Plants are going in and walls are going up

Here's a glimpse of the back of the van loaded with plants

(you can't even see the instruments and ducks!!). In true cat fashion, Elvie did a disappearing act when it was nearing time to go - so the cats didn't come down on this trip).

There's plants on the seats and under the seats - all did just fine, despite the hot day.

Here's a close up of some of the seedlings - ready to go.

When I got down to site, I found that Sam hadn't been idle whilst he'd been down. His creative brain had overcome the lack of grill - meet the new toaster (aka the gas fire). Thats a classic.

Another ingenious idea was born from my brain - and I suggested assembling the old polytunnel doors as a temporary cold frame / cloche - to protect the plants we'd brought down which were used to being under glass. I'm glad to say that its working really well ( and the weather is lovely and warm anyway).

Here's the vegetable garden as I found it on my return. Before I could plant anything out I had to put up some canes and re-mark my beds .. as it was all getting a bit 'organic' in shape. If I had put in wooden edges to the beds I wouldn't have had this problem, although I like having the beds just shaped out of earth, it means I can change them if I feel like it (and that I don't have to get hold of a load of timber for edging), so I'll stick with mounded beds for this year.

I marked the beds out with coloured string .. and tripped over the string a lot too - I'll get some pegs so the string is at ground level and not such a hazard. Sam was great - helping with weeding and marking out, so I could get on with the planting.

First in where the two batches of broad beans.

Here's a marked out bed - with some self seeding corn salad .. and some unwanted companions - but even the weeds look easier to deal with then its one square at a time!

Here's some peas, onions and garlic all happily out of pots and in the ground - at last.

Some beds were still mulched with straw and are being uncovered as the plants go in. I think I'll re-mulch them with a thinner layer of straw - in between big plants. It should save on weeding .. and it seems that the slugs prefer a thick layer of straw - we shall see.

I've covered the path between the two long beds in membrame, as the grass was coming through the old membrane! The bed to the right of the picture is fine, the one to the left needs a lot of work, as its very grassy. It will be a flower bed this year.

While I was out in the garden, Sam was working away inside the house.

Here he's set out the stud walls for the upstairs bathroom.

Here are the stud walls for the study / guest room (they'll open into each other so I can use it as one big study when I want to).

Here's the guest room side.

Here's the study side. If you peer out the window to the south you see the vegetable beds .. I have a feeling that could be quite a distraction for me and I'll spend as much time musing about my plants as I will doing useful work.

Soon we'll plasterboard the walls and set out the electrics. Then it'll be time to paint the walls ... I still have to source my paint .. but first there are still a few plants to plant out .. and some wayward cats to re-locate (and some - hopefully- better speed broadband to try out .. so I can blog more often). There's also the sunny weather to enjoy.

I intend to make the most of it.