Firewood We have a wood burning stove here and we fuel it with a mixture of local air dried ash and kiln dried logs. This week we had a delivery from Nicks Timber , a 1 ton bag of waste from the timber mill. This is a great bargain. The wood is bone dry, and many of the thicker pieces …
The garden in December
The garden in December After all the snow our garden is looking fairly tatty. We are still harvesting leeks, carrots and a few other bits and pieces, but this year is not a patch on last year. Our sprouts are pathetic. They were well and truly attacked earlier by the dreaded cabbage white and never really recovered. Last year we …
A big thank you to our visitors
Thank you to our visitors We moved to Cinderford in the Forest of Dean in April 2016 and set up this blog. One of the first things I set up here was our Free Forest of Dean Directory as Both Vanda and I are passionate about supporting local, whether that is local business or local charities and social enterprises. The directory lists …
Friday fish and chips from Littledean
Friday Fish and Chip ritual Since moving to Cinderford in the forest of dean we discovered Frydays Fish and Chips in Littledean, just down the road from us. There is always a queue but the wait is well worth it. These are the best chips I have had in years. Even the queue is fun as we chat to locals who …
The end of the summer garden
Summer garden nearly over Not quite of course, but you can see the changes. We are still eating beans. The runner beans are producing bumper harvests. We also tried some french climbing beans. The purple ones are delicious and grow well, but the white and yellow are just not as nice, so I’ll give them a miss next year. Other …
Feeling smug about recycling
recycling in the Forest of Dean When we first moved to the forest of dean, I must admit my heart quailed at the number of bins the council provided. We have 1 for glass and tins, 1 for plastic, 1 for food waste, the main bin for household waste and a green bin for garden waste. However lately we have …
Celebrating 30 wonderful years
30 years of marriage On Monday it will be the 30th anniversary of my marriage to the lovely Vanda. Today ( Sunday 30th ) we will be renewing our wedding vows at St Stephen’s Church . I’m not the worlds most religious person but I wanted to stand up in public and in front of my god to say how marvelous …
Growing your own vegetables
Growing your own vegetables Last year we moved into our little cottage here in the forest of dean. About half the garden was down to a scruffy lawn. We rotovated the lawn, felled a large horrid pine tree and created 4 deep beds. As we only started planting in the 3rd week of July we didn’t expect much at all, …
A Sparrow on my Window Sill
A Sparrow on my Window Sill is what I wake to every morning Since we moved to Cinderford life has been absolutely wonderful. The first thing we hear when we wake up is a couple of sparrows chattering away. He is getting cheekier by the day. At one time as soon as he spotted us he flew away, but now …