The Shed

Merv's new room, aka 'The Shed' is now fully kitted out. All of his outdoor gear, which had been stored in the original kitchen, is now in the cave in it's own room. The walls have even been painted. Just one of the pairs of boots are Jane's. Everything is in its place ...

Asparagus season is here

Our regular Sunday morning trip to St Chinian market today had lots of locally-grown asparagus available. The season is slightly later this year due to a colder and wetter spring than normal and, as the season doesn't last long, we make the most of it while it's here. So, it's asparagus with everything.

The weather has turned very summery so we've spent much more of the weekend than we intended in the garden and just sitting by the pool admiring our surroundings! We haven't ventured in the pool just yet, as the water temperature is only 20C, but perhaps next week... We're back to the vacuuming and skimming tasks of pool maintenance.

Henry

Our lovely characterful and cuddlesome cat, Henry, has disappeared. We no longer hold out any hope of him returning as it has been almost two months since he left us. Along with Wellington, he would have been 2 today and we miss him a lot, but know he had a happy life here.

The best of Henry as a kitten:

And the best of Henry as a cat, demonstrating his unusual sleeping style ...

Organising the Cave

Merv is busy getting the bike maintenance area sorted out and the storeroom for all of his outdoor gear, now known as The Shed. Wellington helped supervise.

 The bikes are now racked against the wall:

 and the bike maintenance board is up and in use.

Today, Wellington is 2 years old

He's very relaxed about it - although he did catch a mouse this morning so is enjoying a rest.

Meanwhile back at home ...

In only two weeks away everything in the garden has gone ballistic. All the fruit trees are in leaf, the lettuces and beetroot have doubled in size, so it's definitely time to get more vegetables in the potager. This year, the clematis has already reached the entrance stairwell banister, the roses are starting to bloom and the jasmine is taking off too. After all the upheaval last year, the garden is really starting to take shape and grow well.

The wisteria is in out in full force:

and our first Sweet Pea are flowering too.

Spring Walk in Dorset, UK

We're just back from two weeks in the UK, spending a few days in the Lake District, where Merv caught up with, and unexpectedly ran into, almost everybody he knew from when he lived in Ambleside. The weather was 'mixed'; ie. rain interspersed with some periods of no rain. We managed to get in a couple of walks and had a lovely time catching up with friends. 

Last week we were in Dorset on a walking trip with HF Holidays, a company which Merv used to do a lot of work for many years. We stayed in Lulworth Cove, which is absolutely beautiful - as is the surrounding countryside: thatched cottages, derelict castles, lambs, daffodils, Norman churches, old quarries, sweeping coastal views, rolling green farmland and smugglers coves. Plus, wonderful old pubs serving local excellent Dorset ales. We were blessed with fine, sunny weather for most of the week with just two days of walking in sea-fog, which was slightly unsettling for walking, knowing you were alongside very steep coastal cliffs that you couldn't actually see. 

The area also is home to an army base where they practice shooting machine guns and cannons, amongst other things they no doubt do. It's quite unnerving walking in low-visibility, sea-fog and hearing gunfire which seemed to be far too close. Just had to trust their visibility was better than ours was at that point.