18th April 2018
The sun is beating down. I’m on the southern deck. My ears have chilblains from the damp and cold winds of the winter. But all is well. Ibithan tunes play in the background. A train trickles by below in the valley. Winter said goodbye on Wednesday.
The grass is growing, the 9 yearling calves were finally turned out (third time lucky) in the Ridge of Love this morning, to join 9 other Dexters.
We’re just waiting for the sun to dry the ground up a bit more, and give the grass a bit more of a headstart on the rest of the farm and then the remaining 14 will head out, to skip and jump, tails up, back legs a kickin’, its cow party time.
I don’t blame them. 5.5 months stuck in a shed. Lying on their own muck each night, albeit with a blanket of straw twice a week. I guess a lot of other cows have it a lot worse. Muck and slats and not blade of barley straw in sight. No, its cold damp concerete and slurry slats for most of our bovine friends.
Hmm, might need to put a spot of suncream on!!! The last time I used that it was back in August of last year, the floor platform was being built, there was no structure. Now it’s an angled slab of elegant cedar, coming out of the land, high up above the Taw. I’m very proud of it. So far, the detailing, the style, the promise have all lived up to my expectations. I think the experience of living here, might be better than I imagined. It’s so light and airy, there is a wonderful clean, loftiness to it. You feel detached from modern life, just a place to sit stare and ponder.
I can hear the birds twittering, there are flies and bees buzzing about. The occasional whoosh of cars in the very far distance, not in fact a hinderence, more in fact a reminder of how lucky you are to living in your cedar castle away from the madness.
And what madness it is, Russia, Syria, North Korean, T.May I**iot, D Trump F**K, nerve agents, B. Johnson T*T, and Brexit. How did we get to this?
Building this cabin, you get so used to hearing the news, Radio 6 repetition, constant, recently I’ve started to listeing to my old tunes. We’ve had, Led Zep, OMD, some fantastic Sa Trincha dancy vibes, a listen to Moon Shaped Pool, twice in a row, even Marillion came up trumps, descending me into nostalgic melodrama of an alchoholic haze. I might bang on a spot of Floyd in a minute, but the weather feels more dancey. Maybe some Globlal Underground.
Burnin’ up here. Happy days. Oh god this is nice. How many months of wintery misery have we had. Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, March. That’s 5. It feels more.
So the plan is to have this baby up and running and ready to take guests, third week of May. May is a lovely word. Theresa sullies it.
What have still to do:
1) Finish the TGV paneling in the sitting room and bedroom. 4 days
2) Plasterboard ceilings in bathroom, bedroom and hall. 2 days
3) Panel parts of the Mezzanine. 2 days
4) Build the airing cupboard 3 days
5) Put in the ladder and balustrade 3 days
6) Finish the kitchen, put on doors et 2 days
7) Clad the whole back of the cabin 3 days
8) Ridge the roof. 1 day
So that’s 20 days.
Not forgetting painting the entire cabin, finishing the deck, furnishing, putting up shelves. Its tight, but I think I’ve got to aim for something.
Right back to the paneling. Off we go.
cedar panelling going up on the South elevation