Adventure Togs ..... and all that!

Ffawydden

Adventure Husband hard at work last summer

This is my first gallery post so please go easy on me!

When I saw the title this week, I just had to join in. Trees are almost part of the family in our world, as Ffawydden (meaning Beech trees, in welsh) is where we live.

When we moved here more than 7 years ago, we had no idea about trees except that they looked nice. We saw this wonderful woodland garden and immediately had visions of the boys running round, climbing, hiding and making the most of their surroundings. The garden and trees were the main talking point when visitors called, but soon after we moved in we realised that we had 2 massive dead/dying trees that we needed to fell. It was only at this point that we found out there was not only a tree preservation order on them, but a woodland order on our entire garden. As our house and garden was built on old woodland, the order meant that "in theory" we cannot even prune or "mow the lawn" without planning consent.

The council were very slow at granting us permission on taking down the dead trees (I know now that we didn't need permission if they are dead) and we spent many a sleepless night listening to the swaying branches.

Last year we waited over 6 months for permission to take down a Eucalyptus (which was planted by the previous owners and isn't even a native tree) and some overhanging branches along the drive.

We have been told that our local council is looking to lift the woodland order and will just put an order on individual trees. This would make life easier....but I do love my trees!

Dreams of the days before waterproofs

I had such a vivid dream last night. We all were transported back to our first home, a tiny flat in Lewes in Sussex. It was nowadays, as the place was a bit worse for wear (the last residents had left a mess for us to clear) and we were planning on staying there the night (all 4 of us in a flat designed for 2 at a push). It was a far cry from 18 years ago, when we moved in to our brand spanking new pad! We'd been looking for a place to buy whilst I was still at Uni and Adventure Husband was settling into his first job, and stumbled upon this lovely new development a few miles out of Brighton. We found just enough money for the deposit and fees and moved in with only 2 pieces of furniture...a bed and a sofa bed (both of which we still own, although the bed has had several new mattresses over the years)! The flat couldn't hold much more than that actually - the kitchen/living room was bright and airy and I stencilled any ivy border around the room. It matched the curtains and cushions I'd made one day whilst skipping lectures (it was clinical week, the pharmacy equivalent to reading week and I couldn't face any more gorey slides from enthusiastic clinicians). Those curtains were still there 8 years ago when we drove by last.

Cleaning was a breeze back then, I could whizz around the place with a Dust Buster in 10 minutes in the days before children, toys and crumbs.

I haven't been able to get it out of my mind this morning, as looking back everything seems so rosy. I feel rather sad that it was so long ago. Seems like another world, whilst feeling like yesterday. It's strange how we only dwell on the good.

But then I remember the hours and weeks I spent alone, working on my final year project, as my then boyfriend worked overseas for weeks at a time. The first year after I qualified as a pharmacist meant a 24 hour on call rota 1 week in 3 and I was often in work early and finishing late, just to prove myself. In summer the place felt so claustrophobic and loud from the railway station announcements (which was next door) with the windows open, and for some reason I remember the blare of motor racing on television which A.H. is still a fan of. I used to sit in the sun by the back door with my text books, but seem to remember those train announcements more than clinical pharmacology....

....and here I am, happily back in 2010. My lovely boys, lovely husband and lovely home!

Trees and Tree Rats

I still love our house. This is our fifth year in our forever home - an eighties build with big, well proportioned rooms set in a woodland garden. The garden is massive and a definite talking point. Everyone loves our garden - kids because it looks like a huge adventure playground and adults because somehow my husband manages to keep it looking low maintenance (ha!). From our early days of this woodland living my husband has had two great fears 1)squirrels getting into the house and 2)falling trees. For four years we remained unscathed, but this year our fears have been realised - one on Christmas Eve and the other the day before our family holiday!

We were waving goodbye to my brother and his family on Christmas Eve morning when their car suddenly stopped on our drive and we could see them staring up at our roof. My sister-in-law got out and ran back to tell us she had just seen one of our furry friends run up the side of the house and disappear into the roof. We went upstairs to listen and sure enough heard him scurrying and scratching above our bedroom ceiling. I reached for the Yellow Pages as my husband panicked, only a few pest control companies mentioned squirrels in their ads and I knew I'd be lucky to find someone on Christmas Eve (Thank God the kids presents were in the garage!). By my third phone call I was begging and thankfully the dear lady on the other end of the phone took pity on me and promised her son would be with us by late afternoon. He arrived, found the hole (apparently squirrels can squeeze themselves through very small spaces) and planted some poison. He assured us that our intruder would eat the squirrel equivalent of a roast dinner and probably go back out the garden before going into a long sleep and that would be the end of things. He would be back on 7th January!

January 7th came, along with the squirrel man. No poison had been eaten, but he had definitely gone, said he. So the hole was blocked and I paid the bill. By 5pm I realised that the squirrel had definitely not gone and even worse the hole had been blocked and he was now "locked" in the attic. We had heard tales of the damage squirrels can do in confined spaces (Did you know that squirrels are the most common cause of house fires? They gnaw their way through electric cables!) and there was so much noise coming from the attic, we all had to stay up my mother's for the night until the squirrel man came again the next day. He arrived with a gun (help!) - his father told me not to worry, his son was very experienced and would only shoot if be was sure of his aim. Thankfully our friend was in hiding and more poison was planted. He would eat it within 1-2 days.

We all camped downstairs for a week and switched off the electric at the circuit board before bed, then be was found, the culprit, all innocent and bushy tailed. My 2 sons were waiting eagerly at the bottom of the stairs as the pest was carried out by his tail - "Cool" they said in unison!

Our second greatest fear, the one I have had nightmares about happened last Bank Holiday Monday during the gale force winds. We stood in out study window, watching and waiting. It was really scary and it went on for hours. The news said there was a severe weather warning and I didn't dare start packing for our holiday the next day. The power kept going off as I was trying to print off invoices (panic - so much to do!!), then we noticed that 2 limbs from one of the trees had landed in our neighbours hedge. I tried to find their phone number (no way was I going outside the door), I had visions of their cars being damaged - thank goodness they has gone away for the Bank Holiday. My husband and father (when the wind died down) removed the damage from their garden by sawing for half an hour or more and sigh of relief, no real damage and no-one was hurt!