Category: Barn Conversion Journal August 26th, 2010 by mbc
I get laughed at when I insist on using a bowsaw from time-to-time instead of a chainsaw. I’m glad to read that I’m not the only one who appreciates the rhythm and relative silence of this method of cutting wood.
I worked with a small triangular bowsaw. It is surprising how much you can do with one in a day. Bowsaws have the supreme advantage of being quiet and allowing you to work at your own human pace. The manic dictatorship of the chainsaw seems to deafen you to all reason or judgement. A chainsaw is ideal for mechanical jobs like cutting up logs, but deprives you of the greatest pleasure of working in the woods: the opportunity to listen to the natural sounds around you.
From Waterlog: A Swimmer’s Journey Through Britain
~ Roger Deakin
If you enjoyed that post, then read these...
Logs on October 8th, 2009
I've really enjoyed Roger Deakin's 'Wildwood: A Journey Through Trees', the book takes you on a gentle journey, part biography, part manifesto, part travelogue.
tag: 'fuel' category: 'Barn Conversion Journal' tag: 'woodland management'
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Future Fuel on February 5th, 2010
As I've mentioned earlier I have plans to start work this year on managing the small amount (I'd guess at around half and acre) of...
category: 'Barn Conversion Journal' tag: 'fuel' tag: 'woodland management'
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Logs 2 on January 5th, 2010
With my current preoccupation with firewood and the current bout of ice, snow and freezing temperatures making me long for warm weather a favourite quote...
tag: 'fuel' category: 'Barn Conversion Journal' tag: 'woodland management'
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Tags: fuel, quotation, woodland management
Category: Barn Conversion Journal August 20th, 2010 by mbc
I found this lurking inside an old off cut of wood…
Pretty hey?!
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Category: Barn Conversion Journal August 18th, 2010 by mbc
Once painting (windows frames) and pointing (repointing the stonework) are completed, I’m hoping that the good temperatures and most importantly dry weather of late summer-autumn will extend long enough to allow for some further work outside the barn.
We intend to dig out much of the the bank that currently dominates what will be the rear garden and then to landscape it to provide a level lawn area surrounded by slopping banks, terraces and retaining walls. Due to the nature of the plot we’ll need to cleverly build quite a few retaining walls of varying sizes. For the smaller, less steep slopping areas where structural strength isn’t such a concern I like the approach taken at the foot of the wall on this photograph from robinlucianobeaty.blogspot.com:

Garden Inspiration
There is quite a lot of dry stone walling around the place already - this will be nicely in keeping and also quicker and easier to build than a solid mortared stone wall.
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Category: Barn Conversion Journal August 2nd, 2010 by mbc
Let’s get in early this month…
I’ve mainly been occupied with repointing the external walls. I didn’t do any repointing last year, but want to get it finished this year so I’ve got my hands full. It needs completing before the weather turns colder so I probably have until the end of September to get it [...]
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Tags: Lime Mortar, Progress, repointing
Category: Barn Conversion Journal July 28th, 2010 by mbc
Having spent a fair amount of time over the last few years staring at a wall with trowel in hand pointing I’ve built up some opinions on mortar, pointing and stonework and how the three should mesh together (tragic I know!). I’m no fan of overly fussy, decorative pointing and neither is my new favorite [...]
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Tags: advice, cadw, Lime Mortar