Gardening Before We Started

The honeysuckle around our front door and both wisterias by the drive had become rather overgrown; today was the day we planned to sort them out. The supports that were holding up the honeysuckle had rotted away and it was falling over making it difficult for tradespeople to deliver parcels or mail. Today’s picture shows how it looked before we started; this is how it looked when we had finished. There is still a lot more to do, especially with the honeysuckle, but for now we are happy with the result and we need to see which bit are still growing and which are dead and need removing.
 
While we were outside working, six four-by-fours came along the lane at speed, spraying me with water from the many puddles in the lane. Then as I was walking along the lane to put the last lot of cuttings on our bonfire in the orchard, three lads on motorbikes came round the corner. One jumped the puddle, the other two went through it as fast as they could. I turned my back, so only the back of my fleece got splattered with mud! Then while I was still in the orchard depositing this last pile of rubbish, I heard a crash; a car had decided to turn round in our drive, hitting my wheelbarrow, which was in the drive.
 
My hair was covered in dead bits of stalk, mainly because while my husband was cutting it back, I was underneath pulling it away. It is now dark, I have now washed my hair, showered and I am about to cook Sunday “lunch”.

The temperature at GMT noon today was eight degrees Celsius.