The two week autumn break has begun. The kids are off to stay with their grandparents for a few days and I need to plan lots of activities for the following week while Matt is away. In the meantime, more mundane tasks need dealing with. The process of installing our new wood-fired heating began on Thursday and should be completed tomorrow. The stoves are in and the inglenooks have been insulated we just need the pump to be wired up so the heating system works. Apparently, despite the kitchen chimney being covered with a wire grille there is still the remains of an old birds nest in there!

In preparation for the completed works we cleared out our wood shed and took delivery of a double load of logs which are now beautifully stacked waiting to be used.

There has also been time for fun this weekend with a visit from Valla, Deborah and Edna on Saturday and lunch with the neighbours on Sunday. The Sunday lunch included roast pork from pigs reared on our field, a little too successfully as it turns out – they broke the scales at the abattoir! It was great to chat with the neighbours and find out more about the area. We are also hatching plans to bulk buy logs and have offered to loan out our apple pressing equipment to deal with the bumper harvest.

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