garage doors

The garage doors are almost complete. I've been tinkering with them since Christmas, figuring them out as I go. They are made from 2" box steel with 2" flat insert all round to bolt the boards to. The door opening is 3 metres wide (just over 10 feet) so they would have been pricey to buy them in. I anticipated most of the problems apart from having to correct a bow inwards when I welded the middle box section.

doors set in place with hinges bolted to walls,
a bit of 'tweaking' was required to get them  reasonably square  all round

starting to attach the plastic boards,
easier than fitting them in before hanging the doors

Recylced plastic boards from Murrays in Mayo.
Very easy to work with, easy to cut & to shape and  plane.

Custom hinges made from trailer door hinges.
 I couldn't buy anything to allow the doors swing out 180 degrees.

The doors will be secured from inside, so outside is pretty much finished.
When I get the garage plastered I'll complete the jam all round.

look up !

Ever since I was a child I can't resist looking up in wonder at helicopters and aeroplanes. This is the Shannon Rescue (Sikorsky S-92 I think) that often passes slowly overhead, presumably on training exercises. Occasionally at night, moving slowly, with multicolour lights whizzing and searchlight shining down, like some sort of UFO. Very cool. 

Irish Coast Guard Rescue 

blackthorn branch

The hedgerows bounding the garden have a large proportion of mostly spindly blackthorn which twists and angles through the base of the ditches. A rare sunbeam caught this branch yesterday and revealed a miniature moss landscape.

mossy blackthorn branch

fern

Even though this fern foliage is dead and faded, it still has striking character.

fern foliage

daffodil

miniature daffodils

sally garden

I made the first plantings in the willow garden. I planted Salix cinera and Salix smithiana. I intend putting in some cuttings also of Salix alba. This patch of garden is the wettest area of the entire garden so I've mounded them a little to get them out of the worst of the wet.  The rags are some fleece scraps tied on so that I don't strim the willows when I'm cutting the grass around them. I expect to pollard them at about 3-4 feet and have a harvest every 3-5 years. 

hawthorn yamadori

 This is my first time to collect a whitethorn yamadori. I didn't have to go too far. The roadside hedge is being re-aligned at the entrance and this one would be lost anyway. It's maybe a bit straight and it will be difficult to create some good taper.... but firstly to keep it alive..

ash

twin trunk ash

dawn

frosty morning

full moon

clear skies, frosty night

longer evenings

warm evening

still nice

cooling down

majestic

friendly skies