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In the run up to Christmas, Lisa and Abby organised a weekend to decorate the house ready for Christmas. Members of the public could come in and see the decorating being carried out. Putting up Christmas trees and swags of greenery. It does look lovely. Volunteers, some in costume, were invited to help, and were entertained by carol singers from Medway Adult Centre. The Town Crier, Mike Billingham, called in to inspect the real, pot-grown Christmas tree provided by the Friends, which was being decorated by Chairman, Sue Haydock. It was a lovely time and the shop which is open without having to pay to go into the house proper, has a great selection of Christmas items to suit all pockets. Do call in and have a look. 
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Lisa at the house is planning a daffodil trail for the children in the spring so asked us to help with planting 200 bulbs in preparation for a good show next year. So, a couple of weeks ago, in awful weather, volunteers planted around 200 daffodil bulbs in the beds at the far side of the top garden. We are sure they will give a lovely display in the spring.  We are getting closer to starting the work on these windows, primarily the opening ones. The craftspeople met with officers and Sue Haydock a few days ago to assess the work more closely and to prepare a quotation. Work is likely to start in the New Year, dovetailed around house opening days, and booked weddings and other events. Watch out for the cherrypicker outside the house. You will then know something is happening.  The Friends are very pleased to report that Abby has dropped us a line to let us know that the pond work is now complete. She says "The work started on 21 July using a company called That Pond Guy - www.thatpondguy.co.uk. They did a full drain and clear out of vegetation. Some were kept, alongside any fish and newts. These were kept well in holding pens for the duration of the works. As you can see from the images below, the pond was fully cleared, cleaned, with the loose gravel filled vegetation structures concreted over and the whole interior coated in microfibre resin. The pond was refilled and repopulated with the fish and newts." I am monitoring the water levels as they have dropped but the week following refilling was the heat wave, so I have topped it up, and it will naturally settle so we are keeping an eye on it for another week. The newts have little boards in place to help with ingress and egress to the pond whilst the plants are shorter than usual. The vegetation will all flourish by next spring, as will the fish population. The current algae in the water which has bloomed aggressively in the last week will all settle down. It is basically a brand new pond and will take a while to settle to where it needs to be. I will be booking the pond contractor back in in January to cut back any vegetation and keep the water as clean as possible. My next task is getting the fencing around the pond replaced. I have asked the local ward councillors to support this and all sounding positive at the moment that this will happen so I will keep The Friends up to date on that.  Before  During  After Great news for the Friends I am very pleased to report that The Plaisterers’ Guild has kindly and very generously given the Friends a grant of £2,000.00 to cover repairs to plaster work at Eastgate House. There is an area in need of attention which I hope will be rectified shortly. See photo. Many thanks indeed to the Plaisterers’ Guild for considering us for a grant. It all helps to keep the House looking good, and preserving its structure. Sue Haydock Chairman  |
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