Frances Hallam

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The laughing pigeon fancier.

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'Yeah, it's a square nest, what of it ? '

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This is Tinker, he's our second pony, after losing my first to very old age, the heartache his loss caused, I swore I'd never go through it all again, but the utter trust in those big brown eyes just makes you fall in love all over again.

So now, Tinker gallops the land and guards the grave of his predecessor 'Marcus' who will never be forgotten.

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Natura Morta by New York-based photographer Paulette Tavormina.

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My bee hive post-box, I made this from an old compost bin bee hive.

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A woodland abandoned Fairy house !

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Well we finished off the day, taking the dogs a run around the fields and wood, so that wipes out the pie eating !

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The Cherry Pie and some sausage rolls, this is not diet food, but once in a while won't hurt you.

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This is going to be the next restoration project, a very old cast iron rocking seat, I've bought the oak for the new slats, just need to get these old bolts undone or cut and let the cleaning begin.

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To make use of the last of the Cherry syrup I made yesterday, I thought it would go well with a nice homemade ginger sponge, sort of turned it from a dull but spicy cake into a tasty warm pudding, be even nicer on a cold winter evening in a warm kitchen.

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The geese 'Shopping' in my kitchen garden !

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I did get five minutes out in the wild paddock the self setting teasles are attracting some insects and looks like it's going to be a good year for walnuts, assuming the squirrel family haven't already got them numbered !

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I decided when the morello cherry tree was in flower this spring that, this year I'd try to beat the blackbirds to the fruit, today was the day, an hour later I had a pan full, the softer side of me did leave the whole top of the tree's fruit for the blackbird who sat on top of the cart shed watching me. I even threw a few to Betty the hen, she gobbled them down like pigs eat strawberries !

Anyway I filled the Rumtopf half full with stones cherries, added brown sugar and small bottle of Captain Morgan and a bottle of Rose wine and sometime in late autumn we are going to have a nice warming Cherry Rose Rum, with the additional bonus of some fairly lethal cherries, they'd be nice as the base to an adult trifle.

There was enough cherries to make the filling for a cherry pie for tomorrow, pictures to follow.

I also managed to conjure up a delicious cherry syrup for a pancake dessert.

I've enjoy today being all domestic, makes a nice change from restoring antiques and old things people discard, I need more days like today.

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Well after wresting with bolts and getting rust particals in my eye (should wear goggles really) the paint job was going really well until a black cloud came over and it started to rain, so had to move the whole job under cover.

Anyway a job worth doing, here is the little stove, back to it's former glory of being a stove not a plant pot.

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I enjoy restoring things that other people think only suitable for the tip or scrap yard. I've been lucky enough to find this old French Pot Bellied stove, it's been broken along the front and lost its front legs, so no longer stands up. It has spent the last few years of it's life in someones garden as an urn holding a plant.

Yesterday I wandered a large car boot sale at Torksey, hoping to spot something suitable, to fasten on as cast iron legs and found a little fire fender with detatchable legs, only cost a fiver, so with help from my Dad and his metal cutter (I'm told this is too dangerous for girls, I'll go with that !) the two legs were cut to size.

Today I'll bolt on the new legs, wire brush the whole burner, fix a small crack in the body with some high temperature liquid weld, hopefully paint it too, in a black high temperature paint and add a little gold, might post more pics later.

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Whoever said hens don't eat pepper plants, weren't entirely telling the truth !

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Millie having the sort of Monday afternoon in Summer that we'd all like, Ah it's a dogs life alright !