Here I Am.

We’ll just politely pretend there hasn’t been a long silence here, shall we? And get back to business as if nothing has happened.

I found crabapples by the riverside walk in Todmorden.

So of course I put them in gin. That’s what I do. I’ll report back in about October or so how it turned out.

Bob came and stayed a few days, bravely, last week in the sub-zero temperatures, and we mucked about doing various jobs, including building shelves above the sink. We started (as you do) by cutting down a small trunk of one of the holly trees and stripping sections of it for supports. We chose bits with lots of lovely prodruding branches for hanging things on.

It looks amazing. And yes, I know they will crack, they already have, I’m considering it “character”. But when I make my real kitchen in my real house, I’ll cut the holly way in advance and let it season outdoors to minimise cracking. And then still call it “character” when it happens anyway.

Aside from that, we also pegged out the perimeter of the building that’s going up next autumn, in preparation for taking all the topsoil off and digging foundation trenches when I get a mini-digger.

Bob, asked to model with the giant square we made, chose this pose. Bob is awesome.