the Dromara Road out of Leitrim Village in County Down. Still in the Mournes AONB, and only a few miles from Castlewellan Forest Park.


In the foothills of the Dromara Hills, Slieve Croob rises behind us, giving some of the best views in Ireland.


There's an awful lot to be getting on with - which was the point really!


Keep an eye out - we will be blogging our journey toward the new Turnip House


Here are a few tasters:

The House from the road -

 yes we are on the road this time - no long lane to negotiate!

From the back - what a sight!

The Views!

 Charlie in the yard - in clover!

Charlie: Back in Newcastle

Well, we're back in Newcastle again for a little while, whilst the acquisition of our new project proceeds at a snails pace.


Still, with the weekend just gone, it cant's be said that we're not in the best place to kick our heels.


Sunday Morning Murlough:

Red Arrows over the Mournes

What a fantastic weekend here in Newcastle!
The centenary of the first official powered flight in Ireland, made by engineer and inventor Harry Ferguson across the sands from Dundrum to Newcastle was marked by a festival with the Red Arrows flying in a perfect summer sky.

read the story in the Mourne Observer

Red Squirrels in Tollymore Park

We're spending time back in our old Turnip House haunt of Clonachullion, whilst feverishly working away at our next big thing - like wading through treacle at the moment!
Hopefully we'll be in a position to move onwards very soon.
Still we're not complaining as it is so good to be up in the Mountains again.
Thanks to the great work of the Tollymore Red Squirrel Group there is a resurgence of these beautiful creatures around here.
We were sitting after lunch and saw this one helping himself to the bird's food right outside the kitchen: