A lovely visit from Grandma, and the men are back briefly

Wow this is going to be a long update, and I've not got much time free to type so I'm going to have to get stuck in to it without preamble. Let's get to it! I'll try and break it into sections I think.

The transplanted Oak is going great guns

So much weeding to be done

Lovely orchids

Here's a tortoise

Thistles out the back bank

Yet more weeding done

Rowan trees by Grandma's bench

A new Silver Birch to replace this one that died

Loads of stuff pulled from the raised beds

Space for tomatoes

Mowed again

First of all some of the progress made in the garden. I've continued trying to clear and sort the invasive tree problem we've got in the wild area to the right of the driveway but rain and overwork keeps getting in my way. I did get out enough to do a load of weeding before my Mum arrived so we she wasn't looking at the garden and feeling like she had to get out and weed - it was pretty satisfying actually to get on top of it again. I've also mowed the grass a couple of times, and this time I avoided cutting down the lovely orchids (which are spreading - there are SO many up there right now!) and we also go to see some tortoises though they have largely hidden again with the cold weather we've been experiencing. I got to dig out a load of thistles from the back bank one day while Rosie was playing out there, so that was also satisfying. When I collected my mum from the airport I filled the back of Maisie up with trees including a few more Silver Birch, some Rowans and a decorative Japanese Cherry. All these trees are now planted and settling in well. When Angela came back she attacked the raised beds and cleared them all out and I went into the fenced garden and cleared a patch for us to put our spare tomato plants. Dutch has been digging up loads of our newly planted stuff from the raised bed (which is partially why the men are back briefly) so that was quite frustrating. It's been a very very busy time for me but I've been in the garden enough to feel satisfied.

Camping again! WAHOO

Eating a doughnut on the rocking chair

Sun worshippers

Rosie with her awesome collection

Very happy sat on Grandma's Bench

Trampoline fun with Grandma

What a wonderful birthday!

Out out for my birthday

Small sandcastle, and kisses from Xe

Another family meal out

BBQ time of year (briefly)

On top of that I got the big tent put up for me and Rosie to camp in while Angela was away. It was fun, but not the most successful of experiments, as the puppies would not settle. I had to go back inside for a little until they were ready for bed but Rosie stayed outside and slept without any trouble! We did have a nice time on our own with the weather being glorious (far warmer than it is now) and we were able to play outside lots. I collected Grandma while Rosie was at school and it was such a lovely time to have her here. Rosie particularly enjoyed doing lots of fun things with Grandma including baking me a birthday cake which was awesome! We went out that night for my birthday to a lovely restaurant as Rosie wore a new dress I bought her for the occasion. When Angela got back we all went out again to the new restaurant which is rapidly becoming a favourite and we've even managed to get a BBQ done already this year!

Setting anchors in for the swing

Very secure now

Rosie straight on the swing when she got home

Cutting the grass the traditional way

Digging post holes

Fence posts in place

The mesh fence is started as well

There's probably more I could pull out but I'm exhausted and have loads of other stuff to do so let's get to today. As I've mentioned Dutch has been digging in our garden and destroying so much stuff (the tomatoes and strawberries have really suffered because of him) so we asked the men to come and put a fence across to stop any of the dogs getting into that part of the garden. On top of that I bought a swing set for Rosie that needs to be tied down to the patio and they could do that quickly. The first thing they did today was the swing, drilling and bolting it down and this was done pretty quickly in the end and it is perfect. With that done they started on the fence. First of all some of the grass I hadn't got to (because it rained) was removed with the scythe and then they got old wood from our roof and dug holes and set them in. It will be good for a year or two, which is all we need for now. We even had a chunk of old mesh fence we could reuse. By the end of the day they had run all the poles from the front to the house and put some of the mesh up. This may take another couple of days, with the gates that we need, but it won't be a long job for them.

I had a lovely walk after school with Rosie up to the headland  but I'll leave you with a couple of videos. First of all an epic storm and secondly video of the nightingales that have been singing every night for a while now.

Thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow.