Could it be a candid camera moment!

I love that hut!!! I did smile at the ladder story :D only as he was okay , the kind of thing I tend to do , glad all is well - a lovely seat - be nice to see it progress

All's well that ends well - but that easy for me too say. As you said it could have been much worse.
What a difference you have both made to those areas and I see the cats have made their selves at home.
I put an arbour seat in this year and I think I won't be happy with it until the planting around the back of it matures and fills out.
What about something scented for those blocks?

Oh Rose I did have a wee chuckle but really was not funny.

I like your summer house .

Why dont you repaint there are some nice colours around.

It would give a new look.

Nice seat to .

Nice spring bulbs would look good in your blocks.

I thought of low growing herbs and things that smell nice if you walk on them, and maybe small hardy geraniums

Poor hubby, doing a hard job and ending up trapped in a ladder bless him x

That's a proper job, Rose! It looks really good. Now we must all wish for good weather so that you (and hubby, of course) can enjoy it. We had a couple of sunny days this week and, although it was very cold, I actually put in a few primroses. It really cheered me up being outside doing something at last. I hope I shan't regret putting them out. They didn't cost much, but I hate losing anything. I think (hope!) they'll be ok - they're in a sheltered spot.

oh dear oh dear ~ what a good thing you were there and didnt panic Rose ~ im sorry but i would have been sorely tempted to get a camera!

the arbour looks really lovely where you have put it

OOoh, you've made a lovely job there Rose! I must admit I was chuckling at the ladder story, but it could have been a real tragedy if it hadn't worked out ok....I bet you were both sweating a bit afterwards! You'll have a lovely time planting up your new seat. What are you doing with the new slabbed area? :)

btw, I rather like your summer house, it has character and charm, but don't let me sway you! :)

what a lovely blog and so pleased OH wasnt hurt. Sounds a bit like my oh too. the seat looks lovely where you have now placed it. lets hope for some lovely summer sun to sit in front of and dream away.

Now that is exactly the kind of thing that happens in our garden Rose ,Hubby actually stepped off a shed once not looking to see if the ladder was there .. it wasn't ! thank goodness it all ended well , I like your new arbour area , you've made a good job of that between you :o)

Thanks Paul, the "hut" has been there for at least 10 years now and its time for something a bit better!

Thanks Scottish, no sooner was the seat in position, the cats were there! I have Aucubas at the back of the arbour and I am going to be so impatient waiting for them to grow! It will look much better surrounded by shrubs.

Thanks Scotkat. I have just convinced my hubby to get a better summer house. I have been hankering after one for years. The trouble is that this is a very shady corner and was the only place to put one as the rest of the garden is on a slope. We took the doors off to get more light in , but some of the summer houses now are well glazed and it would be nice to sit in one with a closed door and look across at the garden . Spring bulbs would be a good idea, thanks.

Thanks Pamg and Bilbo for your suggestions , but the arbour seat gets more shade than it does sun. Most of the garden only gets a few hours a day because of all the trees and as herbs need sun , they wouldn't do very well there.

Thanks Mel, I'm glad you like it. Spring seems a long way off at the moment, but I'm sure your primroses will be ok, they are quite hardy!

Stickie, I knew that you would say that! Hahaa! You would have been there snapping away, wouldn't you!

Thanks Karen, the slabbed area hopefully will have some nice new garden furniture on it, but it will have to have a brolley over it permanently because of these b... pigeons that sit above in the beech trees!
Its a good job hubby doesn't read this as I don't think I would be getting a new one with doors and more glass! Lol.

Thanks Seaburn girl for your nice comments.

Amy, I'm sorry, but when I first read what you wrote , I laughed. It could have been very serious, but I kept thinking of Laurel and Hardy! Hahaa!
My hubby was very lucky too, even though that was funny. They could even be the new Laurel and Hardy! Hahaa! Thanks for your comments as well.

:-))) if i could have got away with it yes Rose I would!!!

and then I would have put the photo on a birthday card!!!

Ooh, you're just wicked, Stickie!

you have to be able to laugh dont you!

but i didnt say who the card would go to!

The arbour looks great with the path leading to it.And I'm tryin not to laugh.....I've got stuck inside a deck chair, but never a ladder.At least he was ok!!!

Your arbour is lovely and looks great there all that trouble all for the Cheshire cat to sit on the arbour with a big grin hehe haha sorry about your hubby though great you both laughed my kind of humour.
As for planting in the Breeze Blocks you could use a crawling sedum some lovely colours, or two pots either side with Lavender would be a nice aroma while sitting.

Glad there were no serious repercussions from his adventure. How about some cat mint so that you and Oh can get on to your lovely arbour seat. You can get some lovely saxifrages which will grow over and soften the edges of the breeze blocks. Plant miniature bulbs with them for year round colour. How about a short 6' clematis. It could grow up the trellis on the arbour. Are the breeze blocks open at both the top and bottom because you could grow many more plants if the roots have access to the earth. A low growing box hedge which you could prune to all sorts of shapes eg rabbits. Well done on a great clear up now comes the fun part. For the summer plant up with bedding begonias and then winter pansies or annual or perennial geraniums, you are spoiled for choice.

What a time you had! How about plants like Chamomile in the breeze blocks? Mixed in with a few herbs maybe, then you'll have lovely herby scents while sitting there.

Me too...love the hut!
What a lot of work you've both done there. I have lots of spare chamomile is you would like some.
Glad the ladder saga ended in smiles!! :)

Oh such a shame you didnt have the camera, LOL. !! We can laugh.......poor hubbie, glad he is Ok. :0
I love the arbour Rose, it will weather there too and may I suggest planting aubritia (spelling?) and that low growing green leafed plant that has pink flowers, phlox subulata, sedum, Saxifrage & Iberis, they all like dry conditions.

Yes it does look nice now ... after all that unfortunate business of your husband and the ladders
(lol I always have to laugh when I see someone trip or fall... and I'm afraid I would have joined you laughing at that .... but not in a nasty way :D )

And you've got rid of the trellises too

Your Arbor does look better now Rose and obviously your feline friends think its theirs, as does the slabbed area, you have worked hard on all of it, now comes the fun part, choosing the planting.
I`m so pleased your husband wasn`t seriously hurt when the ladder broke, I know you have told the tale in a funny way and yes I did smile but I bet it was quite worrying at the time and I should think any one of us would be shook up, we do put ourselves through the mill in our gardens...

Well,Paulthegard. I'm not even going to ask about the deck chair! It must be a man thing! Lol.

Thanks Sixpence, but as its only sunny mid morning and then in the shade, I would need something that doesn't need the sun.

Thanks for all those ideas Scotsgran, I will have a think about them!

Thanks Nariz and Lulu, but this area doesn't get much sun. Its positioned here as it is a good view of the rest of the garden. Mosr areas in this garden only have a few hours of sunshine at a time because of all the surrounding trees.

Thanks Grandmage and if I could get away with planting these , I think I would!

Thanks Hywel, its a good job he doesn't read this ! And yes, I did thankfully get rid of that awful trellis!

Thanks Sue, no, it wasn't funny at the time , which is why I saved this story until now! He was very lucky not to have done any damage to his bad leg!
As for the cats, well, wherever we go in the garden to sit, they are always there first! Lol.

Internet probs at this end so have only just seen this.

Rose I LOVE your summer house and yet you talk of going to replace it. I think it is really lovely and can just picture you in there with cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit or two!!
Mind you, it is always fun choosing a new one I suppose but you might be sad to see it go!

Well, Chris, since doing this blog and reading what other people have said, it made me think that maybe we could do this one up , but also have it made bigger and have more glass put in with glass doors. We would need it doing professionally though! At the moment, when you sit in it, you can't see the garden properly and if its windy, it gets very cold in there. New project coming up!

It is well worth considering. I really like it and then if you keep it, you can spend the 'new summerhouse' money on something else! :-)

Any Englishman who tells you he hasn't got tangled up in a deck chair,rose1949, is a fibber!!

I don't think there would be much money left after doing to it what we want , Chris!

I'll take your word for that then Paulthegard! Hahaa!

Hi Rose...
great story .. well told :o)))

Thanks Terra, nice to have you back! Are you well?