Tree felling

Saturday morning, and Simon in action with the loppers

and with the saw

Going...

Going ...

Going ...

Gone!

Job done!  Thank you Simon!

Our garden in November

A crab apple tree in our front garden was a bit sickly so we decided to take it down.  On Greg's recommendation I bought a long-handled extending saw and lopper and managed to get all of the side branches off but at this point it defeated me and we called on Simon for help.

The saw in action

Getting ready for shredding and more sawing for fire-wood

A day in Cambridge, 29 October 2014

Trinity Hall has an exhibition of etchings by Norman Ackroyd, entitled "The Furthest Lands"
It's a series done over a period of about 25 years covering various coastal locations around the British Isles, wonderfully evocative.  We were privileged to have the room to ourselves.

From Trinity Hall we went on to Kettle's Yard, one of our favourite places, where there is a small but exquisite exhibition of woodcuts by Gwen Raverat,  grand-daughter of Charles Darwin and author/illustrator of "Period Piece - a Cambridge Childhood".

Clare College Bridge
(Apologies for the reflection!)

Seated Woman by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, part of the Kettle's Yard collection

A favourite corner in Kettle's Yard.
A log fire, a cosy chair, plentiful books and through the window a view of St Peter's Church.  What more do you need?


The University's Museums are currently presenting a programme of special exhibitions, events and activities so from Kettle's Yard we went to the Whipple Museum to see Dr Auzoux's papier-mache models of natural bodies

In 19th century France corpses for medical dissection were hard to come by.  Using a special secret papier-mache mixture, Dr Louis Auzoux produced strong dissectible human models.  If you look carefully you can see the hook on the chest enabling the front of the torso to be removed, revealing the organs beneath.

How to make strong papier-mache

The Whipple Museum has an amazing collection of scientific instruments and models dating from the Middles Ages to the present day. 

Part of the display about the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company.  Reuben was seconded here during WWII as an instrument maker - a bit of a change from the building trade!

Chassis unit from EDSAC 2

The Globe Room - globes ancient...

... and modern!

Beccles 19 October 2014

Richard peruses the hotel's information in our room at the excellent Waveney House Hotel in Beccles

View through the dining room window

What shall we have?

Beccles Marina on the River Waveney

Beccles Fen

River Waveney

Waveney House Hotel

Our garden in October

Our new raised beds needed filling with topsoil so we had 4 cubic meter bags delivered.  Of course it all had to be moved from the drive to the back garden...

One bag down, only three to go!

The end result was worth the effort

Richard made a compost bin with the waste from the raised beds topped with a lid made from old bookshelves.  Our garden is a windy spot but I don't think this one will blow away - over-engineered or what!?

Another large bag to be emptied!  Fortunately the wood store is in easy reach just behind the bag.

Before

and after