doble M design

Pottery Cottage renovation: three months in

2012-02-01T16:04:00.001-03:00

I've been feeling groggy for a weekend, and not in the mood for blogging. It's bitterly cold up here on the top of Clyro Hill this weekend (-4 degrees), not a great week to have a chill. I had my first nightmare about Pottery Cottage last night. I dreamt that I went down to check on the work and found that they'd ordered a huge batch of York stone and laid it all through the kitchen and into the patio (this sounds pathetic now I start to type it...) with swirling patterns laid out in muted green, red and orange. I was so upset because it was a total waste of money and they'd have to take it all up again and redo it.
Yeah, I know our kitchen/patio floor is hardly a matter of great importance in the grand scheme of life, but yesterday was a rare day when I didn't go to check on the work and take photos, so that must be where that came from (oh, plus a genuine worry that we're going to run out of money before it's made habitable).

The reality is, I went down there this morning, and there's no danger those guys would ever buy or lay something without consulting me first. They were so pleased to show me this morning 'my wall' and see if I liked it. They'd experimented yesterday with making a stone wall in the garden using stone they'd salvaged from the house and garden. It looks great. They'd covered it with a sheet overnight to protect it from the frost, typical of the care they take with everything they do. That is a huge relief as I don't have any stress related to the work itself or those working on the cottage, only in my (bad) dreams. The glass is in the shed windows and it's really warm and very quiet in there, so Ollie's going to be one happy man when he finally gets in there with his books, desk and coffee machine.

Here are some photos from last week at Pottery Cottage, which I think shows the work looking the most drastic it has been since we started.

I was sad to lose the chimney stack in the middle of the roof, but it was wrecked and would have to be rebuilt. Instead we're just putting a flue. The idea was to take down the chimney breast in the bedroom, but it seems it's holding up the roof purlins, so that's staying, meaning, disappointingly, I have to replan the bedroom layout. I don't like the look of the cottage without the chimney. It's the first change we've made that has had, in my opinion, a negative impact on the aesthetics of the cottage, but with money now very tight I'm really down to just doing the absolute priority work.

Here's the chimney stack in the bedroom. I think we'll have built-in wardrobes for the boys either side of it, although until the engineer gives his calculations for supporting the roof I can't make any firms plans regarding the first floor.

We're still debating whether it's possible to keep the stairs going up to our bedroom, or whether we have to lower the floor (losing the height in the entrance to the kitchen). Unfortunately Building Regulations restrict us on what we can do, and it looks like the door/steps situation won't be allowed, so it looks likely it will be low ceilings throughout the ground floor.

The oldest part of the building is the central part of the cottage, and this is timber framed, as you can see in these photos. I've mislaid my iphone so don't have any photos from this week, but these timber frames have now been covered up by studwork and insulation. We're almost at plasterboard stage and first fix (plumbing and electrics) stage, which is very exciting.

Ollie's back from Cambridge this evening, so I'll borrow his phone tomorrow and take some snaps to show how things have changed this week.

School run - Clyro style

2012-01-25T18:32:00.000-03:00

In Buenos Aires we'd run into political road blocks, in Clyro it's the sheep that take to the streets. The boys thought this was great fun, especially as the sheep charged at the car and one jumped in the air right next to Seth's open window.

Imp turns elf

2012-01-25T17:04:00.000-03:00

Into the wild

2012-01-22T14:53:00.000-03:00

On a wild Sunday afternoon we clambered up to the summit of Hay Bluff. Bo was slightly terrified by the wind and that he might be blown up into the sky like a balloon, but little Sethie jogged cheerfully to the top and was very proud of himself shouting 'I've climbed Hay Fluff'. The views were spectacular, and with wind beaten faces we piled into the car and back to the cabin for hot chocolate huddled around the wood burner. Perfect!

We made it!!!

Double date

2012-01-21T19:52:00.007-03:00

What a treat: Ol and I took advantage of free babysitting from Mum and went for a run together in the hills this morning, and spent yesterday evening in the Blue Boar in Hay dreaming up a trip to Bhutan! We've been so busy and tired lately that it felt so good to be out on our own in a cosy pub/on a wild hill and plotting another crazy family adventure.

(Yeah, we really sat at the bar and take BAD photos of each other on our iphones. Now I upload them on here I realise that was a bit strange...)

Black and White village trail

2012-01-18T17:18:00.000-03:00

My Mum's down for the week and we headed off today to visit the nearby Black and White Villages. Just over the border in Herefordshire, located between the market towns of Kington and Leominster. Many of the timber-framed buildings date back to the 14th century and are full of character. Our favourite village was Eardisland

The 17th century dovecote has been restored and turned into a community shop, selling groceries and local produced, and run by volunteers from the village.

More info and a map of the Black and White Villages Trail here, including routes for walking, cycling and public transport. Stop in at Dunkerton's Cider Mill to sample their traditional organic cider and perry, and for lunch, at my hands-down fave of the pubs, The Tram Inn at Eardisley.

All in a day's work

2012-01-18T16:15:00.000-03:00

This morning the ceiling of the sitting room looked like this - open joists. By 4pm we had flooring laid in two of the bedrooms and the hallway that will be eventually be a walk-in wardrobe.

Meanwhile, outside, we have a new manhole, what will be the patio area has been dug out and it's all set for the new drains going directly out to the street (rather than through three neighbouring gardens).

It's now easy to have a feel for how the patio will look leading off from both the sitting room and the kitching/dining room:

Inside, they've tanked the exterior wall on the ground floor in the kitchen/dining room and the sitting room, so we should be damp-proof, and next stage is to add the insulation.

Imp logic

2012-01-16T10:10:00.002-03:00

Bo: Please can we go to William's house? Yes or no?
Me: No.
Bo: Oh. Bo's mouth is saying 'yes'. Your mouth needs to say 'yes' too.

In the (not so) bleak midwinter

2012-01-14T08:37:00.001-03:00

Being very English and talking about the weather, it's been fantastic this week. Thursday I was over in Worcestershire having lunch with an old friend and we were sitting out in the sun having a pub lunch, not even wearing coats. This is January! As we drove back home there was an incredible sunset, red, orange, pink, yellow with deep blue clouds. Seth looked out of the card window and said: 'It's like a rainbow without the green!' I love how four year old's think. It's been so mild and sunny lately, the flowers are very confused and are blooming well before their time.

So it was a shock to wake up yesterday morning and see the landscape muted by a covering of frost, like those people whose hair suddenly turns grey overnight. Seth surprised me by randomly using a Spanish word when he looked out on the fields and said 'it's now blanco grass'. One of my favourite things about the view is how different it is each day. We can't say how it's going to look, and the atmosphere changes so much depending on the shadows, or the colours, or how much of the view is obscured or in full view.

It's frosty again today (more confusion for the plants) and the sky is laden with vast white clouds hanging heavy over the Black Mountains. We're heading out in our boots and hats for a walk in the clouds, and a wander into Hay to raid Pembertons bookshop which is closing and has a magic 40% off all titles (they'll still be running the bookshop at the Festival, but the owner is retiring from daily shop life).

Pottery Cottage renovation: week eight

2012-01-10T16:55:00.002-03:00

The most dramatic change to Pottery Cottage since the initial opening up work was this week when the guys took out the windows and walls on the garden side, to prepare the space for two bi-fold windows. I'm thrilled with how it's looking on the kitchen side, the opening lets the light flood in and we'll have a great view out to the garden from the open kitchen/dining/work space, and that will be the first view as we step into the house. On what was the dining room (will be a playroom) side I'm quite as happy, mostly because we had to build up a supporting column, so from the internal viewpoint, the doors will be off-centre. It's less important in there, and from the garden view the doors will be better placed. From the garden the back of the cottage is going to much less cluttered and fussy, more streamlined. We're also planning on changing all the windows back to wooden frames, probably painted grey, with single pain glass, which will make a huge difference.

Here's how the back of Pottery Cottage looked when we bought it, exterior and interior views:

BEFORE

And here's the work in progress earlier in the week. Window panes out, roof propped up ready to take out the frames and wall:

DURING

And with the windows and walls out, trenches dug, and ready for the bi-fold windows. The part that has been blocked in in the middle is where the utility room will go.

This is the view from the sitting room looking through to the playroom that will lead onto the garden.

And this what will be the kitchen/dining/my workspace:

Lots of dull jobs like new drains (we're changing them so that there's a manhole on the street outside Pottery Cottage rather than going through three gardens to reach the mains), working with a structural engineer to define two new structural beams to support the roof above the playroom and in the kitchen/dining area, complying with building regulations, and damp coursing and insulating the below-ground street-side walls of the main cottage.

We really enjoyed spending Saturday afternoon down there, the boys digging in garden, Ollie sawing firewood, and me painting Ollie's shed. I think we'll be really happy there, if we can hang in there and make it habitable before we run out of funds.

Snowdrops on the hill

2012-01-10T15:54:00.001-03:00

I enjoyed seeing this swathe of snowdrops on the side of road driving Bo to Crocodiles this morning. It must be so mild for them to be out already. Here in the cabin the 'Ziva' paperwhite narcissus I planted before Christmas have flowered and they are so delicate and beautiful. Seth's been tracking their progress since we planted the bulb and draws huge breaths to take in the fragrance, like a horticultural Bisto kid.

That's my skip!

2012-01-10T15:03:00.000-03:00

We have a PINK skip outside Pottery Cottage! If the locals knew me better, they'd think I'd put in a special request for only pink skips.

Quirky and quaint

2012-01-10T14:51:00.000-03:00

What a wonderful little chapel at Capel-y-Ffin, eight miles into the Black Mountains from Hay. Check out that chimney! Sethie and I drove over the top of Gospel Pass last week to go for a walk around Capel-y-Ffin. I thought the place was magical, Seth thought it was scary. It reminded me of Haworth, one of my favourites spots in Yorkshire, which has the same brooding, moody atmosphere.
There's a surprisingly well-researched and interesting Guardian Travel piece on Capel-y-Ffin which you can read here.

My big little boy

2012-01-10T13:32:00.003-03:00

My little friend Seth started school yesterday. He was very cheery and not fazed by it at all.

Bo, on the other hand, cried and cried, desperate to go to school with Seth.

Seth declared his first day 'great fun', and today he came home and announced he'd had 'a GREAT ADVENTURE at Clyro School'.

Phew!

Christmas catch up

2012-01-10T13:16:00.001-03:00

Back to the blog after the Christmas break. Belated thanks to Tony and Sally Herdman, owners of the cabin we've been calling home since September, for the complimentary turkey and box full of trimmings and homegrown treats from the Clyro Hill Farm.

With. Love. This. Noel.

2011-12-22T23:33:00.001-03:00

Thanks to Alex Valentine for letting me have some of his fab boggle cards ('four line poems') today when I was in Hay Deli this afternoon.

Happy Christmas everyone, I'll be back in January.

'twas the week before Christmas

2011-12-22T23:26:00.001-03:00

I've barely been at the cabin all week as we've had non-stop invitations for the boys to go and play with friends, for lunch, tea, to go swimming etc etc. I do love how sociable life is around here and the mix of different people I spend time with. Yesterday I enjoyed visiting my pottery tutor's home in Talgarth and having a look around his collection of pots. Sunday evening we had a bunch of friends over for Indian food at the cabin, Tuesday evening I went with a group of friends to The Globe to see a pretty good performance of A Christmas Carol by Hereford College of Arts, last night we went to Booth's Bookshop for lovely time singing carols and listening to poetry readings, and then we moved on to a friend's house down the hill for supper, and tonight I was at Val's shop for mulled wine, chestnuts roasted on the fire and live music. Tomorrow we drive up to Lancashire to spend Christmas with my family, which is a real treat as the last time I was with them for Christmas was ten years ago.

Carols, readings, mulled wine and mince pies at Booth's

Looking on from the mezzanine at The Globe

Play dates with Seth and Bo's pals

Christmas in Hay

View of Pottery Cottage, Christmas 2011

2011-12-22T22:42:00.000-03:00

So this is how it looks as the builders take a week off for Christmas and New Year. The rear, ground floor facade has altered a fair bit in the last week with the two back doors, a window and an l-shaped window all now blocked in. Bi-fold doors replace the two remaining windows, so in the summer we'll be able to open up the doors from both the kitchen and the playroom onto the garden. It doesn't look attractive as it is, but once the windows are all replaced it should look much less cluttered than it did.

The new supporting column. This was necessary to support the roof, which is currently resting directly on the window and would probably have collapsed if the window was taken out without this extra support.

Inside the main house, a drain for the damp coursing. The walls have been built up in preparation for the insulation which will be added next month. Although the main house is still definitely en obra work should pick up pace there in January as it's actually less work that the guest cottage which was totally rebuilt.

The guest cottage is shaping up well and today the guys were finishing placing the plaster boards over the top of the insulation. It's already pretty toasty in there, even without heating, so hopefully this was all worth it and it will require minimal heating to keep it really warm even during the cold winter months.

All I want for Christmas is...a cabbage

2011-12-22T22:10:00.001-03:00

Seth clutching his cabbage, after begging me to buy it for him on the market this morning.

Conversation with Seth

2011-12-21T14:07:00.003-03:00

Today, talking with Seth about starting school in January:

Seth: Do Mummies and Daddies stay at the playgroup school?
Me: No, it's different from going to the playgroup there. After Christmas you wil go there on your own, I won't go, it will be like Crocodiles, you'll just go there with your friends.

Pause

Seth: We're a bit too small to drive there on our own. You'll have to drive us there, ok?

Darling Buds of Hay

2011-12-20T14:38:00.000-03:00

More talented spotted in Hay. This stunning Christmas wreath was made by Layla Robinson from her cutting garden in Brilley. To see more of Layla's creations and details of how to order from her, see here.

Silent night vigil

2011-12-20T12:33:00.001-03:00

Ollie joined 50 other Hay residents to form a flash mob outside Powys County Hall. Press release below, but for the latest update and an interesting first-hand report from veteran Hay blogger Eigon, see here.

PRESS RELEASE: Kept in the dark and denied a voice, Hay residents hold silent, night-time vigil at County Hall.
A group of 50 Hay residents gathered outside County Hall, Llandrindod Wells last Monday night to demonstrate their frustration at being denied access to the Council’s Stakeholders’ meeting. Calling their gathering Silent Night, they lined the way into the building, lighting their silent faces with torches.

When the protestors saw Councillors entering through a different door, they re-grouped in the entrance and asked to attend the meeting. Chief Executive Jeremy Patterson and Paul Griffiths said it was not a public meeting and no-one could attend, not even the Press, and that minutes would not be taken.

“We are being kept in the dark and denied a voice while our councillors are, I believe, about to sign an irrevocable Option Agreement with the property developer who would change the face and future of this successful small market town.” said 40-year Hay resident, Gerry Taylor.

Asked whether the Council would assure the people that no binding commitment would be made before full details of the proposal were given and a public meeting held, Mr Patterson refused to be drawn, saying that the decision would be made by the Cabinet.

Plan B for Hay, who have been campaigning for public consultation, transparency and time to formulate an alternative proposal, was one of the stakeholders invited.

Snow men

2011-12-20T12:15:00.000-03:00

From Andalucia to Clyro

2011-12-20T12:03:00.000-03:00

Welsh Andalucian horses in the snow at our temporary home on Clyro Hill Farm.

Lights out

2011-12-16T16:41:00.000-03:00

Goodbye Crocodiles!

2011-12-16T16:26:00.000-03:00

Seth had his last day at Crocodiles today. A huge thanks to the lovely 'blue ladies', as Sethie used to call them, for four really happy months there. There hasn't been one day when he hasn't wanted to go, and he's especially enjoyed nature walks, making constructions, baking, animal visitors from dogs to snakes, and anything to do with numbers. He moves on from Crocs to Clyro School nursery class in January with his little pals Seth J, Ben and Ruby.

Crocodiles was Seth's third pre-school after Apple Kids in India (where he learnt to call me Amme, eat rice with hand, run around outdoors with his shoes off, all of which he still likes to do) and Jardin de la Plaza in Argentina (where they managed to get three year olds to do better art than I can do). I hope his life continues to be as diverse, and that he always has friends from different places and cultures. Next up: Wales. Hwyl fwar Crocodiles!

In the thick of it

2011-12-16T15:23:00.000-03:00

Thick snow up on the top of Clyro hill, less so as we drove the 2.5 miles down. The final photo was taken just up the hill from Clyro village, with views across to Hay nestled beneath snow covered hills on the other side of the valley.

Candlelight Carol

2011-12-16T09:41:00.003-03:00

Candelight Carol by one of my favourite composers, John Rutter, set to old scenes of London.

(My only request for my funeral is someone to sing For the Beauty of the Earth arranged by John Rutter.)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

2011-12-16T08:24:00.002-03:00

We woke up to snow. It's falling again in big, fluffy flakes and there's a white out over the Black Mountains opposite...time to buy some sledges and stock up on logs for the weekend. Perfect!

(I do miss our Nikon...hopefully we should have it back next week and photos should improve.)

Plan B for Hay in the press

2011-12-15T20:13:00.000-03:00

It's been a busy week for Plan B for Hay. Good splash on the front page of the The Brecon & Radnor Express and coverage on the BBC. Ollie was out Plan B for Hay meetings both last night and tonight as the campaign picks up pace ahead of a key council meeting next week.

Our bird

2011-12-15T19:59:00.002-03:00

So here's our turkey, all ready in the fridge in the barn next to the cabin. It's quiet around here, without the turkeys, geese and ducks circling the farmyard, but the Met Office have issue a storm for warning tonight so the wind will soon be howling.

Spoilsport

2011-12-15T18:04:00.002-03:00

Overheard today.

Bo: I'd like to fly to Granny's house, up up in the air and go there.
Seth: Erm, problem is you don't actually have wings.

Warming up, caving in

2011-12-14T18:32:00.000-03:00

The insulation is going in thick and fast, but I caved today and booked us in for another half term up at the cabin at Clyro Hill Farm. It was partly pragmatic: they'd be putting up plasterboard and temporary plumbing to get us in there for Christmas, which would later be taken down when the whole cottage is wired, plumbed and plastered, so that seemed like a waste of time and money. But I felt it wasn't fair on the boys, especially with Seth starting school in January. We'll just keep things easy and stay in the cabin for a while long, and hopefully we will be in for Seth's birthday and Easter.

Dead ducks

2011-12-14T18:08:00.000-03:00

Er, so turns out they were ducks, not geese. No hiding that we're the townies then...

The work of Bo Benjamin Balch

2011-12-14T17:24:00.000-03:00

The difference between our two boys: there is no way Seth would have done this, and even if he had, he would have come and told us he had. Bo sneekily ate all the chocolates from both advent calendars and then tried to hide them. Oh well, at least that should be the end of him waking us up at 6am shouting 'CHOCOLATE!'

Resistance Reimagined

2011-12-13T21:23:00.002-03:00

At dinner on Saturday I sat next to delightful Richard Greatrex, a BAFTA winner and Oscar nominated cinematographer (for Shakespeare in Love). His latest work is a photography book, Resistance Reimagined, inspired by and retelling the story of Owen Sheers' novel Resistance. Richard shot the images in the Olchon Valley where the novel was set, and used local people as the cast, most of whom I know from around here. Moody and evocative, with beautiful landscapes and impeccable costume design, the photography is stunning. It really is a shame I can't afford to buy the book. It's 170 pounds. It is a work of art, and must have cost a fortune to produce, so I appreciate the price tag, but sadly all our pennies have to be saved for dull things like drains and damp coursing. Call into Booth's cafe to see the photos if you have the chance and live locally.

Runaway horse

2011-12-13T19:54:00.001-03:00

The boys had fun yesterday watching a Sally Matthews horse sculpture (made from steel, coir, cow muck, wood) being taken away from The Lion Street Gallery on a trailer. Annoyingly I didn't have my iphone with me to take a photo. There are several very pretty and creative Christmas shop window displays in Hay, but I do like the simplicity of The Lion Street Gallery's window, with a resin sheep sculpture as the centrepiece.

Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat...

2011-12-13T19:29:00.001-03:00

'Christmas are coming, the geese are getting fat...', so says the carol, and it's true.

The gaggle of geese that have kept us company around the cabin are fatter than ever have just one day left of happily waddling around the yard.

I took Sethie out yesterday to have a photo with them (imposssible of course, because they ran around in circles trying to get away from him). Pic to follow on Thursday when they're all ready for Christmas lunch...

More pottery pieces

2011-12-13T19:18:00.000-03:00

The window at the Hay gable end of Pottery Cottage was opened up today. We managed to just about salvage the fish sculptures by Adam Dworski that had been cemented into the wall blocking up the window space. Some parts were broken but we hope to be able to fix most of it, clean it up and use it one of the bathrooms inside the cottage.

Boarded up for now, but I was at the joiner's today arranging for the new window is south facing and has views across to Hay Bluff.

Here's the interior view. Phil is standing where the landing point will be for the stairs going up to the mezzanine.

Ssh.......it was fantastic!

2011-12-12T12:50:00.004-03:00

We had a fabulous time at The Ssh Club in Hay on Saturday. As host Val reports: 'As the temperatures plummeted we dined once again at The Ssh Club on Saturday – steamed up windows (Paris bistro style), an uninvited guest and much merriment and laughter.'

The food really was amazing, and especially impressive because they don't have a kitchen on site. Val's husband Tom ferried the food across from their home in Clifford, and him stepping in from the cold hugging dishes of hot food only added to the charm of the place. It's such a quirky setting, supper in a pop-up vintage shop, but Val's laid-back style, fun company and totally delicious food made for a really special evening.

Chicken liver pate, rabbit terrine with locally grown leaves from 100% Hay (in nearby Clifford) and home baked bread in Hay by Kate Brotherton-Ratcliffe (who also bakes for Booth's Bookshop cafe)

Confit de Canard, Potatoes Dauphinois and an Ottolenghi carrot and pea dish

Tarte Tartin made with Bramleys from Val and Tom's orchard and crème fraiche

Fabulous menu!

There are some spaces for the supper this coming Thursday, 7.30 for 8pm. Email Val if you'd like to reserve a place.

Not one for the stage (or the family album)

2011-12-10T13:31:00.001-03:00

Being positive and encouraging parents is obviously what we all aim to be, but I was really struggling this afternoon. It was the Crocodiles nativity and, despite us trying to dissuade them, Ollie's parents had driven four hours from Coggeshall to be there. They arrived in time for us to take them to Pottery Cottage and have lunch at the River Cafe in Glasbury, so at least they didn't travel for eight hours just for the nativity play, as the Balch family performance was a disaster. Performance is actually the wrong word, appearance would be better, and even that is pushing it...

Disaster one: Bo (due to be a sheep) fell asleep on the way so we were already one Balch down. Then Seth went to pieces when we arrived, refused to put on his shepherd costume, refused to go on stage. Eventually Ollie managed to persuade him to stand on the edge of the stage dressed like a 21st century Welsh shepherd rather than a Bethlehem-two-thousand-years-ago type of shepherd, and with a dark navy coat (Ollie's arm) attached to him, pushing him back onto the stage every time he tried to escape. Seth did manage the odd smile or two at Granny, so I was very grateful they were there, and he mouthed maybe one word or two of the shepherds song, but I think I'm probably exaggerating.

Quite amusing, but what do you say when they come off the stage to find you?! Granny drove four hours to see THAT, what on earth were you thinking Seth?!!! I'm still a teeny bit cross with him, but of course have given him lots of hugs in the absence of anything positive to say, and I did feel for him when he told me he was a bit shy and a bit frightened. Clearly! Ollie is convinced he's subconsciously traumatised from his experience in Argentina last year. On stage in front of a full theatre, when he was meant to be doing a candombe dance but froze in the middle of the stage while the rest of his class danced around him. He clearly had no clue what he was meant to be doing. Perhaps Ollie's right.

We're all back home now, sitting around the log burner, the boys drinking mugs of milkshake and Seth looking very relieved that his stage nightmare experience is over for another year.

Oh, on the upside, turns out we won a coffee machine and a WIFI router at the Chinese auction last night! Good return on our 2 quid investment.

Cottage cut in two

2011-12-09T19:01:00.002-03:00

I have had several sleepless nights worrying about Pottery Cottage and if we've done the right thing, especially as the more we pay, less of the house there seems to be. Today was an encouraging day though. To make up for the big hole in the back wall, they'd also done a grand job of installing the stud wall which will divide the cottage bedroom and the bathroom, including the two doorways either side of the bed. Tomorrow they'll lay the joists for the mezzanine floor. It looks really good, the bathroom is a decent size, and there's space for a 2m wide bed on both the ground floor and the mezzanine, all good news, so I should sleep well this weekend.

From Clyro to Cochin

2011-12-09T18:42:00.000-03:00

Carol singing around the tree outside Clyro church this evening, so Christmasy! Then on to the village hall for a 'Chinese auction' with all the kids charging around causing mayhem, a huddle of parents drinking mulled wine, and the rest of the room filled with old people drinking tea and mince pies. We saw our neighbour-to-be, Ann, who thinks I need to learn Welsh and teaches me a new word each time we meet.

Back home, inspired by Noel's feast, I've made spinach and paneer koftas in a tomato gravy with basmati rice and spiced green beans. The cabin smells AMAZING, reminds me of Cochin. Mmmmmm.......

Plan B for Hay

2011-12-09T10:45:00.001-03:00

I am most definitely a glass half full kind of girl, but I sadly think Hay has a very slim chance of beating off Tesco. There was a meeting in Booth's Bookshop last month that 200 or so anti-Tesco residents turned up to. Their view is that a Tesco in the town would kill Hay. And it would. The wonderful thing about the town (aside from the setting and all the bookshops) is that it really feels like Britain did forty years ago. There's a notable absence of the shops that dominate almost every high street in the country, and there are loads of thriving little shops, the owners of which are local characters that really add to the charm of the place.

Plan B for Hay is the name of the group (so named because there isn't a Plan B) that has been set up to tackle the council's proposals, and Ollie has got involved. As he said, one of the reasons he moved to Hay was that it didn't have a Tesco, and so he's agreed to be part of the publicity committee. It's all moving very quickly, and the main aim is to stop the process getting to the point where Tesco can sign an option agreement (basically once they do that you're screwed). So his first task is to write a position statement for Plan B for Hay and a press release which will go out next week. Given that his PhD is on conflict resolution in communities faced with large-scale corporate investments, it's quite fitting that he's getting involved in this right on his doorstep. I feel a bit gloomy about it all, as hardly any towns have beaten Tesco, they're such bullies and will inevitably take over, put even more pressure on local businesses, and change the look and atmosphere of the town. I wish all the best to everyone involved in Plan B and will go to Hay now to buy:

Satsumas and a bottle of wine from Stuart the greengrocer
Chickpea flour from Hay Deli (I'm making spinach & paneer koftas tonight)
Loaf of bread, and gingerbread treats for the boys from AJ Jones
Cough mixture from the chemist
Handmade Christmas decorations from The End
Steel wool wire and Brasso from Jones Home Hardware (for copper pipe I'm going to clean up to use to hang kitchen utensils on at Pottery Cottage)
Two kids books from Pembertons for the boys to take to Seth J & Ben's party on Sunday
Christmas cards and two birthday cards at Chattels
Milk, washing up liquid, cereal, tins of plum tomatoes, Ribena, teabags from the Co-op

I don't need a Tesco!!

Bird watching

2011-12-09T09:27:00.000-03:00

This morning I sat and watched two beautiful little bluetits tucking into the birdfeeders that Sethie and Bo made at Crocodiles. I'd forgotten how gorgeous bluetits are. Their vibrant yellows and blues looked so stunning against the backdrop of the Black Mountains covered in swathes of sunlight. I sat and watched them play in the water but unfortunately scared them away when I tried to take a photo of them. I hope they come back later so the boys can see them. We also had a red robin trapped inside the cabin last week. He was really elegant, one of the biggest robins I've ever seen, and poor thing was so frightened trying to find his way out.

Streamlining

2011-12-08T18:11:00.004-03:00

Oh, and more progress. The window and back door have been blocked in. No photo because is was pelting down with rain this afternoon. The back of the cottage will hopefully look less cluttered, with just two bi-fold doors, and the area between blocked in. Behind this will be our 'dhobi' with washing machine, boiler, a big sink and a loo, and with doors either side connecting to the open study/kitchen/dining room on one side, and the play room (with sofa bed) and living room on the other. Rather than having lots of little rooms, there will be two big open plan rooms, with an opening linking them at the street side of the house, and connected by the dhobi at the other.

Here's how it was before we started messing around with it:

Imagine two bi-fold doors replacing the row of three windows to the left of the cottage, the door and adjacent window blocked in, and then where the building juts out, the corner blocked in and another bi-fold door.

The utility room and downstairs shower room as they were.

...and after the walls were taken down, but before the window and door were blocked up today.

Stud walls

2011-12-08T17:32:00.001-03:00

Stud wall frames

Filling in, so we don't have mice scratching around

Fast progress: frames made in one day

Phil, James and Badge hard at work

More mice filling

Stud frame with backing boards

...and in place

Ready to be filled with Kingspan insulation

The stud walls on the first floor were completed today. Next they will install the joisting for the mezzanine floor and start the stud work on the first floor floor and ceiling. Then the Kingspan insulation will be added, also to the floor, all with the aim of the cottage being so well insulated that it will it will need very little heating. It's starting to shaping up and looking less like a wreck, which is a relief.

Christmas comes to the cabin

2011-12-08T15:01:00.005-03:00

My how-not-to-speed course was cancelled so instead I did some Christmas forraging and shopping and came home with holly, ivy, berries, gardenia to remind us of Christmas in Argentina, poinsettia, mistletoe, fairy lights and a bleached starfish for the top of the Christmas tree. This morning, Tony, our friendly farmer chopped down one of the Christmas trees growing outside our cabin, so we're feeling very cosy and festive in the cabin this evening. The plan though is to be out of here by Christmas, and into what will later be the B&B part of Pottery Cottage. That's the plan...

School days

2011-12-07T21:50:00.003-03:00

As we're in Wales, Seth can start school in January, and following a successful appeal next week he has a place at Clyro Church in Wales School, a couple of minutes walk from Pottery Cottage. There are three intakes and children are able to start from the term that they turn four. Although we had planned to start him off with two days at Crocodiles and two days at school, we've decided to sign him up for four days at school. Bo has changed from liking being the little one and want to be big boy too, so I think it will be good for them to be on their own for a while and have their own space (I overheard them today, Bo was hugging or wrestling Seth, not sure which, and Seth said: Stop squeezing me, will you....I'm not an orange.). I'm going to keep Thursdays as my day with them both at home, so we can go to the market and lunch out together. Not tomorrow afternoon though because I have an appointment at naughty speeders school...

Staircase out!

2011-12-05T19:59:00.002-03:00

The secret playground

2011-12-05T15:05:00.000-03:00

Seth in Jo's willow arch

The playground

Montpelier Cottage and The Pavilion (also with a green roof)

The boys had a lovely time playing in Jo Eliot's secret playground at the bottom of their garden in Brilley. Full of cold Sethie and Bo sniffled their way back up the garden for lunch with Jo, Noel and their Wrag trainee, Diane. I had read about the Wrag scheme earlier in the year (as it happens, in an article written by Noel) and quite fancied doing it myself. At lunch we tucked into homegrown, homemade pumpkin and red pepper soup and the boys each picked out a pumpkin from the garden to take home with us, so we'll make a risotto tomorrow.

Green roof walking

2011-12-05T14:37:00.001-03:00

Our Indiaphile pal Jo Eliot took the boys up on Maureen Richardson's green roof at Romilly. The house (and the green roof) was self-built by Maureen and her architect husband years ago, long before these things became popular. It is the biggest green roof in the country and green roof expert, Noel Kingsbury, didn't know about it when he moved up the hill six years ago. The latest edition of his book is dedicated to Maureen and her late husband, and features a new chapter about Romilly.

The roof blends seamlessly into the view

There are green roofs everywhere

iphone kills the view

Can you see where the roof ends and the field on the other side of the lane starts?

Buttons from Brilley

2011-12-05T14:10:00.000-03:00

Today I visited the fabulous home of the equally fabulous Maureen Richardson, over the hill in Brilley. Maureen is her eighties, but has more energy than most thirty-year olds and has boundless creativity. She is best known as a papermaker, and her paper is used for special limited editions of all shortlisted entries for the Orange Prize for Fiction.

In her workshop she is busies away working on all sorts of different creations from wastepaper baskets from vintage playing cards to button necklace. Yes, button necklaces very similar to those I sold in Buenos Aires for Maria McCormick. Funnily enough, their homes had a lot of similarities, they're both collectors and upcyclers, both married architects which is reflected in each space and both Maria's apartment in Retiro and Maureen's cottage in Brilley are crammed with interesting objects and are bursting with character.

Festival fun

2011-12-04T21:45:00.002-03:00

It was the Hay Winter Festival this weekend and it was great to catch up with our old pal Gordon Corera, who was there speaking about his book The Art of Betrayal: Life and Death in the British Secret Service. Here we are pictured with Simon Mundy, Hay Festival blogger, in the Blue Boar.

We moved on to the Gypsy Hill Festival Party, which was a lot of fun. Most impressive was that the dance floor was packed within a couple of minutes of band starting up. However, Gordon and Ollie stayed as far away from the dance floor as they possible could, and I sneaked off to the bar to chat to Owen Sheers.

Then today other old friends came over for the day and after kids Christmas crafts and face-painting at Booth's, Birdy and Ollie took the kids off to see the Sealegs Puppet show of Peter and the Wolf while Ciara and I managed to kill an hour trying on vintage dresses. For some fantastic photos of the weekend, see the Hay Winter Festival gallery.

Shed progress (2)

2011-12-04T21:17:00.001-03:00

Ollie's writing shed is almost ready. Some final board work to be done tomorrow, and then I'm going to paint it and add the furniture. There will be a desk under the window, bookshelves on the back wall, a tea/coffee station, a small electric heater, an armchair and his dartboard. Apparently that's all he needs. Oh, and for the boys and me not to go anywhere near it.

Shed progress (1)

2011-12-01T22:46:00.001-03:00

The shed is shaping up fast. The insulation went in yesterday, and an additional window cut out so Ollie has a view of the garden from his desk, and today the boarding went up. Floor tomorrow and then it's over to me to do the rest.

Joist improvement

2011-12-01T22:33:00.001-03:00

From THIS:

To THIS:

Bike geek

2011-12-01T22:25:00.003-03:00

One very happy little man with the bike I bought for a tenner on the street opposite Pottery Cottage. We dropped it off at fantastic Drover Cycles in Hay to have stabilisers fitted. Seth rocked up two days later and asked if they'd fitted the tweezers to his bike. Hmmm. His use of completely the wrong word can be amusing! He posed for the camera with a thumbs up, so I think that puts bikes and owls at about the same level of cool. He insists on wearing his helmet in the car, which probably isn't a bad thing considering my driving.

Que divertido!

2011-11-29T15:00:00.001-03:00

Christmas at one of my favourite shops in Buenos Aires, Elementos Argentinos. Surrounded here by muted and autumnal colours, and pysching myself up for months of dreary weather this burst of colour looks so cheerful and fun, and SO Latin American. Fernando and Pablo, I miss you!

...and (an hour later) here comes the sun

2011-11-29T12:49:00.002-03:00

The colours after the storm

2011-11-29T11:52:00.002-03:00

The wind and rain have thrashing against the cabin all morning. It was actually quite mild at 6.15am when we drove Ollie to Hereford to catch the train, but by mid-morning it was wild outside. The kind of storms that always remind me of the moors above Haworth, back home in Yorkshire. The rain stopped and the clouds lifted, about half an hour ago and the richness of the greens and blues of the view from here were fabulous. The iphone pic doesn't do it justice.

Proofs

2011-11-29T11:46:00.000-03:00

Been There

2011-11-29T10:05:00.000-03:00

Our Nikon has been in for repair for five weeks. Serves us right for using Jessops. I've been missing having a camera I can take more time with, so I entered a reader's tip in the Guardian's weekly 'Been There' competition. Unfortunately I didn't win the camera, but my tip was published. You can see it here, or read it below.

Argentina
Estancia Dos Lunas, Córdoba
After six years living in Argentina I've been to a lot of estancias (ranches), but this one is off the gaucho-beaten track. Deep in the Ongamira valley is Estancia Dos Lunas, and riding across its 3,000 hectares is as rugged and romantic as you could wish for. The ranch is warm and hospitable, with tasty homemade food. Even the sunsets are long and laid-back, especially lazing by the pool with a big glass of malbec.
+54 11 5368 9086, tinyurl.com/ranchdoslunas, suites sleeping four from $500 per night full-board
Emma Balch

Pottery Cottage renovation: week three

2011-11-29T09:12:00.002-03:00

After two weeks of opening up and knocking out almost everything other than the exterior walls, last week work began on the guest cottage beginning with connecting to the mains drainage, damp coursing include a waterproof membrane lining the floor and walls and a drain around the edge of the room, and a new concrete base on the floor. Stud work on the walls and roof this week, followed by insulation.

Meanwhile, next-door the walls in the main house are being built up ready for the stud work and insulation, and outside in the garden we have a scrapheap.

My starter kit

2011-11-29T08:00:00.002-03:00

Festive fairs

2011-11-29T07:13:00.001-03:00

Nine years ago this weekend Ollie and I were in Salzburg. After an afternoon at the Christkindlmarkt and a concert in the castle, we huddled together in the snow drinking gluwein and Ollie asked me to marry him.

I was looking for a Christmas market for us to go to this year, but the nearest one seems to be in Bath, two hours away. In Hay this weekend though there was the Winter Food Festival on Saturday, which was packed, and then on Sunday the less popular Hay Arts & Crafts Festival. It was fun to meet delightful Alejandra from Peru and Gustavo from Argentina, who I'd met at another craft fair. They have a workshop in Newbridge-on-Wye and make pretty pieces, like porcelain earrings using a beech nut to create a mould.

Yesterday I took the boys to the Royal Welsh Agricultural Winter Fair in Builth Wells. Plenty of tasty food to try from local suppliers like Black Mountains Smokery, prize cows to be admired, farm equipment to be climbed on, and Christmas crafts to be purchased.

Small world, long weekend

2011-11-28T19:35:00.000-03:00

Thursday evening. Ollie's old pal Matt Lloyd arrived to stay for a couple of nights. Ollie was travelling back from Cambridge so I took Matt to The Tram Inn in nearby Eardisley. Lovely pub, and as our drinks were cleared by owner Mark, Matt turned to him and said 'Is your name Mark and did you go to Merchant Taylors' Northwood?' Turns out Mark was in the year above Matt at school. Small world.

Saturday we met up in the Blue Boar in Hay with Joe and Karen who live two farms down the hill from us. Karen is Mexican and used to teach in a Waldorf School. Last week she started doing a Friday after-school session in Spanish with Seth and Bo, which is great. Strangely, Jo, like Ollie is doing a PhD about Argentina AND he used to live one block away from us in Villa Crespo in Buenos Aires. Small world.

Sunday evening we had a lovely, lovely supper in Brilley with Jo Eliot and Noel Kingsbury. Noel, an internationally renowned writer on plants and the environment (actually, I've have one of his books, Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls, stored in Argentina), cooked an incredible Indian vegetarian meal for us. I've been thinking about the paneer and spinach koftas all day...must try making them. Jo heads up the Hay Film Festival, and instantly recognised me when we were introduced last month. Turns out she remembers me and the boys from Kashi Cafe in Kerala! Small world.

We moved here three months ago, not knowing anyone, but I haven't felt lonely for a second. I've met so many fantastic people, who I already feel like I've been friends with for years. It's helped that most people aren't in traditional jobs or work sectors, and many have lived in different places. In fact, with Em, another northerner, it feels like we've been living a parallel life: she has a son, Seth, who goes to Crocodiles, she's married to a journalist, they were in Fort Cochin when he was two years old, and they used to live in South America...

Who needs a house when you've got a shed?

2011-11-22T19:20:00.000-03:00

While I dream up plans for the house, Ollie's thoughts are all on the shed. The priorities are to get one room of the house ready for us to live in from mid-December and to have the shed ready for Ollie to work in. We're going to put a big window at the front, so Ollie's desk looks out onto the garden, and we're going to insulate it so he doesn't freeze. Let's hope they do finish the room in the house or we're we're all going to be living in the shed.

The village post office

2011-11-22T18:59:00.003-03:00

My grandmother was a great letter-writer and she kept in touch with her vast family in countries around the world, mostly by typed or handwritten letters, usually with several enclosures and cuttings. The only exception to this were her regular phonecalls which she would make sitting in her icy cold hallway, perched (she was only 4'2") on her 1950s telephone seat/table, with a list of topics of conversation she worked through during the course of the call. But letters were her main means of communication and each morning she walked to the post to send the letters she'd scribed the day before.

My father is very much like her and has a list of hundreds of people he keeps in touch with regularly by postcard (he two big shoeboxes full of postcards that he buys and collects to use in his correspondence) and for more thoughtful moments on letters that are tucked inside an envelope he always one of his vast collection of fountain pens.

Neither have passed onto me their particular ways with stationary and habit of sitting at their desk to write letters, but I do like being back in the UK and being able to use our postal system. Like Dad I always ask for the decorative stamps and unlike him, who buys in bulk, by the sheet, I go to the post office each day to buy the stamps I need.

Maybe I wouldn't bother if I lived in a city, but in a small village like Clyro there aren't queues with fidgety people looking at their watch. I enjoy going into Clyro Post Office and chatting with Mrs Hood, who must know all sorts about everyone in the village, if nothing else, who buys from which online shops.

As well as the Post Office it's a pretty useful village shop. I wasn't well last week and forgot to buy potatoes, carrots and fennel seeds, all of which I needed for Sunday lunch (pretty much only remembered the chicken). Hay Deli is closed on Sunday and the Co-op doesn't stock fennel seeds, so it was very handy that I was able to buy potatoes, carrots AND fennel seeds, along with the Sunday paper all at little Clyro Post Office.

I was in there today and local author Jasper Fforde came in with a copy of his latest book in hand. Jasper has quite a cult following, and apparently Mrs Hood is part of it.