Well there’s about 15cm of snow out there in places. Lots of fun, and very pretty as long as we don’t need to go anywhere

Not bad for a night after work, with twin 16 month old boys. 6 Fresh baked rolls for work, Fiona’s yummy sticky flapjack’s, and an excitable yeast starter munching away on some fresh wort ready for tomorrow nights pitching.

The boys up to all sorts around the garden and house:

Well folks, I’ve taken the plunge to save some money and (attempt!) to learn the art of brewing. Partly influenced by a recent brewery tour birthday present (Thanks Kirstin & Matt), and a number of articles I’ve read over the last year or so on the “greeness” of home brewing. Having now read about the process, if all works out well with my first few casks, I might go down the full grain approach! Watch this space. My Dad used to brew his beer a few years ago, but this is the kit I’m using:

Short description of above: 1 Malt & Hop extract supply from Woodfordes brewery in Norfolk. 1 Fermenting vessel with CO2 release. 1 Syphon, 1 Thermometer, 1 Large Spoon, 1 Hydrometer, 1 Tub of cleaning powder, 1 Pressure Cask, 1 Capper, 80 Crimp bottle caps.

So its been a while since I’ve given an update on the garden, so here goes. Fiona did a lot of planting in the late spring and as a result things have been popping up, I’ve also been busy with some garden engineering and planting our new plumb tree. Here are the pics:

Amongst the flowers there are salad leaves and spinach, yum. Salad has been very tasty.

Tomatoes are doing well in the greenhouse, the plants are getting huge. But it looks like it will be Autumn before we harvest.

I’ve been working on a slightly over engineered water capture system (Water Butt to everyone else!). The idea is that I capture water from the garage room, and using water head from the white piece of pipe to the right, push water through to the various tanks at the back of the garden. The idea is that the numerous water tanks are kept away from sight at the back of the garden, and there’s a nice water valve available at the front. The whole system has provision for partial draining during winter. I’ve got various ideas for pressurizing the water at a later date also. More to follow on this…

Rear of garden with new plumb tree in the background. The tire also has a few herbs, and Fennel growing out of it…

Well Folks, I tried my best, and for my small part, I seem to have prevented world domination by the Daleks. But as you are all well aware, they do have a tendency to come back!

Joshua James and Connor Kenneth celebrated their 1st birthday on the 25th of May. They also had a pre-birthday party on Sunday the 24th when many of our friends and family could join us at George Grieve Way. It was a beautiful day, and we even managed to get everyone out in the garden for a little while. The was a food/present frenzy, and I would like to thanks all our friends and family for they hard work in making it all work, and the generous gifts that Joshua and Connor received on their birthday. Here are some of the pics: