Thursday 20/11/25  We saw a great white egret several times on our way to the mill, it flew up from the river whenever we approached it.

It was a cold day, but Debra had glued the new rope seal onto the stove door so we refitted the door and lit the fire which will fully set the glue. We took logs in to keep the fire going. Eddie brought sausage rolls and put them in the oven above the fire. 

At home I made a laminated sign for the fire front from the old cottages which Beryl gave us recently. I attached the sign to the fire front with garden wire while warming up in the wagon with a cup of tea, then put the fire front on display in the visitor centre.

Last week I started clearing a space next to the compost bays for making a storage compound from old doors to tidy up the site, so we went over there and Eddie strimmed nettles while I pruned a tree which was in the way, Eddie took the thick branches to the logstore to be cut up for fire wood. A robin was nearby while we were working.

We got the doors from under cover nearby and put them in place with a pallet between them to form the compound sides, then screwed them all together. Eddie made posts for the entrance which we hammered into the soil and screwed to the doors. 

There is a builders bag full of sand for repairing brickwork, we built the compound around it as its too heavy to move. Another part-filled bag of sand with nettle roots amongst it was in front of the big bag, we tried to drag it away with the Gator but the bag split, so we saved as much sand as possible and moved it out of the way.

We had our hot sausage rolls for lunch in the wagon, then I finished stapling black Geotex material to the outside of the compound to make it blend in better. The material was used to cover the site in winter in the early days and more recently to cover the doors stored outside. We may put black material on the inside as well to camouflage it better, but the more we fill the compound the less of the inside will be seen.

We put things in the compound - a wheelbarrow, boiling house foundation cover, builders bags, left over Geotex material, stakes and buckets from the shed, and a small pallet. We'll make a storage bench and put other things in the compound, there'll be more room when the bag of sand is removed next time we have a digger on site. 

Eddie filled up the bird food and we dismantled a broken pallet with our breaker bar, I cut it into lengths and Eddie split it with an axe as kindling for the fire, as we are running low. Just before we came back we saw the sunset over the fields.

Thursday 27/11/25  We saw a swan in the river on the way to the mill and when we got there a heron flew up from our lawn and went over the field beyond the mill.

I brought my mitre saw to make another logstore as ours is full and we have a lot more logs. We got wood from our timber store and shed loft, we used planed timber for the frame and feather edge left over from cladding the shed for the shelf, roof and sides.

We cut all the parts to make the frame and assembled it, this was screwed to the front of the compound we made last week, then we made and fitted the logstore roof. There was a gap at the back above the compound so we fitted two lengths of feather edge there as well. We made and fitted the shelf and side pieces, cutting angles with the mitre saw, this completed the logstore.

Eddie brought all the sacks of logs over, there were several barrow loads, I emptied them out and stacked them in the new logstore as they will not dry out in plastic sacks. We'll use the new logstore for recently cut logs and the old one for seasoned logs. We'll put loose logs stored outside into the new logstore soon.

Several fence posts had fallen over so I propped them up with bricks. Fencing tape had come off the posts next to the bowed trench wall so I stapled it back onto the posts.

Beryl gave us some premium bird seed which Eddie put in the seed feeders, then he filled the peanut and suet ball feeders. On our way back we took a pruning saw with us and cut away a small fallen tree which was partly blocking the track.

Graham Bartlett  

Interactive Plan      Activity       Volunteer       Previous    Projects     Open Days