Garden love...

I got carried away with the camera yesterday.... each time another tree or bush comes into flower we go into proverbial raptures. It must be our age. This week we've been working really hard on the lawn - raking, levelling, adding topsoil (about 20 trailer loads so far), picking up stones. It's a big and overwhelming job, but we've had the help of some loyal friends and family. Not to mention my dads tractor and trailer. This morning we finally marked out the lawn and wild flower areas and got the seed into the ground. Now all we need is rain! If it doesn't happen we've invested in a sprinkler which can be attached to the borehole pipe.

This is the 'emergency' garden - everything that's about to be run over by a digger gets put here for survival until the house is finished...A rhododendron, bluebells, and some Lankelly nasturtiums just coming up in the old chimney pot...

The last bit of my windy woodland path has now been completed. It's edged with poplar logs from a tree that had to come down....

This little wren has made a nest inside the old stables...

All the trees are now in leaf - and all different colours.... Joyce (the previous owner) really did a good job with her planting. We've worked out what most of the trees are - acacia, gingko, eucalyptus, poplar, maple, etc but there are still a few mysteries.

We've done some tree surgery - with the help of a huge machine loaned by a friend of Ian's (the bigger the toy the bigger the boy)...

Ian also used it to single-handedly take the roof off the old lounge. The north wall has now been demolished and new footings put in, plus the hardcore base for the new floor. Concrete arrives on Tuesday, and the wall will then go up ready for the new roof.

We've put in zinc guttering - it's brilliant as it's completely maintenance free, lasts (allegedly) for 100 years, and is made in Britain from 100% recycled materials. Plus it matches the roof slates. I've just re-read this and marvel at my state of mind - I actually 'like' guttering? I need to get out more!!

Actually I am getting away - back to Wales for a couple of days to collect some plants. I can't wait to see it again, and the project. Something tells me it will look a lot greener and more hopeful than when we left. There's nothing like a sunny Spring to get people moving and growing. I feel very warm at the thought of being there again.

Open Shed...

It's been one of 'those' days..... lots of trivial little things going wrong. Nothing that really matters that much - we caught the builders just in time before they put the lintel in too low over a door, the dog had his stomach pumped after eating rat poison and the farmer refused to give us a right of way to our field ........

This little trio cheered us up however.....

Having been reunited with Peggy and Eileen, our blue maran hens, this week we had a keen, and rather magnificent visitor from next door. We've named him Colin after our neighbour....and after the last cockerel who came to a sticky end. It would be fun to have chicks but I guess we have to wait for one of the hens to go broody.

Yesterday was fabulous. Our 'open house' or rather 'open shed' gathered lots of lovely friends on the lawn for cream teas, cake and tours of our building site. So relaxed, sunny and properly English. Days like that make all the hard work worthwhile. Sadly I don't have many photos as I was too busy filling the kettle, but these are some of the people who stayed on for a barbeque afterwards.

The lawn is a dustbowl at the moment. It's about to be sowed with grass seed and repaired after all the trenches we've dug. I can't wait to see it greening up again. I hope the rain comes soon!

Ian, meanwhile, can't wait for rain and has been trying out our new 'solar shower' - basically a black plastic bag you leave in the sun for a few hours. It was sheer coincidence (I think) that our neighbours and also some visitors walked into the garden at the precise moment he launched into his shower...... I think I'll stick to going down the road to my parents'.

The nagging commission...

Wonderful as it is to actually have a commission to do some artwork, the prospect of sitting down and getting on with it becomes more wearisome with each day that it remains undone. Now, with only a four day deadline, i HAVE to do something about it. Must just have a second cup of coffee though first - oh and a quick blog post to tell the world. I am suddenly longing to get outside and finish my path, or do the washing, or ..... sigh - ok then I give in.

The commission by the way is a little artists impression of a bridge for a council scheme. I have the scheme plans, taken the photos, spread out the paper and board so I just need to sit myself down and begin......

Home at last....

Hermit crabs no longer. After two years of having No Fixed Abode we have finally arrived HOME. It feels sooo good to have an address and phone number that will be the same for the next 20 years (atleast, hopefully). And to actually be living at that address - ok maybe half our Stuff is still elsewhere but at least we are here, albeit in the shed surrounded by piles of rubble and the odd digger and builder.

The reference to hermit crabs by the way relates to the reason why we sold our house two years ago and moved into the unknown - they are creatures who leave behind their old shell and go in search of a new one vulnerable and unprotected. God spoke to us then and has led us every step of the way - via a few adventures - and brought us to this place in his timing. The thought of his love is a nugget of gold. And this land he has brought us to continues to speak to us of how lavish and bounteous he is.

Here are a few of the latest pics:-

Blossom and bricks.....

Crab apple, the old lounge (to be stripped and renovated starting next week), and the builders portaloo.....

New dormer windows from the scaffolding.....

This will be the kitchen....

And the pantry....

And we can't resist planting things at this time of year.... here's our little veg patch with our current 'home' behind. The shed is a great place to be in the warm, but pretty cold when the temperature drops - it's definitely better than a tent though - and even the eco-loo now has a tap to wash your hands. The lap of luxury.