Meet Mabel!

At the start of the school Easter holidays we looked after the Boy while his parents went off to buy him a puppy. Why have we been so long without a dog in the house! Well, they came home with the most ridiculous little bundle and it was love at first sight. A boy and his dog - inseparable!

Meet Mabel!

We are all besotted.

On the garden front everything is growing like mad and I'm having to cut back to keep the gravel paths from disappearing. The exterior of the house is awash with icicles of flower.

It is so pleasing to catch the scent of the various flowers.

But it is a bit of a jungle!

There isn't much time for sitting down.

Now that the neighbouring trees are in full leafwe are cast into a mix of deep and dappled shade.

After a very wet winter I'm already back to wishing for some rain!

Compton Acres

This afternoon the family came by and swooped us up for a visit to Comton Acres garden. It is the perfect time of year to visit, with the acid-loving spring flowers in bloom. There are formal gardens

but the areas that we most wanted to explore were the Japanese garden and the woodland, the latter on a very steep site, run through with small streams and pools.

The Japanese garden is a real treat. I was surprised how quiet the gardens were for a bank holiday weekend. The Boy loved walking across all the stepping stones and small bridges over the water.

We intended having afternoon tea in the café but had spent so long in the gardens that we were too late, it had closed!