Post 57: The Outbuilding; the first Twenty Years!

ONE OF THOSE DAYS     14^th May 2005

We’ve had one of those days
A day spent walking
Along flower strewn cliffs.
Spent gazing out at sea
Spying guillemots and gulls
Chough, swallows and raven

It’s been one of those days
We dreamt of long ago
While biding time
In semi-detached townland.

One day, we’d say
We won’t have to leave
The upland cliff fields
Or the silver sea
Or the sweeping bay

One of those days will be
Just like today.

Twenty years ago today, on Tuesday, April the 13th, 2004, my hubby and I were moving to our ‘new’ home; a euphemistic title for the stone built partly tin roofed ‘improvable’ Outbuilding,  From the first moment of viewing (what is almost certain to be our final home) on Saturday, the 1st of May 1999, we knew we had to try and purchase this ‘dream come true’.

We had been coming down to Angle for many years; after our friends Barry and Ann had bought a sailing boat, which was moored in East Angle bay. We camped at Castle farm; a laid back venue for those not looking for ‘luxury’ camping, now regarded as ‘glamping'( check out Post 25: ‘Not Glamping but Slumping’)  and only requiring the basic necessities to indulge in holiday fun.

After spending nearly twenty years at our hilly windswept smallholding in Carmarthenshire, and seven years in that ‘semi detached townland’,  we couldn’t believe our luck in finding what has turned out to be our ‘perfect place’.At that first viewing it was actually quite difficult to assess the potential of the Outbuilding; seeing as it was almost completely covered with ivy growth. The substantial ‘garden’ was a mass of brambles and undergrowth, but was, nearly, completely surrounded by beautiful stone walls. And the only trees that were growing then, and are still alive today, are an ancient apple, four damsons and two stately sycamores.

We squatted firstly, in a caravan; but rapidly decamped into our first shed; a beautiful cosy structure, where we housed our bed, clothes, personal items and the television. All our other worldly goods were stacked inside in a pile, that was nicknamed the ‘pyramid’; a peripatetic structure  that moved and depleted as the renovations advanced. 

At the East end of the Outbuilding we cobbled together a utility, where the cooker, fridge, washing machine, table and chairs were temporarily  housed and used. It took nine months to convert the derelict structure into a near habitable dwelling; and we were able to celebrate our first Christmas in 2004, under it’s newly felted and slated roof.

As the years have passed, our ‘last’ home has been transformed from an agricultural facility (proof of which was evident from the animal feed troughs in the main building) into a comfortable living area.

But, our favourite space is our garden. The whole plot is nearly three quarters of an acre in size; giving us plenty of room for growing necessary veg and fruit, enjoying the beauty of flowers, shrubs and trees; and leaving plenty of areas for our precious wildlife to inhabit and burgeon. More and more, we regard this patch of ground as an oasis; a refuge for birds, insects and invertebrates, made even more essential as farmland around us loses it’s ‘wild’ areas; a fact that is indisputable.The visual proof of the blasted ‘orange’ fields that have been poisoned with Roundup become ever more ubiquitous on our peninsula. Once we admired rare orchids and varied flora, thriving in untouched ground, and sheltering under hedges, between us and the sea; an unwelcome change we did not envisage when we chose this place to end our days.

But, we can’t ignore the fact that we are lucky to live in this unique place. And so, I will finish this celebratory Post with a repeat of two short poems; both written after sitting in our garden; and appreciating the view!

 

Fly Fishing   October 2019

There’s a silver thread above your head
My husband said
And the gossamer line
Shone in late sunshine
From branch to garden bed

A tiny arachnid rode the line
Of silver spider thread
Which blew about
At the slightest sigh
The spider sped
From branch to bed
Casting about
For any unfortunate fly

 

Absent Mindfulness

I’m sitting in the garden
Wind whipping all around
Sun dappling, clouds scudding
And, in the trees the sound
Of goldfinch, wren and warblers
Life happening all around
I came up here for something
But what I can’t remember
Instead I see and feel and hear
This day in late September