Country Hideaway

Country HideawayYou probably won’t view a piet-my-vrou or red kite from here but you could do a wood pigeon or guinea.

I have always been a fan of underground houses and buildings set into the side of cliffs or hillsides as at the Earth Centre at Bodenham, near Kidderminster (UK), but sadly, in the UK, our planners give few planning permissions to such earthy architectural adventurers.

Maybe, before the prolific ‘projecting’ house is fully splattered across this once green and pleasant land, planners could be asked to court proposals that streamline the more boring modular buildings into their landscapes.

I enjoy designing ways to ‘streamline’ build into the environment. One such structure within the HoBB Gardens is the ‘hide’ which will house seating for six and ‘hide’ those inside from the planned pond and its duck population.

The structural aspects of this ‘hide’ are nearly complete. The stone and cement carving stage comes next to provide ornament and ledges for planting. We are on the look out for a couple of small timber row-boats in any condition to adapt as duck houses within a central island ‘boathouse’ position.

Contact us if you know of any such boats in the UK in need of a good home.

Contact also if you would like to volunteer your time through the wwoof scheme (www.wwoof.org) to do some concrete carving and stone construction at HoBB Real.

Waves from the hills ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ <+))))))))>< ~~~ Grant

Wooden Hay Feeders

Wooden Hay FeedersI have repaired these hay feeders for a totally new life – one full of flowers.

Few farmers create hand made wooden hay feeders, as galvanised metal feeders are stronger and last longer, but as the countryside stays ‘up-to-date’, the image of the countryside is regularly back-dated in the media.

Is this the love of nostalgia at work or the wish to dream that something stays the same?

Advertisers often use this ‘country’ panacea to overcome market resistance to new products that have been factory farmed. The trouble is, a lot of people love to believe in phantom concepts so think that the whole world can be ‘organic’ and every farmed life form can be free-range.

I suppose that if we went back to lower human population levels and seasonal harvests then we could get closer to the ways of the past. Luckily the HoBB is small enough to remain organic, but then, we haven’t taken on the remit to feed the world – just those friends that visit.

Round-the-clock I am ignited by the future not the past, but acknowledge that in several areas we have all rushed into new-ways and forgotten ways that were far better. I am sure we can all re-learn the most useful things, especially if we can read them in print and not RDD (Rapidly Decaying Disk) Format. Each time I renovate something at HoBB Real, I try and build in harmony with its original makers because it ‘suits’.

When the two wooden hay feeders are in full bloom as ‘planters’, they will suit the farm. If I position them too close to the galvanised wire stock proof fencing, I am sure their floral contents will suit the sheep’s taste buds too!

Re-cycling and renovating waves ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ <+))))))))>< ~~~ Grant.