After 18 months of hoops, hurdles and lots of red tape Robert and I finally made a decision not to sell the piece of land to the front of the house. 800m2 + was part of the reason we bought this ‘Hangar’. We would not have paid what we did, for the building only for the fact that there was a plot of land with permission to sell and build a house on. We didn’t need a property with a lot of land to maintain. In addition, we realised that the making of our house inside the ‘Hangar’ would be costly and the proceeds from selling the land would contribute and be a great advantage. However, as time went on there seemed to be more and more difficulties in reaching this goal. If you know me, you will also be aware that I believe I have a Guiding Spirit (who I call ‘Smuirlight). I also believe that we have angels watching over us. How many times, I asked Smuirlight for help and guidance on the matter of the ‘garden plot’. But did I listen to the reply? “NO!” I didn’t. From the very beginning we were warned that this was not going to work, because before we even signed the sale contract, it came to light, that the ‘Permit to Construct’ had gone out of date. This added tremendous pressure because we either forego the sale or apply for another Permit. We had nowhere to live, we hadn’t even seen a possibility. So we went through the paces of getting another Permit, this was not easy as the area was now zoned as ‘Agricultural’ and no more permits to be issued. We did get one but little did we know that this was only the tip of the iceberg of frustration and stress that was to follow. Water under the bridge right now. Suffice to say, that the day after we made the decision not to sell, and informed the necessary parties, we woke up in the morning feeling as if we were just going on holiday. We were so relieved, I cannot put it into words. We considered many uses for the ‘field’. Animals, crops, vegetables, even selling it in 1m2 piece of France to anyone abroad that might be interested. In the end, the most logical idea was to just make it a garden. I started with taking all the potted plants at the side of the house and planted them into the ground, four of the Olive trees went into the ground at the road end, three nearer the house, friends were very generous and gave us cuttings and bulbs, etc. from their garden. The local garden centres were also getting lots of business. Everything seems to be thriving other than the ‘Red Robin’ that I planted at the foot of each side of the two arbors, with the hope that I can trail them up and over. Because we are high up, we get a lot of wind, sometimes it is gale force, so there is no point in putting in beautiful flowering, trailing roses or plants that will just get blown down.
My latest problem out there is that Mr. Mole, who had emigrated, was sent back! He is leaving me one or two nice piles of sifted soil every day – I just hope he doesn’t harm the roots of the plants. He was there before we were, and we have no intention of killing, trapping or driving him away.
This was the blank page
These are in the far right corner.
A welcome from the side of the house ………..
We had an assortment of grasses and plants in pots in this area. All of these have now been planted in the ground out front.
I went to the local quarry, with three big tubs in the back of the car. Car is weighed on entry, I drive down into the dust bowl, find the right size pile of rocks. Fill up my tubs, and get out as quick as I can. It was very scary to see the huge big quarry trucks coming straight for me, with another huge load of rocks to drop. Thankfully the drivers were alert and only tipped the truck beside me, covering me and the car with more dust! When I leave, the car is weighed again and I pay. Two trips and loads of rocks in varying sizes cost me a huge sum of approximately €7 and change.
This area was difficult, to put it mildly, to work with. A pick and hammer were needed to break up the soil, in order to make holes big enough to accommodate some of the plants.
Set him standing on a few blocks and built the wall around him.
