So a glimpse of the new windows. Still need to be finished off outside, and we have a man onto that - just need to wait until he is free! Eventually we'll be re-painting the house as neither of us are that enamoured with the colour!

We've been making the most of the glorious weather and spending a lot of time in the garden the last couple of weeks. We cleared a bed that had two (unwanted) stag-horn trees in, and ornamental grasses (of which I am not a fan) and have made a start on replanting it. I'm very much a slow gardener in this respect, waiting for the right plant to wind it's way to me.
We did want to replace the trees though and so off to the garden centre we went. After much umming and ahhing the perfect tree called to us. And here she is.....


Her name is Katy. We do love a glass of Katy cider and so it seemed fitting to bring the apple into our garden. We already have three very old apple trees, and probably didn't really need another but - we fell in love with her.

I'm not a huge fan of roses if i'm honest, though our garden has many and they all have a beautiful scent. That is a must for me if they are going to take up the space in the garden. Unfortunately many of them have got leggy and unruly and as I'm not a rose expert I wonder if they can be saved?
Oz has really been responsible for the major changes in the garden as I'm physically not up to most of it. He does like roses and wanted one for the bed, so i steered him towards the David Austin stand (my years in the flower business mean that i can be fussy about growers) and he eventually picked this beauty


L D Braithwaite. A beautiful deep red, the blooms are full right now. This one has a delicate fragrance, you really have to get your nose right in to appreciate it and having to do that has reminded me of the sensual, velvet feeling of rose petals next to skin. I keep going out there and burying my face in the bloom! Oz was given instructions though that he needs to learn how to look after roses if he wants them in the garden!

He's really found a passion for the garden, I think he's actually overtaking me in that respect!
And this is one of Oz's first additions to the garden

our Buddha statue. Up until now he's been sat in this bed almost hidden from view in a drift of forget-me-nots, and quite beautiful it was - but we cleared the bed completely so he needed some new companion plants and we decided to go for some striking Zantedeschia, and then some marigolds. The one he has placed in his hand was Lemmy's contribution, and led to a discussion about who Buddha is.

Well as usual life plods along here. Had a lovely hour with a relative who is over from Australia on a quick visit, always a pleasure to see her - always tinged with sadness that she will be going back, so far away from me. The exhaust on the car gave up on me this week, so my bank account took a bit of a beating.....

And rain......we finally got some much needed rain, though the soil is still so dry out in the garden....