Planet Savers blog

We are deeply grateful to all our friends for helping us move into our new home. Bobbie and I were extremely glazed by the end of it and your help was invaluable and much appreciated. With four of us opening up all the boxes marked ‘books’ and throwing them at the empty book shelves, we soon had some room to move around in.

Pat, who has been converting our bathroom into a shower room, was kind enough to make sure our water softener was installed and got us serviceable just as the removal guys arrived:>) We needed to install the water softener before we can set up use the solar panel as we are in a hard water area. We chose one from Harvey as it does not need any electricity to work. They are pricey but Pat was able to get us a much better deal on it than the manufacturers offered over the phone.

Pat has bought my concept into being. I call it contemporary cottage style! A modern shower room with mid height wainscoating which conceals the cystern and pipework and gives extra cupboard space. He did all the plumbing and electrical work as well as the carpentry and tiling. He also fitted out solar tube. I don’t think there is anything Pat won’t turn his had to, which is just as well, as there is some work in the garden I might need him for…! His website is still in the making but I don’t think he’ll mind if I mention it here: PatGlavin.co.uk

…and, once the Solartube was connected, there was! Pat has now installed the tube in the bathroom. It’s fab:>) You can look out of the window and it looks grey outside, but the tube is catching all the light there is and pumping it into the room and it looks really bright. It’s brilliant, really!

I’m looking forward to seeing what it does with a full moon…

We don’t really have a garden as such. It’s more of a meadow. This is extremely good news for me because, in the grand scheme of things, I was going to plant a wild life garden.

When we bought the place, the previous owners said, “Don’t cut the grass until you have seen all the violets and  primroses”. But it didn’t stop there. These were replaced by the purple selfheal and pale blue forget-me-nots. Now we have a blanket of blue speedwell with white oxeye daisies and wild strawberries. Of course, there are buttercups, dandelions and daises. Then there is yellow hop trefoil and magenta clover and… other things for which I do not yet know the names. Cutting some of the more grassy areas the air is suddenly filled with the scent of wild garlic or thyme or organo.

As a result of all this natural beauty, the place is alive with bees and butterflies of all shapes and sizes. And two of the nest boxes have residents. A pair of great tits and a pair of blue tits are very busy cleaning up any bugs, maggots, and greenfly that may be affecting the plants. We also have regular visits from crows, magpies and jackdaws which helps keep the slug and snail population under control, ably helped by robins.

It’s all a joy to behold. Most of all, there is peace here. Watching nature do its own thing, being what it is without any help from me. We are on the edge of the wild and it’s beautiful.