Jenkin Hill Cottage News

We now have some new furntiture in the dining room, but as usual, a couple of the items we would like are “out of stock”. Our new chairs are very comfortable, though.

Saw a red squirrel in the garden again today. It looked a bit disheveled, probably because it has not hibernated. One of our woodpeckers has been at the peanut feeder some 4-5 times every day. At this time last year the fat seed balls were being consumed at great speed, but this year the rate of consumption is much less. Perhaps another symptom of the mild winter?

Daffoldils are out in the garden, and down in South Lakes they are worried that the daffs will be over before Easter, so artificial ones are to be “planted” in some parks/gardens. Mad!

We have just returned from a family break in Egypt, enjoying some warm weather and visiting some tombs and temples, and have some great memories. Hopefully, also some good photos.

The pic is of us outside the Temple of Hatshepsut.

The weather is still relatively mild and it looks like the grass is growing!

It is now the end of January and the weather has been unseasonably mild. There has been some good rainfall, though, and Thirlmere reservoir is full.

We are still seeing one of our squirrels on the feeder several times a day. I guess it is not cold enough for hibernation yet.

At long last the dining room has been redecorated. With new wallpaper and shiny clean paintwork we can now think about which pictures to put in the room. It is time to change things around, but the decisions are not easy to make.

Outside, the new paved areas look really good - but the pond is still leaking, there seems to be a hole in the liner about 6 inches from the top. It is now 3 months since the job was commenced.

Yes, the pond is still not right although it is looking good. We found a stone “ball” in a garden pot shop near Penrith which is now the centrepiece of the pool. There is a problem with the pipe feeding water to the spout - it is leaking. Nick returns to try to repair it.

The weather is not so good now, making work outdoors a little difficult at times! Christine still suspects that there is a leak in the liner. We have now been advised by a pond builder from Australia (of all places!) that a butyl liner should never be used without the correct type of soft felt base liner to prevent the damage from rocks and sharp objects. This was lined (partly) with old carpet….

We spent over an hour today watching two squirrels helping themselves to hazelnuts from our feeder - and trying to bury them in the lawn. They soon gave up on that and have buried countless nuts in the flower borders! It is good to see them back again, and no doubt they will be regular vistors through the rest of autumn.

Alice has bought a new organ which occupies a lot of space in the conservatory! As many of out regulars will know, Alice (now 16) is the organist at St Herbert’s in Braithwaite, and now will be able to practice properly at home and work for her music exams. The instrument previously belonged to her organ tutor so has a good pedigree! We only mention this here so our vistors won’t be put off when they hear church music being played as they arrive!

It is now the end of Ocober, and the pool is leaking. The water has been pumped out so that Martin can get down to trying to find the “hole”. Although to us it seems that the leak is in the side of the liner, around 15cm from the top, what appears to be a puncture is found in the base of the liner, under where the rocks were being placed. This is patched and the pool refilled.

The pump is turned on and everything seems just fine - at last.

In the meantime the weather has turned cooler,and the autumn colours are appearing in their full glory. The prediction that this year’s colours will be better then ever and a week or two later than usual appears to be correct!

Now a month since work began, and Nick paddles in the pond to site some rocks for water to cascade over. Without success, though, as the appearance is not acceptable to Nick or to us.