PROJECTS
We acquired Silhøjgård after a negotiation lasting all of 1992. The following year we spent arguing with the authorities about some minor changes of the Northern boundary.
It was a crazy undertaking. The farm was a ruin when we acquired it - you can see pictures here! We started the refurbishment Easter 1994. Fortunately for us, neither of us knew the size of the job nor the number of hours required just to move in a few days before Christmas that year.
We took a break of a couple of years after having refurbished the Northern farmhouse and the following year, the Western part - just in time to selebrate our Silver Wedding in the new living room!
The Southern Annex
We
started in 1998 with the next large project: The refurbishment of the Southern
annex, a "mere" 6x9 m. extension We had to remove the old foundation and replace it by a modern foundation topped with large granite boulders (most 50 kg or more!). Thus, retaining the look of an old Danish farmhouse.
The
roof is the "original". It was standing with no walls
only supported by iron supports for more than a year withstanding a
couple of Winter storms.
The picture to the right and above shows the status July 1999.
The timber stretching out in the picture to the right is one of the nine new beams, 9.3 m long 7"x7" larch each weighing in excess of 150 kg!! The old beams were full of lots and lots of tiny worm holes!
The beams and timberwork were put in place during
the Summer 1999. The uprights (stolper) of 6"x6" oak tree and
4"x4" interties (sidebånd) of the half-timbering have been assembled the
old-fashioned way with no nails and tarred.The outside brickwork was done Fall 1999. The Annex withstood the December 3rd 1999 hurricane with gusts up to 125 km/h, one of the worst in 100 years. It was pure luck that we had the brickwork completed in time for this weather!
Then another break until 2002, when I completed
the interior brickwork and we got windows put in place.
Master Bed Room
The
first use of the semi- finished part of the Southern Annex was in April
2003 for Kristian's confirmation, where we seated some 35 people.
Subsequently, we used the room as our
master bedroom with the beds placed directly on the concrete floor. t's
could be a bit cold
during the winters as there was no heating installed at all. But the room
is well insulated so it stayed frost free even if it froze 15 degC outside!
The master bed room was finally finished Fall of 2006 with the laying of a wooden floor and floor heating. However, the floor heating was not connected to the rest of the heating system in 2007 after the cement floors of the to-be walk-in closet behind the master bathroom were completed.
The light in the room and the view from the windows is just fantastic.
The Driveway
In the Spring of 1999, we planted more 50 historic roses in groups of 5 to 7 right of the driveway. The colors range from pure white over pink and crimson to purple. Even though planted in May, they flowering quite well mid-June that year and has since offered a delight for both nose and eyes to anyone arriving from late June until the frost terminates the flowering season.
The Main Entrance
Another 1999 undertaking was the laying of small stones in the
courtyard at the main entrance. It kept Birthe busy all summer laying
square meters of cobble
stones from the fields as well as cobble stones at the back in front
of the main entrance.
Later
we covered the gound with small white "pearl" stones. And this is what it looked like 7 years
later.
The Vegetable and Fruit Garden
This
was the vegetable garden until Summer 2005 when Birthe decided to plant roses and perenials
instead.
I still have a few raspberries, gooseberries and lots of black currants and strawberries left.
And
the more than a dozen apple treas planted in 1996 have after nearly 10 years
finally started to give losts of fruit - more than we can eat ourselves!
Well, the
phaesants rooming around in the Fall should also have something to eat.
Actually, I guess we have lost more 20% of our apple trees planted to water voles (mosegrise). Nearly every Spring I can pick an apple tree or three with the roots eaten during the preceeding Winter!!
We are still waiting for the plum trees to perform equally. They have been planted more recently and are flowering, but maybe next year we will have plenty of plums?
We have no worms and never use pesticides. There is nothing like eating newly picked fruit directly from a tree.
The Wineyard
We
planted 10-12 Scheyler vines next to the farmhouse in 1999 - a buzy year
with many projects. However, it took until Summer 2005, before I got
the vines properly wired up using surplus plumbing tubes from our heating
system. That made it much easier to work on the plants, trimming, etc.
2005
was our first good year with grapes. The Summer and Fall were warn and
sunny. The grapes were ok to eat - we have too few plants to make vine -
but the colors of the foilage in November are just marvelous. 2006 turned out even better. June and July broke records in both hours of sun and temperature. So the grapes were much larger than in 2005 and there far more.
2007 and subsequent years turned out even better.
The Greenhouse
Birthe
acquired a used green house for kr. 1,- in June 2005. The owner assisted
us taking it apart in a few hours. It took me quite a few week-ends to put
it together again. However, it took only Birthe a weekend to fill it with
tomatoes, cucumbers, flowers, furnitures and other nice greenhouse stuff
shortly after this picture was taken!
Unfortunately we live fairly unsheltered. So every year I have to replace some windows, blown away by an autumn or winter storm.
Master
Bathroom
The maser bathroom is our most current project. The picture to the left
is from August 2008. The picture below was taken October 2009 just after
the tile work was completed. So now we are only missing the sanitary
items.
