Fall's bounty

Today feels like our first Fall day and Summer is closing. but we do have bounty from the garden and orchard to soften the blow.

and the flower borders are still full of colour.

All we need now is for Sooty to hatch.

 Then we can fire up the oven and get back to enjoying hot Pizza.

Pizza Oven

The outdoor wood fired oven was completed thirty months ago, but I've never updated the original posts from 2013.

I left off back in 2013 with the oven insulated with ceramic fiber and percrete. I then framed out the undercounter cupboard with metal sheeting and proceeded to clad in stone.

Because of the sloping ground, steps were needed to access the patio

Even more steps were needed on this side of the oven

The difficult part of the build was cutting the arch stones of the oven entrance to continue the circle of the central turret

The countertops are poured concrete, polished with an orbital wet grinder.

The string course is a handsome divide between the horizontal stonework of the oven and the vertical stones of the dome.

A small herb garden was built into the adjoining wall for pizza toppings.

Having wrapped the dome in string lights, the snow storm created this stunning effect.

Our garden gnome resides in his well lit alcove.

Where there's a flat surface, there's an invitation for container plantings.

but of course the main reason for the oven is to cook pizza

and bake bread.

Walling Workshop

 Just a reminder that our Spring walling workshop weekend is coming up at the end of the month

Participants will learn safety first, including clothing, footwear, eye protection. Safe use of tools, lifting and working in a safe environment.

 Preparing the base on which the wall will be built and laying the foundations

The use of "A" frames and lines and how to build a curved wall

and all aspects of wall building through to the finished wall.

On the Saturday evening we light the on site wood fired oven

and cook pizza

for all the participants and significant others

which we serve on the patio, along with beer and wine

as you can see, there is one chair only, so don't be late.

We usually finishing the evening sitting around the fire pit, discussing stonework in a more relaxed atmosphere.

Summer is just a memory away

                                     

                                     

Meanwhile enjoy the winter sunlight illuminating the tree tops.