Did you miss me?

I'm back, at long last.
It's been a busy old time, with lots of this

and this
a little bit of this
and even this...
A little explanation required? Well, the garden has been flooded and boggy the last couple of summers and really meant that the all-important vegetables were suffering - underwater strawberries are no fun. So Hugh decided to take matters into his own hands, borrow Brian's state-of-the-art (in the 1960s) tractor with diggery attachment and construct some drains and a 'pond'. It took a long time. It is mostly done now and some of it is working very well, and some of it stubbornly is not. He is not completely happy....

And then there's George - he is our Land Rover with special Ash-sized seat in the middle for viewing of wildlife in comfort. But George's chassis was not in good order, not at all, and the time had come for it to be replaced. This pic shows George's body returning to sit on its wheels complete with gleaming new galvanised chassis yesterday afternoon. However, the work continues and Hugh is still at the garage helping with the re-building process. One day soon they may return to the bosom of the family and we can all go for a drive together. (sigh)

The cottage is finished, and ready and waiting for lots of lovely visitors. You can read all about it here and here. Midge and I posed in the cottage garden so that we can appear online, thus demonstrating what a dog-friendly place it is. (If you read far enough through the text on the Cottage blog you'll find that children may be considered but dogs accepted if you just ask nicely - and quite right too, in my view.)

And the last pic? Well Brian and Linda had a fine birthday party and the theme was animated characters - though Dennis the Menace is a cartoon character he is a fairly animated one and Hugh entered into the spirit of the party with accessories - the catapult (which garden tree did he massacre to make it?), a bag of sweeties (Midget Gems and Smarties for the connoisseurs) and, best of all, a giant toy spider in a matchbox. You DO know who Dennis is, don't you? If not, check him out here. Although she could have gone as Minnie the Minx or Beryl the Peril, the other lady of the house failed to get her act together in time and has not been allowed to forget it.