Some pics as promised...

Just a quick update to post a couple of pictures of the garden. Forgot to say Leo from next door came round with his chainsaw and took a couple of trees down for us. Problem we had was a spruce tree that had split at the base and then as it toppled, it caught the boughs of a birch tree. They were both then leaning at an angle of approx 45 degrees. The worry was that it might all come down if the children were playing in the woods. However, no longer a problem, it's now been cut up into 6ft lengths and we'll then chop it into firewood at some point to allow it to dry for the winter and feed our wood burning stove.
So, onto the pictures. The one with Bella shows you the edging that we spent a couple of days putting in. The grassy area to the right of it will be covered in a membrane then gravelled. It will then have some pots scattered over it to break up the greyness. This is the area that gets covered in gravel when the snowplough comes down the drive, so the grass is not in good condition anyway. The pile of pallets were under the deck and will get broken up as kindling or put out with the rubbish. I bought some trellis (lattice) this evening with which we're going to enclose the base of the deck. It will make it look a lot better and it gives something for the sweet peas to climb up! We also transplanted a 15ft Birch tree (second picture) that had seeded itself next to our telegraph pole. We didn't want it to interfere with any services (it all comes in via this pole - phone, electric and cable), so we moved it to the front of the house. If it survives it will be a miracle!! However, it's now raining, so that should do it some good. The third picture of the rocks are some that we obtained from up the road. When they start digging out the plots for new houses, they uncover some lovely rocks. These were from the area where our neighbours are building their new house. It's almost like a slate and will look great either on the gravelled area or in one of the new raised beds we're creating. We're hoping to get hold of some really big ones to make an impact, so we'll see what happens when they start to dig out the foundations!
Apparently the black fly have started as well. We just have the annoying males at the moment. The ones that bite are the females (typical!) and they aren't around yet. Can't wait.....