Countdown to the new barn

We have spent much of this weekend clearing and sorting the contents of the garage, ready for putting into storage the stuff we want to keep. Demolition of the existing structure, in preparation for building the new barn, could be only a week or two away!

To the dump, to the dump, to the dump, dump, dump. Note Naomi's beautifully crafted registration plate for the back of the trailer. 

This was our second trailer-load of assorted junk, taken to the tip (I mean recycling centre) this bank holiday weekend. 

We also had two bonfires today. All the garage 'furniture' with the exception of one 1950s dresser went up in smoke. 

The Gates of Paradise

Some things are worth the wait. Ever since we moved into our house in 1992, Naomi has longed to recreate the original front gates, on the pattern of the ones still present in the cottages on the other side of the drive to Salle Moor. And at last, this week...

Outside the front door, beyond the front porch, on the other side of the front garden... 

... 

...these are the garden gates Naomi has steadfastly wished for, deamed of, commissioned and finally this week, seen put in place. 

Inside Old Hall 

Queens' College

Yesterday we went to Cambridge, partly to give Naomi a break from her dissertation, but also because we both needed a change of scene. After the Fitzwilliam and lunch at Loch Fyne, we wanted to see something of the river and the college buildings. Neither of us had been to Queens College, which straddles the Cam at Silver Street, so for £1.50 each we took a self-guided tour...

The sundial in Old Court. 

In Old Court 

Old Hall 

Above the fireplace, Old Hall 

Dinner gong in the Old Hall. 

Detail of the painted decoration in the Old Hall. 

In Cloister Court 

Cloister Court. 

Detail of the end of one of the jetty timbers on the Lodge (c.1597) 

The mathematical bridge. 

A professional punter! 

King's College in the distance, seen from the west. Queen's Fellow's Garden in foreground, Erasmus building (1959) on the right. 

On the west bank of the Cam are all the new (20th century) Queen's College buildings. 

This passage runs parallel with the boundary with King's College. 

Part of the Library, the Old Chapel and Old Court. 

Clearly Beth Chatto-influenced planting in Friar's Court. 

This lovely painted detail was above a gothic door in a passage between the two 'old' courts. 

The organ loft in the new chapel.