So, do you compose music in the shed?

(If I didn't ask, Ollie was bound to...)

NB

My garden is getting too much for me, but the thought of not having one horrifies me. It's biggish, with nice old brick walls, and pretty wild. Lots of ivy getting into trees and flowerbeds, too many hedges needing attention. I have a chap who does the hedges and lawns every fortnight, and a bit of tidying up but not enough. I dread him giving up, because it would be hard to find anyone else as reliable, cheap and who brings his own lawnmower!

I love the wildlife (birds, squirrels and hedgehogs sometimes, frogs, insects, far too many slugs and snails which I don't love quite as much), so it needs to be a bit wild. I think it's getting out of hand, though. Everything has grown so uncontrollably this year with all the rain. I quite look forward to winter when I don't need to worry so much.

Our prune tree:

Today we've managed to paint the fences, lift the tarpaulin, bark-chip the centre and around the greenhouse, finish the chuckie path and (just to see the effect) put a wee blue pine in a pot temporarily, though this is its intended location. We've actually achieved a bit more than the photo shows, but once again, I'll have to wait until the morn to get a decent pic.

Incredible work by the three(?) of you, Ron. That was an amazingly impressive clearance job you did at the beginning before you could even get going on the new stuff. Just thinking about all those roots to be got out makes me feel weak. Respect! I can just imagine you lowering yourself gratefully into a hot Radox bath at the end of each day (well, I don't dwell on the image, but you know what I mean).

An unworthy thought perhaps but I can't help thinking that the neighbours might be almost as pleased with the transformation as the birthday boy himself.

Am fascinated by the deck chairs in the greenhouse. Very Derek Jarman somehow.

There's been six of us altogether at various times, and I've been spared much of the heavy work because compared to everybody else, I'm the old man, and the younger ones have felt the need to prove themselves. Nevertheless, I've been the barrow and rake boy for all the stone chippings (two tons so far, and a third coming tomorrow) and the bark (three tons, though a barrowload of that weighs far less). I've also been responsible for the catering, from the regular teas and coffees through the egg-mayo rolls to the big bowls of hearty soup excepting just a killer lasagna provided by Dode's daughter one day. I've also rammed in virtually every one of those edging posts with a mash hammer (=mallet): but compared to everybody else I'd say I've had the easiest jobs.

But it was amazing how much of it came together today: it's really starting to look like something. One of the neighbourhood's cats scrambled over the fence this morning and came to an abrupt halt, perched on the crest of it, with a definite "what the heck have they done to my jungle?" expression. It's just as well I took the before as well as after photies, because if Dode doesn't like it, he'll probably want us to put it back the way it was.

Blimey - nice job Ron!

Fingers crossed for that turf - there's likely to be a frost tonight up your way, I hear?  Was it laid a while back?

Tommo

The turf's been down only since Friday, Tommo: but the main frost's expected on the West Coast rather than the East, and since this is close to the coast, in a microclimate, we should be OK tonight, since it's normally a couple of degrees higher than inland during the winter, though a couple cooler in summer (fingers crossed).