my 26th birthday garden'ing' party!

Happy Birthday, Claire! That was a good 'garden party'!

Glad you enjoyed your birthday, Claire...
nice that your parents were able to help out with clearing the garden ..
... next trip ... chain saw ...
... that will call for another blog ;o)

great news for the pear tree.. Sound like you had a great day with you family doing exactly what you wanted , perfect!!

thanks folks it really was a good day!
As i dont drive i have to wait till they come to get rid of stuff, the mess at the front was the ivy i had taken off a few weeks ago, i thought the gardener had cleared it and just left the branch but when i moved it to start cutting bits off to be chipped i realised he had jus moved the whole from the back to the front! No matter now tho because it's all gone thanks to ma n pa, best birthday present of all!
I am quite looking forward to dad bringing the chainsaw next time, we'll get loads more light round the back which should make the lawn a lot nicer as atm its mostly moss.

Great way to spend a birthday. Doing what you want.

your so right about that! Usually i'd go out and get smashed with me mates, this year i've got a proper sense of achivement and something to work on for weeks to come!
Although i've been told not to cut anything else back and let the gardener do it so he can clear it away ; ) hehehe

Happy Birthday Claire albeit late. 10 out of 10 for mums and dads. You all worked very hard. I think you should get a house council meeting going and sack the gardener. What does he do? As you will be paying him (all of you ) I think you need to get him motivated if he is staying and he needs to be told what the residents need him to do to ensure the good work is progressed. Did anyone else surface to help. Maybe you need a BBQ next time with invitations to join the work party and bring their own food and drink. They must be pleased you have moved in. A tip to help keep the weeds down in your borders where you are putting the wood chip, put down 2/3 sheets of newspaper first with the wood chip on top. It will disintegrate over the year and any bulbs you plant under the mulch will be able to break through. Your Ivy looks like a triffid trying to take over that pear tree. It was definitely needing to go. I look forward to the next chapter.

Happy birthday ! And what better way to spend it :o)

Happy belated birthday Claire! Great to have your Mum and Dad round for your birthday!

Happy belated birthday Claire! That would be my best kind of birthday too! One of the best pressies my hubby ever gave me was a huge pile of cow manure brought in in a tracter bucket and dumped near my flowerbeds!!
Love your yellow rose...watch that space!

thank you all for my birthday wishes!
Scotts Ms Andrews came out and had a chat to ma n pa, think she realised i cant do all the work as some of it's pretty major stuff, the gardener came on monday instead of wednesday so i bet she's had a word again lol. I tried inviting people last year to a BBQ but no one came, that was with out all the hard work lol.
Lulu thats an Ace present! How thoughtful of him lol, we have the police on horse's where i work, they were out the other week and left a nice steaming present outside the shop, the thought did cross my mind to go back and grab a bucket and spade, then i thought the people on the bus wouldn't be to happy with me on the way home! Hehehe
Alas i wont be updating this blog like i said as when i went to plant up all the goodies mum gave me from her garden i discoverd where i want to put them (in the big dirt bed) was actually used as a rubble dumping ground : (
I have another blog brewing tho because i'm now completley digging it over and taking out the rubble so the new blogs going to be all that hard work lol.

I may be shot down in flames here for what I am about to suggest, but, I think if that patch grew nice healthy weeds you might not need to dig out all the rubble, if you are putting in perennials. They often like neutral to alkaline soil and if there is rubble there it could have old dead lime which is great for perennials. The rubble will be keeping it well drained and also the rubble will hold reserves of water which does save you having to water as often. Just a suggestion and maybe the start of a conversation on 'To dig it all out or not'.

it's not rubble anymore it's sand now :( about 2-3 inch of soil and sand lots and lots of sand :(
sorry i've just been out there digging for another 3 hours :(

thank you tho, sorry i'm just a bit diss heartened atm, i'll keep working on it over the weekend and see what happens, there is always a silverlining as they say...

I think you need a week end off and out with your pals. It will be there when you are not as my OH keeps saying. Don't scunner yourself because you have made a lot of headway and it will all work out for you.

lol, once again sound advice, thank you!
I feel better now i've had some rest (i was close to tear's last night? Haha crying over sand) i had a chat with dad, he said to go buy some compost and mix it all in together, the sand will help with the drainage and the compost will give it some more oomph!?
I'd love a night out but at the same time i'm one of those people who when they get started they want to see the job through, next saturday i'm workin but this wkend i've got two whole days to meself so i should be able to get quite a lot done!
Thanks again. xx

I hope the weather is kind to you and happy gardening.

thank you, =D

Och Claire pet! It seems to be one step forwards and five back at the minute for you! Don't be disheartened, hun, (to use one of Cristina's words!) once you get some compost mixed in there it'll be great! Maybe some 'nure (as a wee friend of mine calls it!) would be good to add for some water retaining bulk. Look at it this way, you've got all the digging done now, and all you are doing now is adding and mixing! It's like a big cake! Don't fancy it much with a cuppa though! Bleurgh!! Lol!
I'm looking forward to your next blog, with heaps of piccies pleeeeease!!
I'll be thinking of you and sending you positive thoughts... there now...did you get that one? They feel like tiny hugs! Look out for them, you never know when they will arrive!! Take care, Claire! Oh!...I'm a poet and I didn't know it, !Lol!