Cottage Garden

Sunshine and ladders

I find this picture so amusing—the whole place is one giant haystack (reed-stack):

It looks quite pretty when the sun hits it:

This detail was a nice surprise—a cross hatch pattern in the thatch above the entryway:

Ladders, ladders, everywhere!

A bit more thatch

Here are a few more photos of the progress on our thatched roof:

As you can see, the roof is coming along nicely:

That antiquated television antenna will soon be a distant memory:

Good St. Patrick, normally enshrined out front, waits on the porch for the transformation:

Thatch is incredibly thick and known as a good insulator:

Many more golden rolls await:

This shot was taken first thing this morning, almost before the sun arose. The whole front side of the roof has been added since:

Thatch

Because thatching is so unusual in this country, I thought it might be fun to offer a series of posts showing the work in progress on our little cottage. For as long as I can remember, I have been in love with thatched cottages, so what you are seeing is the fruition of a lifelong dream come true. Our home has long been dedicated to Our Lady under the title "Our Lady of Knock" (in honor of her appearance in County Mayo, Ireland many years ago) and to St. Patrick, the great saint who brought the Faith to our ancestors.

A start

Scaffolds are erected, and the rain gutters are torn off. Rain runs off thatched roofs so there is no need for gutters. This is a good thing too—our gutters were a mess.

Where do you find thatchers in this country?

Fortunately, we are a nation of immigrants. We managed to find a man born and raised in the north of England and trained as a master thatcher.

A day or two into the project, the thatch arrived.

Tons and tons of it! It looked like enough to thatch an entire village, not just one small cottage, but thatch is laid on a foot deep, so every last blade is needed.

These golden wheels look like hay, but they are actually water reed, something we have in plenty here on Long Island. Where did we get the reed, you ask? See if you can choose correctly:

a. Cold Spring Harbor, New York
b. Connemara, County Galway, Ireland
c. England's Isle of Wight
d. Aberdeen, Scotland

The answer is—"none of the above."

The reed comes from China! And, having waited eight weeks for it, you might say it came on the proverbial slow boat from China. (This joke was stolen from the thatcher—my guess is that he uses it frequently!)

At the moment, the first side of the roof is nearing completion, so I will be posting more pictures soon. It is looking good!