Poor Neglected Blog!

Yes, this seems to have become a poor neglected blog of late and you can blame it all on the garden, as I've been out there whenever the opportunity has arisen, often only coming back inside when it's got too dark to see what I'm doing. Of course, that means that there's been a minimum of stitching progress.... and without much stitching progress to show you all there didn't seem much point in blogging.

There has been a little progress on the tiger since my last post though, so I thought I'd pop in to share that:

He's looking like the master of all he surveys now, isn't he? There's still a fair bit to go, as there's his neck area to stitch in, as well as a fancy border down the left side. Unfortunately the stitching mojo has decided to get the hump because the gardening mojo has taken over the evenings, so even when it was raining and I was stuck inside a couple of evenings last week the needles stayed in the case and I had to go find something else to do. Annoying that, ain't it? LOL

Still, the garden is slowly starting to take shape... or, rather, parts of it are. ;0) DH and I spent a little time figuring out what size of greenhouse we would like and doing some measuring out, to get an idea of how much of the garden it would take up. The sticks are placed where the corners of the various sizes would end up being:

We finally decided on a 6'3 x 6'4 layout. The roof will be aligned to face the same way as the workshop, with the door facing the back of the workshop, where we'll be laying a few slabs first to make a small path. So it will be the back of the workshop, then some slabs laid to make the path (about as wide as the slab that the smaller green strawberry pot is on), then the greenhouse. So that means the existing path at the back of the workshop (you can just see it beyond the grass) has to come up and a few things had to be moved. 

So, one evening, DH and I moved the large strawberry pot and the slab it's on to a new spot on the opposite side of the garden and moved the composter and all of its contents into a new home too:

The pipes show the final choice for the position of the greenhouse and that dictated where the composter had to go. All that area has to be weeded, rotavated and flattened. That should, hopefully, get done this coming Saturday (26th). There's a four week wait for delivery, so we will hopefully order it on the Sunday... then we're on our holiday for two weeks, so there should only be another week to wait after that. Perfect timing. :0)

Can you see just how tidy the garden looks to the left of the composter? Well, that's all down to little ole me. During the latter half of last week I felt the need to really connect with Mother Earth, so decided it was time to tackle the weeding in that bed.... and the fact that I've managed to put on half a stone in weight since my operation and want it back off again was an added incentive because while I'm out in the garden I'm not tempted to eat and it's giving me some exercise! LOL I opted for the old fashioned way of working: a hand trowel, a pair of gloves and a plastic seat to sit on, to avoid the worst of the bending, with regular forays to the recycling bin to empty the weed bucket and forays up the garden to empty the stone bucket into the gaps between the path to the workshop. Starting at the end nearest the house I gradually worked my way along, with the aim being to eventually reach the composter, taking out all the weeds and as many stones as I could along the way. I realised if I thought about just how long that piece of garden is it would get really daunting.... so I concentrated on the little patch of earth in front of me at all times and ignored the rest, only stopping when my back told me it needed a rest or when it just got too dark to see. I reached the composter by Saturday tea time and here's what it looked like when I'd done:

Just a few plants got left in, along with the bluebell and tulip bulbs that will hopefully flower again next Spring. The plant in the old tub is waiting expectantly to go back in the bed somewhere.

It was a good end to the week, as it didn't start off too good, as my DH was unwell and had to have three days off work. The first day and a half he spent in bed, gradually picking up as he was able to eat light meals on Tuesday (more exercise, as I was up and down those stairs so often I started to feel like a flippin' yo-yo! LOL)... so it was a relief when he came down on Tuesday afternoon and for all day Wednesday. He went back to work on Thursday. He's feeling much better now. :0)

As he was feeling OK and in the mood for helping out we went back out into the garden tonight (Monday 21st - Litha/Summer Solstice) and he planted out the plant in the tub (you guessed it... I've absolutely no idea what it is! LOL) and two shrubs that my Dad gave us before he passed away. They were being very patient too. ;0) One is a Hebe and the other... well, that's another one that remains nameless. So here's what it looks like now:

My neighbour, Garden Pete, is going to get me some well rotted horse manure and that should also be getting dug in on Saturday, ready to improve the bed for the fruit trees going in this Autumn. Oh, and that old washing line is there for me to tweak, until I get the right curvy look for the edge of the bed. :0)

We had a trip to my DSis's on Sunday. A lovely day, catching up on gossip, indulging in some retail therapy and doing some jobs for her. She now has a flat screen monitor for her computer (no internet connection yet though) and a whole lot less stuff in her loft. Boy, was our Dad a hoarder! LOL Some items were only fit for the bin but I've brought several things back with me and put them up on Freegle, so someone can have the benefit of them. Unfortunately we arrived back home on Sunday night to the news that FIL is in hospital at the moment, undergoing tests. He's 86 so it's a bit of a worry, though I am staying calm in an effort to keep DH calm. Getting him into the garden tonight was a good distraction. Hopefully the results from the tests and today's (Tuesday) biopsy will be back so MIL will be able to tell us more when we phone her tonight. Fingers crossed it's good news.

And to end on a better note, I thought I'd share another pic from my garden. Remeber the new metal scrollwork planter I got for the back wall? Well this is what it looks like now everything is a little better established:

I think they're happy in their new home, don't you? LOL

Hope you're all having and enjoying the same lovely weather we're having in my neck of the woods. Thank you for visiting. :0)