Rushbearing

Every year, there's a rushbearing festival in Sowerby Bridge, a revival of an old custom of bringing new flooring rushes to the churches in the area. It's been going on since 1977, and now features a rush cart, morris dancing teams, and a lot of ancillary events. We went along today, with Jenny, Philip, and the children.

The cart (filled with rushes, bearing a girl, and pulled by sixty men) makes its way along the country roads, stopping off for refreshments, and accompanied by half a dozen dance teams. I think the cart-top seat is a little precarious, myself.

Morris dancers and rush-cart (© Ian 2012)

Someone Else's DIY

We got back around lunch-time from a weekend in Ludlow, visiting Liz's grandmother. It's always a pleasure visiting her, as a relaxing and undemanding schedule is usually obeyed. Breakfast, coffee/elevenses, lunch, tea, dinner, supper. This appeals enormously. In between, she usually has a list of bits-and-pieces that need doing in the house or garden, preferably by someone younger/stronger/more inclined. It seems a fair trade, to me: food and company, for minor handiwork. I fixed her non-filling water-butt (not, as suggested, a problem with the gutter or diverter, but with the tap, which meant it emptied as quickly as it filled); re-levelled her garden swing-sofa-thing; got the pump in the pond working again; put up a shelf; and installed a solar trickle-charger in her car.

Ludlow's a lovely town to visit, and we had a good wander around the Saturday market and Bread Walk, while we were there.

We're on leave this week, and hope to get the finishing touches in the kitchen done (some of them minor, some less so), as well as a bit of pottering in the house and garden. To that end, we've spent a few hours preparing the way in the kitchen; moving the table out, and things off the shelves and windowsills. We've also taken down the cupboards in the utility room, and removed the washing machine.

Hopefully, by the end of the week, the kitchen will look as it is meant to, and I can soon take and post some before vs. after photos.

Christmas Markets

We've had a few days dominated by Christmas markets—and very festive it's felt, too.

On Thursday evening, we went into Manchester after work, and strolled around the market(s) in the city centre. They're well laid-out, and we went round them all from Albert Square (with the Town Hall) to the Triangle (under the Wheel). Very busy, and very cold, but some lovely stalls.

We then went down to Ludlow on Friday night, to stay with Liz's grandma. It was the weekend of Ludlow's Medieval Christmas Market, which takes over Ludlow castle. The castle itself is well worth a visit, but with the baileys taken over with stalls, it's a lot of fun. We went after lunch, and spent a few hours wandering: the market then closes 1600-1800, and so we went back after dinner for the evening. We bought more than intended, perhaps, including a pair of welly holders made from recycled horse-shoes, and a candle-stand fashioned from a sika deer's antler. I also picked up three ceramic Green Man faces, which I'm going to hang on the trees in the copse.

While we were staying, I also spent a happy hour chopping firewood. One of the eucalyptus trees in the garden was felled last autumn, and the logs have been seasoning since. They've dried really nicely, and it was a pleasure splitting them into properly sized pieces and stacking them away under a tarp.

We drove home through snow, but there's none, yet, at home. I don't think we'll escape long, however!

Century

Very nearly finished the vegetable beds, but some complexities (read: mis-located posts) delayed completion of the mini-bed. However, this, and the rectangular bed, are now complete. The latter looks a little odd, as the nursery bed is still within it (un-raised). I now only have the back of the C-bed to go, using up odd lengths as I go.

I forgot: yesterday we lifted the rest of the onion crop, and laid them out to dry—they're now inside to finish drying, then I'll string them up. Quite a nice crop, though the best yield came from the unidentified sets from Thirsk market, which may make obtaining more trickier.

On another note: this is my century post! First post was 28th October last year, so there's another couple of months until the anniversary, but I thought I'd mention the milestone.

Long Weekend

We took yesterday off, and have got a bit further with the vegetable beds. The C-shaped bed is now joined up, but the back length (the outer edge) is waiting. It'll be the last one I do, as it's a good place to use up shorter bits of plank where they won't be too visible. Getting the post into the top-right corner (which is where the bed meets the terrace) was tricky, but I've managed. The planks, there, aren't screwed into the post from the outside, but from the inside, rather than excavate working space 'outside' the bed.

The rectangular bed, the mini-bed in the centre of the Q, and the back of the C are all that's left...well, I say 'all'. All of the topsoil has now come down from where it was delivered on the drive. The beds won't be full, but we'll probably only need about 2m³. That said, I think we'll order a full (6m³) load, as the extra will come in useful over time.

We also went over to Norland, as planned, to see the scarecrows. They were, as predicted, rather good. There was an impressive Dr Who (complete with Tardis and Dalek), and a superb Scooby Gang. Along with a full size Ice Road Trucker.

Tomorrow: bit more vegetable beds? And lunch with Liz's grandparents (visiting t'in-laws).

Blackberries & Scarecrows

After mowing half the lawn (doing all of it at once seems too much like hard work, frankly), I popped out to collect some blackberries. Although those on my route to work have been ripe for a week or two, those near home are a bit further behind. I managed to collect about a pound, I reckon, and have frozen them: hopefully more will come ripe over the next week or two—although the threat of frost worries me.

Once fruited, the canes of blackberries (and hybrids: loganberries, tayberries, boysenberries...) are exhausted, and won't produce fruit again; they flower on the previous year's growth. This is all very well on domesticated plants, grown against wires, but who cares for brambles and wild fruit? Well, in an effort to increase yield, I'm thinking of cutting back some of the 'done' canes this year. It might seem mad, pruning the brambles, but there you go.

On an entirely unrelated tack: I'm hoping we might visit the Norland Scarecrow Festival this weekend. We went last year, and enjoyed it: it runs from Friday 3rd September to Tuesday 7th, in (predictably), the village of Norland. Each year has a theme (last year was Myths and Legends; this year is TV Programmes), and there are scarecrows in the gardens of houses, in fields, verges, and commons. Some are highly inventive, many are quite amusing. Worth a visit, if the weather holds, and you're in the area!