The 'River Cottage five' huts are just being finished and will be delivered to the HQ during July.  They are having one Riverkeeper's hut and four shepherds' huts, which will look fantastic on the hill above the farmhouse.  We have started using the new 'Plankbridge green' paint (also available in a wide range of other colours) on the corrugated cladding, which is exactly the shade of green we have been searching for, in a durable flat finish.  After years of using different types of finish, oil and waterbased, on the corrugated we have finally settled on a really good solution.

With seven huts on the go in the yard and workshop, things are pretty hectic.  As a balance there is a wealth of wildlife at the moment, including a family of swans (cobb, penn and seven cygnetts) which have taken up residence on the pond behind the house.  The kingfisher is around everyday, enjoying the sticklebacks as the water level drops after the long dry spell.  The wet meadow (designated a site of nature conservation interest) will soon be due it's annual cut with a finger mower and raked up.  Treated like a traditional hay meadow, and using the finger mower which doesnt chop up all the insect life, the area is doing really well.  When we first started managing it there were 20 or so Southern Marsh orchids.  This year I counted just short of 200.