As pretty as a rose..

Always pleased to see Larch Roses - my favourite of all trees - it gives this beauty in Spring (roses can also be white or green, meh) and turns a wonderful orange in Autumn when it's one of the few conifers to shed its needles.

Im shattered this evening - forget mountaineering or the climbing wall, if you want a proper work out then skip marathon running and head straight to landscaping! Ive now 'recovered' the largest of our formerly formal beds. 12m long by 1.5m deep - ive dug out 3tonnes of soil lost to weeds and plants gone bad - Solomons Seal, Wild Geranium and Bugle have been the main culprits - lovely but not when they totally take over. So I've dug down 1ft and replaced with an 80% topsoil 20% rough sand mix. Next weed control fabric with 1ft deep pots ( bottoms cut off)  planted as islands. Finally 2 tonnes of plum slate. All wheel barrowed 10-22m down the garden. Hopefully flood proof and a lot easier to maintain. Just 3 smaller beds to go now....

Off to the Alps tomorrow - primarily to chair one meeting and referee another - but hopefully we'll manage to get into the hills a couple of days.

It will also give me time to contemplate todays odd phone call....4 months after choosing a different CEO the Association i used to work for have made no progress. Said CEO now wants me to consult and help kick-start them, hmmm? Its great to be asked, and i absolutely hate that they've done this to themselves and are letting the foundations i built ebb away - but it still feels a little bit like taking the mickey to ask me now. Wine and cheese will probably help me see things more clearly, but feel free to comment!