A dry-witted take from Hedera Cottage on the North Yorkshire & York Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS). A cottage’s-eye view of nature recovery, habitat protection, and the realities of restoring wildlife across the county. Part commentary, part humour, and entirely rooted in the landscapes the strategy hopes to protect.

At Hedera Cottage we taught a Mac to be a “robot librarian” for our wildlife cameras. Instead of wading through thousands of clips, the sorter script files hedgehogs, rabbits and birds into neat folders while you put the kettle on.

At Hedera Cottage, the trail-cams churn out thousands of clips a day. Instead of drowning in footage, we built a “robot librarian” using AI: MegaDetector to spot movement, CLIP to guess the species, and a scrapbook of reference images to keep it honest. Now rabbits, pigeons, and hedgehogs get filed neatly into their own folders while the system learns a little more every night.

Ivy’s been clinging to my walls for as long as I can remember — but she’s more than just a green coat. From love charms and drunken gods to Christmas rivalries and door-guarding magic, here are the old tales my ivy’s been whispering to me for decades.

At Hedera Cottage, nothing goes to waste — not even the ash from a garden bonfire. From feeding fruit trees to keeping slugs off the cabbages, and even a few old Yorkshire tricks you probably shouldn’t try at home, here’s our complete guide to putting wood ash to work.

We thought we’d found a charming little wildlife pond in the garden. Turns out it was our mains water pipe auditioning for the River Derwent. Also, we lost power today – because why not?

Hedera’s turning into a wildlife hotspot – rabbits, hedgehogs, a cheeky rat, and even an adder have been caught on our wildlife camera this week (yes, they’re all on YouTube). Meanwhile, indoors, things are getting serious – we’ve started speaking to architects about Shedera and hope to begin tours and drawings soon.

Our first proper wander round Hedera Cottage’s garden – overgrown, full of little surprises, and full of spaniel-sized excitement. There’s even a glimpse of the old rifle range the previous owner used for target practice. We finish with a good look at the south side of the house (yes, the white PVC conservatory in all its glory!) and your first peek at what we’re dreaming up for the place.

We’re teetering on the edge of ownership, keys just out of reach, and our heads full of wildly inaccurate renovation plans. A fond farewell to estate agent fantasy, a toast to spiders yet unmet, and a list of things we probably won’t get done on Day One. Next stop: actual chaos.

Everyone’s got a plan ’til they open the loft hatch and find wasps. Join us for a cheerful spiral through the Hedera Cottage renovation timeline — where every job depends on another job you can’t do yet.

At Hedera Cottage, we’re eyeing up our slate roof and wondering… is it time to chuck tradition in the skip? From insulation woes to solar panel tantrums, we explore why we might tear it all off and start fresh.

With plans afoot to raise the roof at Hedera Cottage, we’re rethinking solar from the rafters up. Should we bolt panels on, build them in, or splurge on solar shingles? Here’s what we’ve learned while planning a future-proof, spaniel-approved, sun-powered upstairs.

From gutters to glory – once we get the keys to Hedera Cottage, we’ll be harvesting Yorkshire’s finest drizzle for future use. A daft and hopeful look at our plans for catching rain, filtering out the bits, and maybe flushing the loo with pride.