Last day of the visit...

so everything needs to be done for one more time. 

One last train journey

One last check on the lupins

One last game of pooh-boats (like pooh-sticks but with boats)

One last chance to beat tractor-grandad at footie

The visit has certainly worn out some of them!

Highlights of a lovely visit.

Some work is getting done....

Bella was working (honestly) but she stopped working to take the photos.

This is the new awning for the caravan. 

A busy day.

Out with the gang to a charity morning. 

Then trains and tractors. 

Then stories at bedtime. 

Look who's here!

A day in waders.

Dry today so out with the waders and into the pond and ditches leading to a well earned rest. 

Not the day we were promised! Send it back!

I was looking forward to another dry day to get the pond and waterways done. But it was wet. So in the gaps I did some pressure washing of the greenhouse etc and also the groundsheets. 

Today.....

Moving a fruit tree to replace a deceased / diseased one. 

Providing a support for the sagging swinging ( not ringing ) tree. 

Celandines are bursting out all over. 

Last year I split the rhubarb plant and shoved a bit down by the stream. It is thriving, doing much better than the one in the rhubarb bed. 

And the marsh marigolds have started too. 

Cleaning up the pond proved that there are plenty of baby goldfish still in there. And toad spawn as well as tadpoles. 

And talking of Plenty, I am sure Judith will be delighted to see that the lupins are doing extremely well. Again. 

In the greenhouse

A wet day so in the greenhouse and the polytunnel. 

Sowing seeds and tidying up the cuttings. 

Back to the hard slog......

Not really. After a week away in Cumbria it is back to play. A damp day. So fiddling about in the garden, watering the polytunnel and other odd jobs. 

Then back to the electrics on the layout. This is the control panel...

This is the wiring!

Steph and Sean are here...

Guess who's coming to breakfast?

He/she is back ( we are not sure about the sex now, but pretty certain it is a juvenile)

A half day as we have visitors after lunch.

Just time to admire the compost, top up the rhubarb beds and add the name to Tessa's chair. 

The first cut is the deepest.

(Baby, I know....etc.etc.)

The sun is shining so a good day to cut the grass for the first time. We have visitors this week so need the place to look good!

Also some more weeding...

The frog spawn is coming on nicely, should be wriggling by the time the next grandchildren come. 

Tessa's chair is getting its top coat; the colour is called pebble and is a more subtle purple, which doesn't show well in this picture. 

Breakfast was interrupted by the sparrow hawk landing on the wooden fence just outside the window, then hiding in the purple sage to pounce on any unsuspecting birds. 

She later settled in the apple tree. 

Wet!

Today it rained. Luckily I had some web site updates to deal with so I wasn't bored. Yesterday was better and all the frogs came out to sunbathe in the pool. 

Where's my dinner?

Neville and Liz come down with bags of sugar beet to supplement the grass for the sheep. So now if you go near them they rush up to you begging for food. Nice.

I had an enjoyable evening at the Model Railway Club. When I arrived I saw the two men I had already met and vaguely recognised another face. It took a few moments to discover that it was our neighbour Roger, who we don't see often. It turns out that people called Roger are always interested in trains. Progress on the layout - two trains running at the same time. 

http://youtu.be/YPamzG2PlMo