All change in the garden

Hot on the heels of the last garden related entry comes another. Everything has changed and not all for the better. Our lovely landlord has finally come through with the new deck for the back garden and a new back step to replace the pile of unstable bricks we've been using for the last yearcd=[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[d] (that was max's contribution to the blog!). They're busy assembling it right now as I sit under the trees and type.


Speaking of trees, they've had rather a severe haircut this week and are now looking very sorry for themselves. The big bully tree is about a third of its height, the cherry has been thinned, the conifers in the front have lost about a foot of height and one even got the chop entirely! The garden is much lighter now and unfortunately alot windier too. I say unfortunately because the wind no longer breaks against the trees and instead slams against the garage and the new greenhouse. It fell over :-( Despite pegs and rope to hold it together the wind picked it up and threw it down causing plant damage in the process. The entire late salad crop was tipped out and ruined, the tomataoes got a bit broken and the rocket was tossed about like it was in a salad but wasn't. Not a good day all in all. The greenhouse is now standing up again and it's been lashed to the ground with big ropes and pegs, whether it lasts the winter remains to be seen but I have my doubts - it is bloody windy here at times.

Despite the upsets and the haircuts the garden is looking quite good although Max has enjoyed jumping through the netting around the vegtables and then, when caught, running full tilt into the sides and knocking himself senseless! So funny to watch until you realise that the leeks and the cabbage are taking the brunt of the panic. The netting has now been made Max-proof and hopefully everything will recover.

Ah well, we're apple hunting tomorrow or rather going to bang on the doors of people who have trees but are obviously doing nothing with their apples to ask if they would mind if we helped ourselves. Hopefully they'll say yes, and we (our neighbour Carol and I) will be swimming in apples by the end of the weekend. The freezer is going to be bulging with a bit of luck!