Finally, OUTDOORS!

After the persistent, torrential rain of last week while all the Cleland/Woods/MacBrides were in town, this week, we welcomed bright sunshine and warmer temperatures. It was so good that I even cleaned up William's water table and it was used for the first time this year. Still loves it. We have also started eating out in the garden again and William and I even had a picnic at Idron park on Friday morning. He's getting so big now; taking up much more room in those wee swings, and taking on the climbing frame with increasing confidence. 

On Saturday, William and I headed to Parc Animaller with Nat and the Hayman kids. William had an absolute ball, running mad with Sophie, Taylor and Charlie. Nat and I were going hard to keep up with them! 

 It can only be classed as a decent trip to the zoo if you get ice-cream at the end! 

The good weather this week has also brought Iain and me back out into the garden. On Friday, I spent the afternoon tidying up the flower bed in the back garden. I'm gutted that I didn't take any before shots as I actually put in some decent workload to get it up to this standard. I pulled out the dead rose/hydrangea(?) bush, rearranged the ferns and replanted a hydrangea that had been round the front of the house. I also reset the stones that had fallen over, thus creating a tidy, smart space. 

Iain's job on Sunday required a lot more physical effort. I asked him to dig out a tree root that had been left between the paving stones in the back garden. It took him all of forty minutes so, buoyed by his success, he decided to dig out the much bigger root that was awkwardly sitting midway along the back wall. Thirty minutes in, it became pretty clear that this was going to be a much bigger undertaking! 

Four hours later and equipped with a €20 spade and what was essentially a bread knife, he got a large stump of it out and the remainder was easily re-covered with soil. What a job! Now I'm very excited about being able to properly dig out a border along the back wall and plant proper things in it. Watch this space. 

LM :)