Monday, May 20, 2013

Greenhouse Wrangling: Part Two

After weeks of snow, rain, gales and floods, a few 'better' days have enabled us to get back on to putting up the greenhouse kindly donated by Mary & Gary.

We plan to use it to extend the vegetable growing season. It seems likely that we'll be experiencing similar kinds of weather up here for the foreseeable future, so extra help in terms of heat and shelter will only help!

As with all things, we must start at the bottom:


first the hole - a lot bigger than first planned!

plenty of nice soil though

one greenhouse kit!

the plinth - for stability, and to weigh it down!

is this level (answer: no it is not!)

these guys are waiting for a new home

and us

growing s started now, the pressure is on

plinth finished

the slope was also greater than expected!

building day one - the first upright piece

the first gable - all smiles!

"reckon it might work you know"


looking good

major structure is up

sorting out the strengtheners

what a team!
So we're now more or less complete with the frames, just some angle supports to add - they were added as an extra by Gary when he put it up, and will be vital here too!

In the next few days, we'll be ready for the glazing.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

A Little Gem near the Long Stone

in the 1970's an eccentric designer and inventor (I can't remember his name I'm afraid) built himself a house near Annalong in the Kingdom of Mourne. He wanted to build it on a turntable, so that he could align it to the sun as it moved through the day - very New Age, and a great idea! Unfortunately practicalities precluded this - (as did the realisation of his 'concept aircraft', where lift and descent were determined by the clever positioning of bales of straw!)

He built his house on stilts instead.

On a stunning sunny evening last week, I found it again. 

Roofless, sad an empty, it still resonates with eccentric charm - and beauty


peeping out - a wall pillar

above the door 'The White House Annalong'

decorated round window

detail of window surround

despite the lack of roof, remarkably intact

looks like he's just stepped out to to a message

living room fireplace

the back kitchen, with salt - and roof timbers!


living room- and intruder

small change, still sitting on the mantelpiece

beautiful....

idiosynchratic

front door detailing

living room window - note the sea through the other one

painted doorway

I have no idea what this is!

positively Mediterranean

no garden is complete without a concrete kangaroo.....

or two!

our very own Gaudi!!

I think this should be preserved for posterity

thanks to Google, here's a picture in happier times - with a roof, c.2008


Monday, May 06, 2013

Sour Dough - The Results!

Well, thanks to all who came round today - old friends and new, who by accident or design got to taste the new sourdough bread baked fresh this afternoon.

Thankfully, all reviews were very positive.

well worth getting up at dawn for.

It will be on the menu!

clouds rising....

bread rising

ready to sample!

well sampled - glad it's nearly five - or there'd be none left for our tea!!

Come over next weekend for a real treat, we're open 11 am to 5 pm

Sour Dough

Thanks to the inspirational Paul Hollywood, and the gift of a 'Herman The German'  yeast culture, we've been experimenting with sourdough bread....

The result - absolutely fantastic!

To mark May Bank Holiday, we decided to share our experience with visitors to the gallery.

This afternoon we'll be baking and tasting sourdough loaf, all welcome.

Due to the unique nature of sourdough cultures, and the time in takes to prove, this entailed some difficult decisions this morning!
Dawn - well almost



Tiggy out on the prowl

washed dressed walked the dog - and it's still only 6:25 am - NOT bank holiday timing at all!

simple ingredients: strong white flour, yeast culture, salt water and oil for kneading

our 'Herman' yeast culture: modified as we do not feed him sugar

375g flour &  250g culture

see the bubbles of carbon dioxide - the raising agent
mix together with about 150ml tepid water
knead well for about 15 mins
becoming smooth and elastic
place in an oiled bowl and leave for 2 hours



doubled in size, lovely and shiny!
knocked back down to it's original size to remove the air bubbles

back in the bowl for about 6 hours rising

All set now for this afternoon - if you've never had sourdough bread - straight out of the oven - come on up. You're in for a treat!

approximate times:

2 pm - making and kneading another batch

3 pm - baking the one we made earlier

4 pm - tasting - yum!