The year has flown since our last update in April!!

Lots… and then not so much can happen in 6 months!
Spring was beautiful. When the Bluebells came out in force, we had blue glades and many a lovely photo opportunity.
Foxgloves came next… the tallest grew over 6ft!
Our first produce from the hill came in the form of Elderflowers, with which we’ve made over 12 litres of cordial, and had our first brewing experience making Elderflower champagne which was delicious.
Summer made our hillside an impassable mystery… our neat paths proved too narrow for the bracken that grows to beyond 6ft in height – and is a determined grower! Brambles are also very keen, along with large nettles!
Now that autumn is well on its way, we’re hoping to regain access, and re-establish the paths Gwyn spent so long cutting earlier in the year… they’ll be wider this time and cut with his new toy – a scythe!
We’ve had our second turn at brewing with Dai’s Bardsey Apples at the end of September… and have around 15 litres of Cider on the brew in the shed… the future is jam and alcohol…

Gwyn has been very busy developing a design for a home. He’s spent hours mapping the land, creating models, developing sketches and putting together a pre-planning application, which we eventually submitted in August. We’re still awaiting feedback. At this stage we thought this would take a month, but 3 later we’re still waiting! We’re checking in regularly! Pre-planning is a process we hope will eventually help us when we put in a full planning application. The feedback we get should give us an indication for whether we meet the policy requirements we’ve applied under, which indicates the likelihood of succeeding at the full planning level.
In the meantime, Gwyn continues to develop the design, and create more detailed plans in preparation for a full application. We’re being optimistic and ready to roll when we receive some feedback.

We’ve also been thinking about the first part of the hill (aside from a building site!) that we’d like to work on. We’re keen to grow fruit, start an orchard, and enjoy the view from this patch. Apples, pears, plums… sloes, gooseberries, blackcurrants…as well as making the most of the blackberries and Elder that’s already there! If we start now, in a few years we’ll be reaping the benefits… like I said… alcohol and jam…

If you want to get a notification each time we update the blog, please leave a comment on this post, and you get a selection box option to subscribe!

Lauren and Gwyn