It only takes a few days of sunshine for me to start thinking about summer evenings sitting out in the back garden, catching the last few rays of the day, enjoying the warmth of the sun on my face.  And then I look out of the kitchen window and I come back to earth with a bump. My back garden is a disgrace!  Over the winter my pots have suffered frost damage, there are broken fence panels, leaves are all in the flower beds, and the grass needs treating.  It is only now I realise that I forgot to plant any bulbs, so if I get any tulips or daffodils flower this year then it will be a miracle.  Nothing for it but to get out there and sort it out.  Operation Winter Clear Up.  Of course Harry joined in….

The first day of clear up, he “helped” by pulling tufts of grass out of the garden and made dens for his dinosaurs.  The lawn had bald patches everywhere.  But to be honest because the grass looked so bad anyhow it didn’t really make much difference to the overall state of things.

The following day Harry wanted to get a bit more hands-on.  Whilst I collected the dead leaves out of the flower beds and threw away the broken pots, Harry got on with the big-boys jobs with Daddy.

Year on year we get frogs back to mate in our pond.  I am surprised they have bothered for the last two years because we haven’t looked after it since H was born.  There is practically no water left in it, the pump half works, and the plants have completely taken over.  I used to love sitting on the decking overlooking the pond and watch the tadpoles grow and hatch out of all the frogspawn.  To my delight they have returned for another year, along with a couple of newts.  Harry was fascinated with seeing the frogs up close but he wasn’t too keen on handling one.  He wouldn’t go near the newts or “little lizards” as he called them. 

All in all we had a very productive weekend.  The garden has started to resemble a space that we wouldn’t mind spending time in again, nature has returned to it’s usual spot, and a little boy has found a love for gardening.  We still need to plant a few bulbs, replace some pots and then plant them up, but the bulk of it is done.  It has started to resemble a garden again rather than a bombsite.

More importantly  though, we got to spend some time together as a family and it cost us nothing, we got lots of fresh air, and we all mucked in.  A successful clear up operation.  Now just for some sunshine and those long lazy summer nights sitting out on the decking.  Can’t wait.

Love

Harry’s Honest Mummy x