I'm not going to say it...

 We are sitting out this heat wave, I do a bit of gardening first thing, I water later in the evenings, I have a lance on my hose, its a longer pole with spray at the end, allows me to water the base of plants without bending, this is when I am most grateful for a small garden. These roses are stunning, they change colour as they open, I cut it back last year so the flowers are lower. They hide the gap between the fence and garage, by the end of the summer they will reach the top of the fence.

I adore this bed, just 3 years old, these fleabane daisies are a froth of colour, the aquilegia behind are new this year, four plants, I'm happy if they propagate and I have loads more, my snowberry plants (2) are slowly growing and will fill out in time, my astilbe is in the middle and should shoot up soon.

I love pots you can give plants the correct environment to grow, Kirts grass hair is better than I imagined, I do like to have a few pots displayed together. Just a few of the pretty flowers here in our garden.

I will trim our olive tree, its full of blossom and getting bigger than we want, another tree we both love, we have had this tree since 2019, I feed it once a year and clip it often.

Another loved plant is my pomegranate, I started a seed way back in 2017, its been in this pot since 2022, it was moved to behind our seating last year, I've stopped clipping it and would like it to grow higher, its not a tree. I do have herbs in pots at both ends of the seating area.

I have been careful when purchasing new plants to remove weeds from pots before planting, I also prefer to grow from seed, which helps keep weeds at bay, so I don't have too bigger issue. I am pulling the buttercups from my back fruit bed, they are taking over, lesson learnt, they need space. In my side bed I have meadow rue, it's a pretty low green ground cover, all through the summer I am pulling it out, it spreads by root and can be a thug, I do like it around my big herb pot.

We did not see daughter and little ones on Tuesday, they stayed home, where they could play inside in the cool, George was going to have a sleepover, but he's not sleeping well, so we postponed it, whilst sad not to see them, we understand their welfare is always most important. I found sitting outside under the parasol with the slight breeze best, the morning temperature was 29°, as it got hotter we later went back inside.

Growing up

My pyracanths is spreading along the fence, this plant should grow to the end, it soon will have blossom which the bee's love and in the winter months red berries for the birds. I have two Jasmines, one is my winter jasmine, we see tiny yellow flowers when everywhere else is bare, the other which is still tiny I can't remember it's name.

 My honeysuckle is as always top heavy, I do get flowers, I took a cutting which rooted and I planted, so hopefully I should have another plant further along. 

I potted up my mock orange, for now it is placed here, I was thinking of moving further down the fence to fill out the bare section, this gives lovely white flowers, it's better in a pot as it can get huge. 

 This back fence is slowly filling out, the white rose in the corner has loads of stems, I am trying to fan them out, in hope I can block out the garden behind, with a bonus of being able to have cut roses in the garden.

I am not a fan of plants growing up fences, I know garden designers will always suggest to grow things up to blur your boundaries, I do love to see a tidy fence, we painted ours grey so they become a feature. Along this back section our fence is low, years ago we added the wire top to stop the neighbours cats getting into our garden and fighting with our cats. Now my mission is to have a wall of greenery, with flowers when I can, I can only see a small part from the house, but I am often working in this area, so it pleases me to have the extra good looking space. Our neighbours have a huge shed and do not use their back section.

Our soil level is higher than the garden behind, and they have 3 trees close to our boundary, so it is necessary to have most things in pots, along with a couple potato bags and my leaf mulch bins, it's a full area, wide enough for my water but and compost bins on the other side, my centre path is not huge but it works for me.

Hubby is still working in the garage, he does not require my help, which is OK, I can always find things to do in the garden, I have cut back the daffodil leaves, they were turning yellow, I have also cut back the bluebells, they had gone over, I can see what's growing in my side bed, I am hopeful things will return. My peony is not doing well, plenty of leaves, just two buds, one has opened, the other is distorted and won't grow. I have loads of buds on my climbing rose, the three bushes are still just leaves.

We voted yesterday,  local elections are important, our council has done well, not full of debt, now we wait the results.

New life

My pomegranate is coming back to life, I love the colours of these new leaves, hopefully I may get a few flowers on it this summer, I moved the pot last summer and it does seam happy, no signs of any distress, before I kept it trimmed to a lower height, now I will let it grow, it will make a nice backdrop for the seating area, along with my herbs. This plant I grew from a seed, started back in 2017.

I mixed loads of flower seeds and sprinkled them into these two bags, I used these for cut flowers last year, I also have freesias in here as well, most of the seeds should do well it's a warm sunny spot. This for me is proving a successful way to start seeds, the bags protect them from the worse of the weather and snails.

I removed six lupins seedlings from the above bags, I love to grow them, sadly they never return after their first year, these will be useful to fill gaps. The tray at the bottom of photo I have completely forgot what seeds I have sown, I checked with Lens, it can't make it's mind up, could be forget-me-nots or cornflowers, its a case of wait and see.

I also planted some bulbs, liatris spicata, they have tiny flowers on stalks, I put two packs in the back of my square bed last year and nothing grew, so once these are bigger they can go out.

My hubby purchased a plant for our garden, it was market day on Wednesday, the plant stall is good. I made comment I loved these bottlebrush plants and one would go in my pot, which is in a sunny sheltered spot, I had just popped my astilbe in it, but I can place it elsewhere in the garden. As I was deciding hubby paid the man, I'm happy with my latest addition. 

I have been out most days looking for snails, I know where they hide, catching them early helps my crops, I do have beer traps I can use, for now I search by hand, there are not many weeds, I have them under control for the moment. My cucumber plants is growing well, I have 4 tomato plants, hoping for a good harvest this year and loads of lettuce plants at various stages.

I have also purchased another astrantia, it's a pink flower, I do love these plants, I want to dig out my penstemon, it's too big for the spot, plus last year there were hardly any blooms, I also got 20 french marigold plants from B&Q, my own seeds failed germinate. It's truly naughty to purchase more plants, I have plenty growing in the greenhouse. 

It's been a quiet few days, I have hurt my left shoulder, I've had problems since 2010, when an operation left me with nerve damage and a weakness, all I can do is rest, which is not so bad with the sunshine, I do wish the very cool wind would drop, it's nice to work outside but still cool to sit for too long. Today they have promised the wind will disappear, I have high hopes, I have a few jobs to sort in the square flower bed.

Thank you for your kind comments regarding our garden, whilst I do most of the work these days, it's a space for both of us, our refit back in 2023, was the final stage, ensuring its a much easier after 17 years we have done all the hard work, we know what grows here, I am an organic gardener, I use no chemicals anywhere, watching the wildlife gives us as much pleasure as seeing the blooms. I don't regard anything here as work, I'm happiest with a set of snipps in my hand, either deadheading or keeping things in shape.

My peaceful place

 April is a great month, so much new growth to be seen on all the trees in garden surrounding ours, making a colourful backdrop, our Magnolia is now filling out, I adore this tree, happy we keep it smaller. My red acer had a hug dead spot on the top right had side, I have cut all the dried wood away, it now looks lopped sided, I'm trying to convince hubby it needs a huge trim. 

My fleabane daisies are coming into flower, I have been tucking all the bulb leaves under the new growth, I won't cut them back as they are mainly hidden. My astilbe in the middle is growing back, I have popped the rusty frame around it, it's not really needed, I just love the look. I have 4 aquilegia's along the back, they will show soon.

My square bed is all sorted in the back section, my forsythia is thriving in this new spot and fills the corner, in the other corner I have planted my Chinese witch hazel, it was potbound, a neighbour has hers in the ground and its doing well. I do have space at the front for other plants, this bed again is how I wanted it. I put an astilbe in the big pot, I purchased it as a tiny plant, its now a good size.

My side bed is still full of bulb leaves, I will leave this bed for a few more weeks, I can see loads of plants returning, soon summer plants will dominate, for now I can let the bulbs die back and gain strength for next year. My bunting is years old, it's faded and dirty, I will remove it, I can't decide if I should make another lot to go up, I have had coloured lights here, they never last too long, humm, might look good bare.

There is almost nothing to do in this ornamental front section, it is how we like it, this is going to be a year of enjoying the space together, my greenhouse is full of plants, not sure where I can put them all. I can get dirty finger nails in the veg/fruit section, with the bonus of loads of lovely fruit and veg and of course my greenhouse. I did pop some spring pots under the red acer, something has been digging in them, so I will move them to the back section of the garden, I still have some space there. 

Since one of the huge elderflower trees has shifted in our neighbours garden, ours is now getting more sunshine, it is making a huge difference to the space, in time it will grow back and cast a huge shadow, the others are taller than our own magnolia tree.

Sunday we did nothing, it was another dry sunny day still with a cool breeze, we ate lunch outside, I did water the pots, again they were bone dry, I sat and did cross stitching for a few hours, such a restful day, the little ones played in their own garden so daughter got some relaxing done as well. Monday I did some housework and then outside again, enjoying the lovely weather.

The mornings and evenings are still cooler here, the days full of sunshine is very welcome, it's been a long wet winter, and I am more then ready for summer, even if I have to water often.

Glasshouse

 I've cleared the plastic greenhouse cover away and moved the frame back to use as shelves, this space is busy at this time of year. I need to try and clear all the fallen leaves from the back of the greenhouse, it's along our neighbours fence and a struggle to get to.

My peanuts are growing, I have ten plants so far, which should be enough, they will be grown in two bags and kept here inside the greenhouse, they need a hot sunny space. Molly wanted to start some more, they are shooting, when she next comes here we can start them in compost.

I have loads growing, I snipped the growing tops off my sweet-peas, they are now filling out.

More guara cutting in hope to have loads of the wonderful plants, on lower shelf is fleabane daisies for daughters garden. I have sown some saved french marigold seeds as well.

My daffodils are going over, I have cut the heads off them and have tied some of the smaller bunches, it's important to allow the leaves to die back on the bulb, this process gives the bulb their energy for next year. I have bluebell and camassia buds showing, the colour keeps coming. I shall move some of the pots with bulbs in as they go over, they live behind the garage the rest of the year. 

We have picked the first of our rhubarb, made a crumble with apples, we both enjoyed it, it's always the first harvest of the year, it is an early variety, I have a wire ring around the crown, which I fill with fallen leaves, they protect it through the winter and once broken down nourishes the soil.  

I got some stone (pebble) edging to cover my pond sides, the stones are small and I was worried about the 'glue' used, so I have used them elsewhere, I really do not want to damage the ecology of the pond. 

Days are now dull, the wind is much colder, so the garden seating stays covered, I still check the garden every morning, watching the separated plants growing in their new spots. Hopefully the better weather will return soon. 

Changes

I have put some of my pots on the raised bed, these are all hardy plants, I am waiting to see where gaps are, these are the fillers. I have sown two different lettuce seeds, plus radish and spring onion here at the back, I want this raised bed to be full of salad stuff. I have planted some of my Ranunculi plants, for now in pots, I have more to go into the ground, two of the foxgloves are also in the ground, the rest can stay in pots for a bit longer, I'm always planning for more colour. 

I popped to B&Q for some slate, and looked at reduced plants, as you do (well I do), the saxifrage was reduced to £2 per pot, the white crocus were full price, I just loved them.

My daisy bed looks much nicer with the daffodils and white crocus planted, the crocus are in front of my hyacinths around the central daisy, the saxifrage are in the chimneys. I don't require anymore spring plants here. I'm just waiting for the fleabane daises to regrow. 

Most of my spring bulbs pots have been move to this area, we can see it from the house. I have changed the railings, this one hubby cut down for me, it was at the back of the garden, the red acer now can grow free, before it was getting tangled in the higher railings.

The taller railings are now along this path in front of the greenhouse, I hope it will help keep the huge rhubarb leaves from falling over my path. It feels much cleaner, hubby did a great job of sorting here, the last two arches were cut shorter, hubby has lifted them to the same height, attaching them to the raised bed, only I see this bit. The previous shorter railing can be seen here. 

Every year at Christmas I get hyacinth bulbs for an inside display, I love their scent, once they have died back I have been planting them in the garden, I try and mix colours, now I have a nice display, most are in the daisy bed. This year I still have my white blooms in the greenhouse, I am going to replant them for another show this year inside. 

Moving the railings was on my short list of jobs to do, we had chatted together, hubby was not sure, he is happy to go with my ideas, he now likes this configuration, it was the biggest job for this summer, or maybe not, I get ideas for improvements all the time. I've been outside most days this week and loving it.

I am sorry to all my northern readers, who are itching to get into your gardens, here down south we are a couple weeks ahead, this warm sunny weather is great to get ahead on the garden task and hardy plants, it's still far too early to work with anything tender.

I am keeping my head in the sand over world affairs, I worry about so much, mad men creating war can't be one of them, hopefully Starmer will hold his ground and keep us out of it, we did fill our car with petrol, it was a quarter full, now with a full tank it should last at least 6 weeks. 

I am busy altering costumes for World book day, Molly and George on Thursday at Will on Friday, Will could not get the uniform he wanted, so I'm being creative. 

Undercover

My ranunculi's are filling out I have 18 plants here in the segments, and aquilegia plants I have 4, I split these plants, this is the sunniest side of the greenhouse. 

These are from a split geum plant I removed from my sink, one pot got a bit waterlogged, they are all growing well, and a few extra sweet peas which will not grow so high as the main batch. 

On the lower shelf I have 5 foxgloves, all seeded in wrong places in the garden, I dug them out to grow on, my echinops is growing well, another reduced plant coming back to full strength. My sweet pea seedlings are a bit leggy, they do look good.

10 days ago I was pleased to see shoots on my peanuts, today they are even better, later I will pot them up and put them in the greenhouse under cover to keep them warm, I have the perfect sunny spot for them. All I did was pop them on wet paper towel in this clear box, placed them on a sunny window sill near the radiator.

Some of the above plants will go into bigger pots before planting, I have also potted up, Chocolate Cosmos, gypsophila  and I have two Geum's which were reduced plants, my freesia bulbs are planted in a bag outside, so much promise for this summer. My greenhouse is a bit full, it is also very messy, my tiny plastic greenhouse is still in the middle, soon I will move it back to the side, remove the plastic cover and use it as shelves. I have sown a few flower seeds, I have more to start, I do not require so many bedding plants, in previous years I used loads. I hope to be able to move some of the plants above outside. 

I felt sorry for daughter driving 7 very loud excited boys to their first paintball morning, the day was dry and bright, the sun shone a few times. The woods was not as muddy as we feared, daughter sat and read whilst the company looked after the boys for two hours, they were beyond happy on their return. I had a simpler morning watching Disney for a while with Molly, then painting, we stayed inside, George wanted to stay in his PJ's, which is OK.

Saturday evening and Sunday was at home with hubby, we never do much at weekends, too many people around. Sadly Sunday was wet so we stayed inside, I would have preferred being in the garden, in reality I don't have much to do, just a quick check in the greenhouse. 

Monday was a sunny start, which cheered us both up, I spent the morning cleaning our bedroom and shower room, giving all the glass a good clean, when the sun shines all the smears show, which left the afternoon outside, nothing big to do, its has left me feeling really good. I added a solar air pump to my pond, just a gentle ripple, I also moved a plant, I was overjoyed to see a small newt swimming, finally its a wildlife pond.

Flowers

I am going to plant flowers in a couple of bags to use for cut flowers in the house, I was quite successful last year, so gypsophila would be nice to fill my flowers out, I did try growing it before and failed. This time I have started it in a pot in the greenhouse. Just one packet of seeds purchased from B&M. The packs of freesia came from Poundland cost £2, these I are already in cells in the greenhouse and then once they are growing I can plant them outside.

So my garden is full, BUT in B&Q this week another reduced plant, just £2, I have tried growing echinops before and I failed, these are very different to my normal choice, it's in the greenhouse and will be potted up and when it's a good size it will have a place in the garden. I did leave loads of decent looking reduced plants behind, they had loads of hellebores and grasses.

This spot in front of my blueberry tub is in the back of the garden in the veg section, in front of the greenhouse, I have rhubarb, gooseberry and my strawberry tower in this bed, still room for some flowers, this corner is by my steps and looking very pretty this time of year, with my stone hedgehog (which is over 30 years old) and a broken plant pot for a hedgehog house. I don't touch this bed it has summer plants as well. 

This is the first book in the set including The Marriage Act, whilst set in the future and a bit tongue in cheek, I picked this because it's the start of the changes. Do you have a soulmate? and if so can DNA match you to the person, a scientist cracks the code and it's working, There is always a BUT, again following 5 very different stories. Book 11 read this year.

A new author to me, this is a very clever book, nothing dramatic, it follows an author on hard times, his wife is gone, he can't write, and then he's sent a life line, with consequences which he finds out afterwards, and a utterly brilliant twist, I could not put it down. Book 12 read this year.

I have sorted the sweet pea seedlings into the long root pots, they are now in the greenhouse under cover, last Wednesday we had a sunny day, still cold, inside the greenhouse was 20°, nice and warm, so I got a few jobs done, sorted old pots and packed them away and potted three extra strawberry babies. I have little space inside, I will have to sort more bits, maybe in a couple of weeks, hopefully I will be able to move a few bits outside into a makeshift cold frame. It felt so good to be outside doing what I love.

I got a bag of bark and another of grit from B&Q, the bark is already spread across the daisy garden, I last did it back in 2023, and it needed topping up. I had enough to do the side bed as well, not too deep, just enough to keep it looking good, the square bed had my own leaf mulch put on last October. Our favourite garden centre has good compost on a BOGOF, at that price it's too good to miss, we plant a visit this week.

I spend Sunday with daughter, George and Molly, Will was at grandma's house, we stayed in, Molly read her school reading book to me, George and I read his together, he can read smaller words, and repeats the longer ones, it's as much about speech as it's about reading. Just a lovely family time, daughter was able to have a long shower and take her time with her hair, I have a sewing job, Molly got her 1st level swimming badge, I will pop it on her swimming robe for all to see. 

Has anyone had contact with Northside Dave, just wondering how he is doing?

Weekend

 I stuck with this book written by a new author to me, it was not the best of reads, set in Edinburgh, the police is using a profiler with extra abilities, some of which was strange, I liked the twist in the plot, which sadly took too long to arrive. Book 7 read this year.

Another author I like, this is a very different plot, after drowning and resuscitation his life changes forever, it's a tale of how he tries to understand what is happening to him, with startling outcomes, his story ending was good, what followed was also good, but the final chapters was strange, it did leave an opening. Book 8 read this year.

I did plant my half price hellebore in the corner by my back flower bed, I think it will look good here, it has white blooms, so it should blend in with the fleabane daisies. Placing it under the Magnolia will give it shade when required, it has plenty of room to grow, I have a good collection of hellebores in this area. The overnight rain washed all the mud from the surrounding slate, it looks as if it's been here for ages. In a perfect scenario we had rain overnight and dry days.

Friday and Saturday were both sunny days, the swirling weather front sitting over Cornwall did not extend to our area, it was cold and breezy, lovely to see blue skies, my greenhouse has been getting warm inside, the seeds and plants are all doing well. I do not heat my greenhouse, I reset this thermometer midweek, so Friday it reached 31° at it's highest and 0° at it's lowest, 12.4° was at 10.00am Saturday, so still warm inside. 

Molly helped me start my sweet-peas on Sunday, she popped her shoes on ready to go to the greenhouse, she was very surprised when I asked her to get the stool to work in our kitchen. I confused her using paper towel and water in a clear tub, she follows instructions very well, I promised I would send photos once the seeds start to grow. Molly also brought her school reading book, she sounded out her words and read her book, she was rightly very pleased with herself.

Friday night we had party food for tea and to nibble with wine whilst watching the final of the traitors, just to make the whole evening a bit more fun, just the two of us. We have loved watching this season, all the changes to keep it fresh, the usual calling at the TV, because we know and can see them misleading each other, I am glad Stephen stayed true to their pact, it was good viewing, he could easily have taken the whole winning prize amount, but deciding to share. Saturday after a day at home, we had homemade pizza for tea, when shopping for the party nibbles we found toppings at a great price, saved ordering a takeaway.

We had our lovely family over for Sunday lunch, whilst shopping in our village we got a larger turkey crown on sale, enough for a family roast dinner, a pie for us, and cold turkey for sandwiches, which I love, the children love chicken and turkey, so we knew it would be a meal they would all want to eat. Hubby made loads of small marmalade cakes, Molly had asked for them, some ate here and some taken home. George gave me a huge cuddle and stayed close all day, I've missed them in the last couple of weeks, they were busy last weekend so we did not see them. I get video calls most evenings with George and Molly,  I love to listen to their chatter, George is getting better with his conversation.  

Getting ready

Hubby needed to pop to B&Q this week, so I had a look at their plants, I always look at the reduced section, these plants were half price, I paid £6 for the hellebore and £2 each for the geums, I always look closely to see if there is new growth, a good indicator the plant is not dead. The geums are inside my greenhouse to let them dry out, they both will go into my side bed, I have a lovely spot for the hellebore once the rain stops. 

My main purchase was seed potatoes, these bags are much smaller than bags sold at our local garden centre, perfect size for just the two of us, the first early are already in an old egg carton tray on the kitchen window sill. I will grow these in bags again, three potatoes in each bag. 

The second necessary purchase was John Innes potting compost, this will be required soon, seedlings and seeds will be started in a few weeks. Whilst I was there I got two boxes of fertilizer, both natural products, which I have used before with great results. 

Soon I will dig out both my composters and hopefully have two bags of compost, enough to see me through to the summer, in previous years I have purchased different compost and mix them, I am confident my compost will be good quality and give my plants a great start. I could sift my own compost for seedlings, but in truth I can't be bothered, maybe next year. 

Most of my flowering plants in the greenhouse are doing well, I have now only 2 guara plants, I have 3 in the garden, I will have less gaps this year. I also have a bucket of carrots which are growing well, would be nice to have an early crop.

We had intended to pop to our favourite garden centre, but decided it wasn't necessary, the café has lovely cakes but is expensive, so we came home and enjoyed hubby's homecooked brownies. Everything above was much cheaper than from any garden centre, often the reduced plants are over watered or just finishing their growing cycle for the season, the shelves were full of different plants, most can be revived. 

Note to myself, the garden is full, no more new bigger plants, will I listen to my own advice, probably not.

Outside

 The pond area is looking good, the grasses work well, I love the tiny cyclamen infront, I can't see this from the house, my cider pot blocks the view. It's always lovely to pop here, there are primroses and hellebores in flower in the fruit bed, pretty pops of colour.

Whilst I was cutting back the old hellebore leaves to let the buds show, I found another almost black flowering hellebore, so I have two plants which is pleasing, I think I moved the parent plant to my square garden from the black pot. I do have two other pink plants, which the shoots are a bit later.

When we were in Lidl's last week, I picked up this trio of hyacinths, I did not get any bulbs last autumn, I'm using my hand painted pot, after they have bloomed I will pop them in the garden.

A couple of weeks ago, I cut back my gaura plant with white blooms, I popped 4 bits into water, so I'm pleased to see roots on two bits, I have read these plants don't live for years, so I will regularly take cuttings.

Friday was wet, all day, just steady rain, we did not go anywhere, Saturday was blue skies and bright, so I had an hour in the garden, I tied my broad bean plants higher up their stakes, I cut a small cauliflower and thinned some smaller carrots for lunch today. I cut a scrappy cabbage for our neighbours chickens and I raked the paths between my raised veg beds, I have a special plastic rake which makes the job so easy. Next I went in my greenhouse, which was nice and warm, checked my plants, re-potted a couple which were out growing their pots. It was warm inside, so I lingered long than necessary, soon I will start my sweet peas and other seeds, the new growing season is starting. The ground is still frozen so I can only sort stuff for the greenhouse. 

We have nothing planned for today, we are expecting rain all day, it does feel slightly warmer this morning. I am still reading, this time from my kindle, and I have started knitting another pair of socks, I prefer it when my hands are busy.

In a dip

 As part of my Christmas gift daughter got me a plant, I chose this white hellebore, daughter told me to plant it now, so its here under the acer in the slate, I think it will stand out more here and be in shade in summer.

The spring pots have loads of shoots, its always the same at this time of year, I'm not worried, they will die back and reappear next year in the correct season.

I've started reading this book it is truly funny, just loads of his stories, he is a clever comedian, he takes what we know and expands on it, life growing up in the slum's of Glasgow created this fine mind, even today he can hold a audience, pure genius.

I have loads to read, I've not read much this month, my last book I abandoned, just too boring, I also have a couple on my Kindle including Rob Rinders 3rd novel, so plenty of relaxing ahead.  

My brother is safely back at his home, its almost a 3 hour journey, he did say its probably his last visit here, he is two years older than me, apparently its up to us to visit him and wider family from now on, my sister is unable to travel, she hardly ever leaves her home, hubby is 76 and oldest driver. I adore my brother and having him stay, sadly his attitude has slipped so much, he often says he just doesn't care.

I'm feeling flat, the spare room is clean and ready for our next visitor, probably Will on a sleepover before going back school. I expect after a few days with hubby I will bounce back, the children are very excited, which cheers me up. We have very little to do, just last minute perishable foods for the fridge, just the two of us from Boxing day, so not huge amounts.

Thank you for your recent comments, Will is tall, almost as tall as me, he has shot up this summer, he is very caring towards George, sadly he and Molly are often arguing, nothing huge, they just are not good at sharing the same space, Molly is still too young to understand her older brothers needs, so the photo is special.