Dream a little dream...

I have been keeping Stephen in stiches for the past few days when I wake and tell him about my weird and wacky dreams. There have been bizarre ones this week...the first (that I can remember bits of) was about going with friends to view a house which was on the market. It was a huge manor house and very run down. The ground floor was a bit grubby, but upstairs there were mushrooms growing on the walls and...wait for it...monkeys running around. Yes. I said monkeys!! I can see that this dream might be about moving back, and maybe wanting to make some changes to the house...but the monkeys??

The night after I dreamt that I was in a house somewhere and had to make lots of things out of wood and canvas, then I had to go somewhere else to see someone and was told to use the transporter (a bit like Harry Potter and the flue system!), then I was told I couldn't use it and had to get a taxi. I went out and flagged down a cab, which proceeded to drive through the drive-through Whole Foods supermarket - right through the middle of the aisles. (Will that idea take off I wonder?) At that point the alarm went off, so I could remember enough to recount it to a hysterical hubby.

I think Stephen is preparing the straitjacket for me....

Lactating latte

One of my office-mates caught up with me as I was heading back down from the canteen with my coffee and commented that I looked like I was carrying the Olympic Torch. I explained I was holding it out and to the side as I had spilt some down my leg the day before. What I didn't mention was that I had also spilt some down my top...it wasn't a lot of coffee but it was where it landed that was a tad embarrassing. I looked like I had "leaked"! I had to spend the entire afternoon with my jacket on (and the office was boiling) as, even with the application of Tide pen, there was a visible mark when it dried. I will never be chic and elegant!!

Ever the lawyer, he made a joke (I think!) about suing the canteen and we talked about the woman who sued MaccyD's. Apparently she lost on appeal as it was deemed to be...well, not very sensible...to drive with a container of scalding coffee clamped between your thighs. I explained that it wouldn't be proper driving in America if you didn't have a coffee between your thighs and were texting on your phone with one hand whilst applying your make up with the other!!

Fast tracked through customs

Our ground freight arrived in the UK on Saturday - right on schedule! We were told that it would take 5 - 7 working days for it to clear customs before it could be delivered to us. So can you imagine my surprise when I got a call from the girl at the relocation company at 11am this morning saying that the shipment had been cleared by customs?! ALREADY?? A half a day is not 5 days!! This was a whole week ahead of schedule...and meant that we had to have a mild panic and then move a lot faster to move Mum's furniture into storage than we had been. Mum's stuff is being picked up on Thursday and our stuff is being delivered on Friday. Hopefully there will be no snarl ups or I'll be needing PG therapy by the end of the week!!!!

T.I.M.B.E.R.......

I've spent a lot of time in the garden today. I have savagely pruned a couple of the shrubs most requiring attention. Both had seriously outgrown their space and were swamping the things around them. Both are looking considerably better now they've had a short, back and sides! There are a few more things requiring a haircut, but my shoulders and arms are aching from wielding the loppers...so more tomorrow if the weather holds.

Some bits of the garden are looking picture perfect. At long last the peony has come into its own. They are notorious for taking years to settle in when planted, and true to form I've only ever had one or two flowers per year. Until now. This year it is absolutely covered in beautiful flowers.

Briggs and Briggs Tree Surgeons came round this afternoon to help us cut down a eucalyptus tree which had got too tall and was upsetting a neighbour. It quickly turned into Briggs and Spark Tree Surgeons as Julie and I went off to have a wander round the garden whilst Andy and Stephen actually did the work. There is something quite satisfying about watching other people work...and they did a very excellent job. No expensive plants were squashed, the fence panel is still intact and there were no trips to A&E!

They were doing such a fabulous job that Julie, Louise and I felt able to quit supervising them and pop back to their garden to dig up some geraniums for my garden. I returned the favour by offering up my red hot pokers. This plant sharing business could be a great idea!

The peony in bloom.

The Bleeding Hearts are also looking lovely

Before...the tree to come out

Andy hard at work - lopping off branches

T.I.M.B.E.R.... down it comes!

Sawing it up into managable sections

Two men working in harmony

A job well done! Andy after his exertions - taken by Louise

Didn't we have a lov-er-ly time the day we went to Evesham...

I had a lovely day on Friday. I took a day off work and Julie and I headed off to go plant shopping. Julie knew about a nursery near Evesham and we both had our shopping lists prepared. We stopped off en-route at Morrisons for a coffee. What a palarver! Would you believe that they had run out of cups? We had to wait quite a while whilst they washed them. The queue of hungry builders behind us was getting pretty long...

The nursery was great! We stopped in by the office on the way in and said "Hello, we're here" to the monosyllabic man behind the counter, then grabbed a basket each and went in search of the items on the list. There were about 6 polytunnels to look around and there wasn't much of a clue as to what was in each one. It was good fun searching through the ranks of pots for the correct 'flavour' of plant. Thankfully they were really well labelled. I was doing really well finding plants from Julies list, but not so well finding ones from mine!! When we had quartered the polytunnels and found all we could we headed back to the office to ask for help from monosyllabic man. Several of my choices were sold out, but he found a few of the things we were looking for and dashed off to get them for us. I asked him for a suggestion for something tall, white flowered and smelly as a substitute for the items that were sold out and he dashed off to get that too.

Julie was loading her plants into the boot when he was counting up my purchases. He explained that one of my irises was 3 quid because it had been sitting for 6 years in the mail order section. I laughed and said I was obviously drawn to it as it needed to be taken away and given a change of scene and a lovely new home. From that point on Mr Monosyllabic became Mr Garrulous!! He was chatting away like he hadn't spoken in years (perhaps he hadn't!) and even offered to carry my tray of plants out to the car! So I (or it could maybe have been the Twins) made a new friend!

We stopped in at Evesham Country Park as well. It has a nice collection of shops and a garden centre. Garden Centres here are no longer so much about plants and doing the garden - more about gift centres and outdoor living. Saying that, it was a really nice selection of things for the home...and we managed to pick up a few more plants at reasonable prices too. We had a nice lunch when we were there too - us as the coach loads of pensioners there for the lunchtime OAP special!

Speed it up people!

Stephen has been recounting to me people's reaction when he tells them he is having trouble getting used to the pace of life over here. It seems the reaction is usually "Oh, so the pace of life is much faster over here then?" Erm. No!

We have a car!!!!

We have finally got our mitts on our new car! We have jumped through all the necessary hoops, found all the necessary bits of paper and gone through the handover process at the dealership. The salesman was probably driven to distraction today. He needed Stephen to phone to arrange the insurance, but Stephen was being elusive and then ran out of time. So I had to step in and make the calls - just as well my desk phone in work was finally connected today! When we got to the dealership Stephen chose that moment to forget about being in the UK and tried to turn into the forecourt on the right - into the path of the car trying to exit. Thankfully we all stopped with loads of space, but I did have a little shriek at Stephen! We then had to sign all the paperwork, before the very patient salesman (it HAS taken weeks to shift this car off the forecourt) could take me through all the features (automatic wipers and lights and things - v. swish!) and I could, very gingerly, drive off.

'Wow, the brakes are quite bitey' was my first thought as I gently touched them and then peeled my face off the windshield. My thought from then onward was basically "drive on the left...drive on the left...oh this is nice...drive on the left...drive on the left...f'ing cyclists...drive on the left...oopsie bit fast...drive on the left...drive on the left...".

This is where we should unveil the new car with a leggy lovely draped across the hood...but in the absence of a leggy lovely you'll have to make do with me!

Here it is - our Audi A3
For you petrolheads I should give you some technical details...
it has 4 wheels, a steering wheel and and no clutch pedal.

Snoozy evenings

Having been out almost every night for the past two years, we have done a complete about turn in our habits and have barely been out of an evening since we got back. I think we're beginning to get a little stir crazy...but we've both been so tired in the evening that once we've finished dinner we're either flopping for a couple of hours then going to bed, or sorting out return to UK stuff, flopping for a bit, then going to bed. And bed may be part of the problem as to why we're so tired...

No, no, no...nothing like that! Its because we're sleeping in the spare room, in our spare bed...which has to be the uncomfiest bed I've slept on in a while! We both wake up in the morning and have to work out the stiff neck and sore back whilst complaining to one another about how we've (not) slept. I am definitely going to buy a new mattress for it! I'm SO looking forward to getting our own bed back in a few weeks!!

When we're flopping in the evening its not to enjoy the quality TV programming! My God what has happened? I flicked through the channels on Freeview the other night and thought I'd gone back in time 10 or 15 years! Monarch of the Glen, Ballykissangel and Auf Wiedersehen Pet....and we thought US TV was bad!

A dash about Cheltenham

Okay. Its time to admit it. "Hi. My name is Kerry and I'm a caffeine addict". By about 12 today I was in a real stinky mood. I felt tired and soooo grumpy. A few mouthfuls of latte later and I was feeling quite delightful - about a million times better than I had a few minutes before! I think I'm going to buy a machine for home so I can throw a quick espresso shot down my neck in the morning before work. Probably safer for those in the office with me...because if I am in a really grumpy mood there is no way I will be able to ignore the really LOUD typing from two of my office mates! As it is, even when I've had soothing tea and am really quite relaxed, I have cartoon-like fantasies about taking a giant mallet to their fingers and/or keyboard! It is enough to drive you to distraction when they're both thumping away. I was joking with someone the other day that perhaps they're not using e-mail to communicate, they're actually signalling in Morse Code using their keyboards.

We popped down to Cheltenham for a little while today - in between the end of the Grand Prix and the start of the football. After coffee (essential!) I had a bit of a wander round the shops. Got a really nice jacket in TKMaxx, but didn't have time to wander into too many more shops as we were under time pressure to get back and we had to pop into a grocery store to get food for dinner. I now own another 2 bags for life....

There are a few things here that are taking a bit of getting used to. Obviously having to provide your own carrier bags in shops is one major thing! Having to pack your own groceries is another (but apparently Somerfield pack for you!). Also, stores here close really early on Sunday's. If you've not thought about grocery shopping by 4:00 then you're having take-out!

How very fascinating

Despite being awake (if only just) at 6:30 this morning, it took us a long time to get out the door this morning. It was pretty much afternoon by the time we got in the car...we'd wasted loads of time watching the grand prix qualifying and then Saturday Kitchen. I am going to ban TV in the mornings!

We were heading for Cheltenham, but got as far as the New Bridge across the Severn, took one look at the queue of traffic and did a birlie round the roundabout and went to Worcester instead. It was the first time I'd paid more than a fleeting visit to our local city since we got back. It hasn't changed a great deal! We had a quick look in a couple of furniture shops as I'm looking for some new side tables, then we split up...Stephen went to the guitar and hi-fi shops and I went looking for an outfit for Eve's wedding.

With only about 6 or so weeks to go I felt that I couldn't really afford to waste any time, as wedding outfit shopping is usually a severe trauma! And my mammoth trying on session in the first shop bore that out. I was trying on summer dresses and that patterned and floaty vibe is SO not me. I think they look fab on tall, willowy people and I am certainly neither of those! I was feeling pretty down when I hit the second shop, and wouldn't you know it - I found a lovely tailored dress. Okay, its black so perhaps not the most weddingy colour, but with the cream jacket I bought recently it looks pretty okay. I bought a fascinator too...so the only dilemma is whether to fascinate or not. Stephen did struggle to keep a straight face when I showed him the little froufrou creation perched atop my head!

I made a Thai red curry for dinner. Probably the first thing I've cooked from scratch that was more complicated than a bacon butty since I've been home. It had butternut squash in it, and I'm lucky still to have all my digits after trying to cut it up and peel it with the collection of fairly blunt knives in the kitchen! Is there a way to deal with peeling these things that doesn't put you in severe danger? The curry tasted fab! Stephen was lapping it up despite his reservations about the squash and coconut milk. Perhaps I've not lost all my culinary skills...

Where am I?

We had a really delicious meal last night. We had tried to get into Ask, but after standing for 5 minutes being ignored a server told us it would be about 40 minutes for a table as we hadn't booked. The place was busy, but there were empty tables which I have to presume were for people who were more organised than us.

We toyed with the idea of going to the Anupam, but we've had a lot of Indian food recently, so we went into The Fig Tree which must be quite new, and has taken over one of the cafes off Church Street. It has been transformed into a really lovely space and the food was absolutely wonderful. It was some of the best food I've had in a restaurant in a while. We'll definitely be going back soon!

I was obviously tired and confused this morning. Stephen had woken up and was checking the time.
"What time is it?" I sleepily mumbled.
"6:30". He then proceeded to get out of bed.
"Where are you going? Are you gong to the football? I thought Rangers played tomorrow"
There was something of a pause before he asked "What are you talking about?"
"Are-you-going-to-the-football?"

Where else would he be going at 6:30am on a Saturday morning in Alexandria? At this point my bleary befuddled brain began to pull itself out of the depths of sleep it was still settled in....helped along by Stephen's sniggering. Okay, so we're not in Old Town, we're not in the US, we ARE in the UK and the football doesn't start at 6:30 in the morning. Its obviously taking me longer than I imagined to get my brain round being home!

You ARE kidding me...

I had a call from a very nice lady from BT's call centre this morning to confirm my order, and to tell me that there was a good chance that I wouldn't be able to keep my phone number. WHAT THE %$&@?? WHY is this so difficult?? We've told them that Mum won't be taking the number. We've told them that it was my number before. We've told them that we didn't have this problem when we did this 2 years ago. I feel like I'm living in some slightly mad parallel universe where people are determined to make life as complicated as possible!

Are you kidding me??

I do not believe this. After days and weeks of pain setting up utilities in the US as a non-American you would think that it would be simple for me - a bona fide Brit - to set up/reclaim control of utilities on my own home in my own country wouldn't you? Well, on the whole it was actually pretty straightforward as long as Mum and I both spoke to them and confirmed what was happening. Until we tried to change the phone.... then it got bad. REALLY bad!

Mum got through to someone who wasn't really sure what she was doing, and who (when passed to me) told me I had two options - I could take over the line which would entail being without a phone for 11 working days, or I could disconnect Mum and reconnect me, but this would mean being without a line for 2-3 working days. As we didn't want to be without a phone line for ANY length of time, and hadn't had to go without a phone line when we transferred it from me to Mum 2 years ago I carefully questioned her, then asked to be put through to customer service (which she said was her last resort). After a couple of minutes of listening to the automated voice apologising for keeping me waiting I got a person, who told me that what I wanted to do was perfectly reasonable but not his department. He put me through to someone else. Who put me through to someone else. Who put me through to someone else. After 40 minutes of being passed about from department to department (via Mumbai twice) I finally got someone who gave me a number to call and told me what option to press on the automated menu.

It turned out to be the same number that I had spent 40 minutes dialled into. And the options turned out to be totally different from what I had been told, but I was rolling with the punches by this point. I had difficulty in controlling myself when I finally got through...to the department I had originally spoken to, and to which I had been passed at least twice since then!! The urge to break into hysterical laughter was overwhelming! Fortunately the woman I spoke to this time knew what she was doing and I was able to take over the service - which will take 11 working days - but which does not involve a break in service and certainly not a break of 11 days!!!!

The reason I had to go through all the pain tonight? We found out when trying to sort out our car finance that we don't exist on the system as we're not paying for any utilities. After 2 years out of the country we seem to be suffering from our perennial US problem - we don't have a credit rating!!

Our air freight has arrived

Woohoo! The air freight has arrived this morning. I have a few more clothes now!! Only about another 4 pairs of shoes though as I had to take most of them out in order to make space for the essentials in life - Stephen's golf clubs.

It's only another few weeks before I'm reunited with the other few (hundred) pairs of shoes and the rest of my (more non-essential) clothes. I just hope we don't have a snow storm or a black tie event before it arrives!

WooHoo - Starbucks! Oh, and a trip to Hereford

We drove 15 miles to Hereford this afternoon in order to get our first Starbucks fix in 14 days. It was FANTASTIC! Its kind of a long way to go for a coffee though...

Enjoying his Americano fix

Whilst we were in Hereford we did a little trawl round the shops. This was the first time I've hit the High Street since my return to the UK and I was a little shocked at the number of shops that had closed down. The recession is obviously biting hard. I did a little recessionista shopping in TK Maxx, but didn't see anything stunning for my wardrobe...I did get a Buddha sculpture for the back garden though.

It would seem that the UK is trying to save the planet one carrier bag at a time. In an effort to reduce the number of plastic bags going to landfill shops are now charging 1p for "bags for life" which you are supposed to take with you when you shop and re-use until they fall apart (at which point the shop will replace them). Of course, I have not yet remembered to take them when I've gone to do any kind of shopping! It's a habit I have yet to form. Its bad enough remembering that you have to pack your own groceries here without having to remember the bags too! Annoyingly, having bought one in TK Maxx I had to buy another in WH Smiths as the Buddha head took up all the space and I couldn't squeeze the books in. D'oh!

We also rectified the cultural oversight of the past 15 years and went to Hereford Cathedral to see the Mappa Mundi. It is a Medieval map showing how 13th century scholars interpreted the world in spiritual and geographical terms. Jerusalem is at the centre of the map and the Garden of Eden is at the top. The Cathedral is pretty impressive and dates back to Norman times. It was begun in 1079, when work began to replace the cathedral that had previously stood there for around 200 years but had been razed by the Welsh in the 1050's. Okay, that's the history lesson over! It's enough to say that it was exceedingly impressive and very old...

The black and white house in the middle of the high street which dates back to 1620.


The front of Hereford Cathedral

The back bit of the Cathedral

The rear of the Cathedral and the Cloisters

Sudeley Castle

We are very determined that, after 2 years of doing a lot of "stuff" at weekends, we are not going to fall back into the old ways...get up, have a bacon sandwich and read the papers, do the so duku, go to Worcester, have a coffee, do some light shopping, buy a DVD, come home, open a bottle of wine, watch the DVD.... So in the spirit of investigating the bits of the countryside that we'd failed to visit in the 13 years of living here before, we headed off to Sudeley Castle yesterday.


Of course, we did have breakfast before we went...but not bacon butties...we went with the two other foods that we missed terribly in the UK...crusty bread and proper English Cheddar and lots of Lurpak too. Yummy!! Its good to spread your horizons and not get stuck in a rut...


We stopped in at the Audi dealer on the way to Sudeley. We'd seen a car there last week and Stephen wanted another quick look. There was a bit of nit-picking over a couple of minute scratches and the state of the rear tyres. I did some eye rolling to express my deep boredom, and we left the salesman with some homework to do on the price and the cost of the finance. He called halfway round our walk of the gardens at Sudeley and I'm pleased to say that it only took another small amount of negotiation before we bought the car. No more car shopping - yay!


I am ashamed to say that we drove down through some local towns and villages that I had never been to before. How could that be? I thought that I'd covered all the A-roads in the vicinity...we used to bomb around here in our little MX-5 for years, so how we managed to not drive through some of these places is a mystery!! We did manage to avoid the dirt-track pitfall of the satnav on the way to Winchcombe...it was determined to take us down the same single track roads that the satnav took us down in November. Luckily we spotted the mistake quickly this time!! Perhaps the car was just wanting to prove its off-roading pedigree...


Sudeley Castle was beautiful. They must employ an army of gardeners. Each hedge was precision clipped and there wasn't a weed in sight. It was lovely now, but I imagine that its totally stunning in summer when all the herbaceous plants are in bloom. The buildings are gorgeous too. And there is plenty of history attached to it. It was mentioned in the Doomsday Book. King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn visited there as did Elizabeth I and Lady Jane Grey. It was bestowed on Thomas Seymour, who rekindled his romance with Catherine Parr after the death of Henry VIII, and it is where she died and is buried.


In more recent times it is where Henry Dent-Brocklehurst (son of the owner) and Lili Maltese got married and where Liz Hurley outshone the bride by turning up in a dress slashed to the hip and a pair of sequined knickers! On further digging last night (Hello!) it was also where she married her hubby.


Pants were also on display yesterday. A mummy was bending down to take a photo of her little boy and in doing so flashed a lot of her pants to the world. She was wearing low-ride jeans and when she crouched down her grey thong shot up out the top...this was extreme builders bum and not something one would wish to see!!

Sudeley Castle viewed through the arch of the Tythe Barn

The shaded woodland walk near the tythe barn

The castle

The knot garden

Looking across the Queen's Garden - based on the garden that existed
during the time of Catherine Parr

The Secret Garden

These are in no particular order - back to the rather lovely setting of the Tythe Barn

Reflecting in the carp pond

The ruins of the 15th century banqueting hall

St Marys Chapel where Cathrine Parr is buried

A detail of the chapel

Stalking his prey....Stephen the (small) game hunter

The rather extravagant bird in the Pheasantry

Coffee anyone?

I loved my "Anglo-American cousin's" comment in response to my plight of having to scale Everest in heels in order to get a latte. I think the sneakers are an excellent idea...but I'm slightly nervous at the thought of the Segueway!

I was in fits of laughter (in the middle of the Farnborough canteen - they probably think I'm insane!) when I read the comment...I had a mental image of me reaching Mach 5 on the downhill slope and staggering back into the office with clothes smouldering from the friction and hair resembling a birds nest perched atop my head...but at least I would have had a skinny latte!

Rain rain go away....

Friday was a Bank Holiday and, true to form for the British weather, it was absolutely peeing down. I think we're going to miss terribly the general reliability of the weather in Washington DC and the spot on accurate forecasts of the Weather Channel. Usually the only concern for a holiday weekend was whether the temperature was going to be 80 or 100 degrees!! I'm sure there is some rose-coloured specs thing going on, but I don't remember a holiday weekend where we were rained out...

We popped in to see Mr + Mrs ex-POQI and the kids for a coffee on Friday morning on our way back to Malvern. The kids were in fine form! Josh giggled a lot and then dashed off to the kitchen. He came back in with a freezer pack - obviously Stephen will be forever associated with putting ice down peoples backs! Katie was delighted that I worked out how to make the shower work in her dolls house and wanted me to stay for a week!

Paul gave us some good tips on car dealers in the area and when we left we spent a good hour or so trawling round them. Yawn!!

As the M4 was at a standstill we peeled off and drove up through Oxford. We passed through some lovely countryside. It was such a shame about the weather though. It was just very wet and gray.

Our night at Tylney Hall

We tootled off down to Farnborough on Thursday. Stephen was taking part in a meeting with Greg whom we'd met during our California tour. We had arranged to go out for dinner with him that evening, so we booked into Tylney Hall. It was the first time I had been - I usually only get to book the place for everyone else! They knew I was coming too, so they upgraded us to a suite. It was very swish indeed and had the most fantastic views over the park. The hotel and grounds were beautiful. I really felt I should be swishing down the stairs in a Jane Austen style Empire waisted dress.


The only (very) slight disadvantages were the price of the drinks and the sauna like atmosphere of our bathroom! The bathroom radiator was fully on and the knob for adjusting it had been removed. Once you had drawn a bath and added steam to the mix you could only last about 5 minutes without the urge to pass out!


The drinks were kinda pricey - we were 32 quid for 2 glasses of wine and 2 G&T's. And these were UK G&T's...in other words they wet the bottom of the glass with gin and then add gallons of tonic. We've become entirely accustomed to US style "G&T tops"... this was a severe culture shock! We had a really superb stay though. The beautiful surroundings more than made up for the minuteness of the measures!!


We had a really fun dinner with Greg....and saw a lot of the English countryside! We dropped him off at his hotel, drove 30 minutes to our hotel, checked in, got changed, had a swift look round, got back in the car, drove the shorter route (20 minutes) back to collect Greg, drove 20 minutes to he restaurant, had a nice Indian meal in Hartney Witney, drove 20 minutes back to Greg's hotel, then 20 minutes back to ours. There are some really beautiful villages in that area - and we got to see plenty of them!


Crossing the road coming out of the restaurant could have been hairy! In our party of 3 we had one American and two newly-repatriated ex-US dwellers....every one of us looked the wrong way as we launched ourselves into the road!!

Our suite

The view from the window - shame about the rain

The front of Tylney Hall

Stephen beside our oh-so-petite rental car
All he needs is the shotgun, the cap and the Labrador....

Hi ho, hi ho, its off to work we go...

We've been back at work for a couple of days now and are both enjoying the challenges of getting to grips with our new roles. Stephen has lucked out in terms of his location on site. He's right next to the staff restaurant and coffee shop...whereas I am down at the bottom end of the site. Its a good 10 mile uphill yomp from our office to the coffee shop - and in towering heels it is blooming hard going!

Well maybe its not quite 10 miles...although it certainly felt like it! I thought going up was hard going until I began the descent....I almost came a cropper twice - once on each trip (yes I did it twice today - I am THAT desparate for latte!). I must keep a pair of trainers in the office that I can put on for the walk. I feel ankles might be broken otherwise! I was having real problems when the pavement sloped both downwards and also to the right. My ankles atop the 3 1/2" heels didn't know which way to wobble first!!

Springtime in Malvern

We have picked a lovely time of the year to make our UK return. Spring has sprung! Our garden was looking quite lovely yesterday so I took a few snaps. Although...in Clueless parlance it would be something of a "Monet"...it looks great from a distance, but is a bit mess close up!! Nothing a couple of hours being ruthless with the secateurs won't fix though!

I spent a good couple of hours with the power washer getting the dirt off the paving. It looks so much brighter now - positively glowing! I'd forgotten just how big the garden is. Its positively huge compared to the tiny yard we had in Alexandria!!