The Good Old Days

Isn't the weather cracking at the moment? As I walked the boy up the hill to school this morning, I decided it would be a crime if I didn't take a walk through the lanes and into the wood, on a little circular route. It was truly breathtaking - at one point, I stood still and closed my eyes and all I could hear was the birds chirruping away and the bleating of sheep from the fields. Absolute bliss.

As I came back towards the house I passed a farmer unloading his trailer - 'Morning!' he sing-songed, 'Out for your morning constitutional?' And I thought yes, what a lovely old-fashioned word for a walk. A morning constitutional sounds so much more relaxed than 'walk' (which sounds like a bit of a chore to me). Constitutional conjures up an image of a slow-paced, enjoyable amble, taking in the sights and sounds and smells, breathing in the fresh air and generally marvelling at the wonder of such a lovely day. And then I thought, what a shame that we just rush around all over the place these days - keeping fit on treadmills and dancing around our living rooms on plastic boards - when we simply need to step outside our front door and into the fresh air. There you go - a thought for today!

So yesterday I managed to apply Teak Oil to our new garden furniture - we splashed out at the weekend, in anticipation of a lovely summer.

You have to apply oil to it to protect it from the elements.

My next challenge, today, is to try to find some wood stain for the wall seat to match the furniture.

Can I just show-off a bit here and show the garden as it was when we finished the house? My lovely hubby made this whole garden and patio area, and the seat.

Where the dustbin is, is where the patio is now! I could write a book about the story of our house renovation ...