Gardening weekend and fence fixing

It was a great weekend and today was good also so let's get into it straight away.

Rosie enjoying her hot chocolate in the tent

Sunrise over the hills

Camping was a lot of fun with Rosie; the new beds were very comfortable, the new light was superb and gave us really good but warm illumination and was easy to turn on and off at need. Angela and Grandma brought us out our hot chocolates which went down very well and then, after some chattering, we were both asleep and Rosie slept very well. When we got up we found that the promised freeze hadn't happened so it was even warm enough to get out of the tent. A good night indeed.

Raking up some leaves

Rosie shows how strong she is

Up in her tree house all on her own

Doctoring her dolly with Grandma

Policewoman Rosie on patrol

The weather was so nice that I headed out into the garden and started to rake up the leaves on the lawn and flower beds at the front. Rosie was outside with me on and off and was "helping" a bit. At one point she took herself off to the tree house and climbed up all on her own. Angela was suffering from a very bad back which was really frustrating for her indeed. Rosie also got to play doctors with her teddies and Grandma and was driving around a lot on the patio in her police car. I had the pleasure of cooking in the evening, on the kitchen fireplace, and that wrapped up a pretty good day.

Angela the fire starter

Rosie climbs the pile of soil

Our little burn is working well

Checking the final embers

All the farm dogs came to see us

Sunday was another bright and warm day and Angela woke with a much better back, which was a huge relief, so we were all outside in the garden pretty much all day. Our first task was to burn off and clear the dead grass and weeds in the fenced garden. This year we're pretty determined to grow more food for ourselves. We did get the fire to take in the end and it was very effective and doing the job. Rosie was having a great time playing and also enjoyed watching the fire, though she was a bit concerned mainly because of the memories of the uncontrolled fire last year. Once we finished the burn we headed to the neighbours for a short but very nice coffee sat outside in their summer kitchen.

A very early butterfly

I need to dig over all of this

Some lovely flowers planted in the tyre gardens

The final section of this bed is dug through

First section of the vegetable garden turned over

A lovely day for working in the garden

After the coffee break I was straight back over to start digging over the fenced garden. It really was a lovely day and butterflies were fluttering by a lot. Angela was also getting lots done, planting out a load of new flowers and clearing some more beds then planting more seeds. It was a really productive time and so nice to get out and do something physical again. I did manage to dig over the first strip of the vegetable garden and my plan is to do a little every day until it is done.

Rosie very happy to be having a picnic

All up in the tree house

Chilling out near the fire

Rosie had been asking for a picnic lunch and so we spread the rug out on the lawn and all sat and had our lunch out there in the sun. It was a great idea! Then it was time for a rest, much needed after all our efforts, before more fun in the garden and this time Grandma climbed into the tree house as well! Angela made an epic Sunday roast for dinner and I relaxed with my feet towards the fire. A great day all round.

Final sheets of plasterboard done for now

Fencing material to keep the dogs out

Trimming down this tree

Tree gone, ready to start meshing

Getting to the end of the fence

All weekend we have been chasing Xena's dad off the land as he worked out he could just walk through the fence to the left of our vehicle gate, which isn't good when all our three girls are in heat, like now. I had to go to the bank this morning again but when I got back I had a chat with the men about this problem, and also the blockage impacting the guest suite toilet. Angela had explained to them what we wanted for the fence so they finished up their insulating and then moved to this new task, first of all going out to buy some materials. There are some trees that grow very close to the fence there so I helped them a bit over my lunch break to take the worst ones down and then they cracked on very efficiently and have put a finer mesh over the whole fence. Hopefully that'll keep the other dogs out for now.

Our garden nicely dug over

This morning while we were sat waiting for Rosie to wake up (she really overslept) our fridge exploded. Literally. Today Angela managed to find a new one that was available for delivery tomorrow which was a relief. For me, as soon as my work day was done I went into the fenced garden and dug over the next strip of the garden. Tiring but satisfying work.

So there it is; a long update but a good one. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading and back tomorrow.