Landwarming

Well, the landwarming party far exceeded all my expectations, in terms of what we got done, though didn’t quite meet my expectations in terms of the catering, that having been my job. I overcatered by a fair amount and though most things can be put away for next time, my giant stew fermented in the 48 hours it waited to be dinner and had to be thrown away. I went to such lengths to keep it cool, too. But we ended up discovering the REALLY good chinese takeaway down the hill, so it was all worth it.

We managed to strim a whole quarter and a bunch of pathways (and tent spaces) and to clear and burn a terrific amount of brush. Below is a picture of the brush pile that is missing from the picture above. The wall behind it is pretty well collapsed, but that’s where we hope to bring a road in anyway, so that’s fine.

Simon, almost single-handedly, cleared all that brush and burned it so efficiently I thought he might make a play for Elmo’s fire-king status. Everyone did a stint at raking and shovelling away at what was underneat the brush, and Sal and Catie in particular did a stellar job of removing some stubborn stump with the old crosscut saw we found in the shed. And underneath it all there was another lovely set of stone steps, which Liz cleared with much shovelling and scraping and “getting rid of GRRRRR” as she put it. She shall have a plaque for her troubles. Liz’s Steps. In brass.

Sarah-May and David and some friends of theirs (including the utterly charming Darcy, 10, who worked all day on all sorts of things without getting bored or whining) worked all Saturday clearing the paths, which has been barely visible under all the encroaching vegetation, but are now crystal-clear, weed free and practically dust free. That crosscut saw also took out one of the very big, very old stumps nearly blocking the path. The place really is starting to look a lot less like a derelict field.

The marquee, visible in this picture, was put up on Friday, in the most level and unlumpy bit of the field, which is neither level nor unlumpy, despite our great efforts to get the highest bits shovelled into the lowest bits. I think one of the upcoming tasks will be to strim, rotovate, rake and tamp another quarter so we can have a slightly less hillocky floor. However, that being said, it kept us dry during the brief showers and provided a lovely space to eat and socialise. We’re leaving it standing, I only hope there won’t be any mega-wind-storms for the rest of the summer. And I think we might need to make the odd repair to the window plastic, but I think it will last the summer, which is all I ask of it.

Elmo and Simon kept a fire going at the entrance and we managed to cook a few sausages on Saturday night. I’m going to be looking for a tripod and cauldron to do the cooking from now on, and maybe we can build a slightly more permanent fire-pit with some seating round it.

Dan and Catie did loads of clearing, and I was particularly delighted to learn of Dan’s enjoyment of removing stumps. I think he got through 4 or 5 on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.

Lucy was a tireless worker and extremely knowledgeable about the plants on site and what they are good for (who knew there were skin, hair and nails advantages to having an horsetail infestation?)

We had the new caravan delivered (thanks to the guy I bought it from who bravely burnt out his clutch getting it up to the site.) and Lea did tons of nettle-bashing and raking around the door so we won’t get stung as we go for a wee in the night. The caravan is lovely. Difficult to keep it from getting tracked full of mud and leaves, but we might lay a bit of lino if we can get an offcut. It’s great to have just a little bit of mod-con in the middle of all that jungle. And the bed was very comfy.

It will also serve as the site office, as I’ve now got an account at the local builders’ merchant and have to start keeping track of bills so I can reclaim my VAT.

Here’s a picture of the Secret Garden door, with newly clear path. This bit is not ours yet, we’re hoping to buy that plot by the end of the year, but we’ve got permission to clear it up and re-roof the sheds. The one on the left under the arch has lovely stone mullions in the windows and is pretty sizeable, maybe 4×4 metres-ish. The roof has fallen in in places, so I hope to get that addressed reasonably soon, so that we can use that space to store the stuff that got put in the bottom sheds (less badly off, roofwise) when we eventually repair those roofs.

Thanks to Anne and Susannah, we can no see bits of the lower roof. I walked round the corner to find Anne on the ladder I’d found in the shed and put out to be burned, but I’m sure she knew what she was doing. Anyway, she’s still alive. We gave her the proper ladder after that.

A huge amount of shed-clearance got done, and 5 full carloads to the tip with polystyrene planting trays and various junk. An absolutely admirable job was done cleaning out two of the sheds, so we now have storage for tools and other stuff; tea-making equipment and soforth. A couple of metal shelving units (painstakingly erected by Alec) have been put in there to hold lots of plastic tubs of lots of non-perishable stuff. Hopefully next weekend I can offer better tea facilities, now that all the stuff is there and organised. Organised, I might add, by Mike and Heidi, who are the master organised-clearer-uppers, being very experienced at clearing up after dancing weekends. Many many many thanks to them for their marvellous help at the end of Sunday.

Mucho thanks also to Barbara and Rae who came to not only lend 2 pairs of very skilled hands but a head full of topical knowledge that led to a deal with a lady who will come and remove all the scrap metal from the place. She gets to sell it and keep the proceeds and we get to be rid of it with a minimum of hassle.

And finally, a picture to remind myself of what it looked like before the party. Don’t get me wrong, I love a wild meadow, and I don’t ever intend to over-manage the growth, but the exciting discoveries of pathways, stone steps, interesting enclosures and not a few bits of treasure made such a difference to the feel of the place. I am feeling quite at home there, and I hope all my minions will too. I have nothing but praise for the incredibly hard work of everyone who came, and I am eternally grateful and not a little gobsmacked that people could work so hard. And I hope to see as many again next weekend!