Sunny Saturday in the Garden!

Today was beautifully calm and clear so it seemed a good idea to spend time in the garden doing odd jobs and, at the same time, benefitting the puppies with plenty of fresh air and playtime.

Please click the Read more button below to continue this post...

I thought I'd do things a little differently and show you our pavement garden before I lead you around the garden inside.

We are all responsible for the upkeep of our own pavements. Some homeowners choose to make a garden (as we've done) while others just keep the verges grassed or, in some instances, gravelled.

OK we're back inside now and walking around our front garden. As you can see, the pool cover is on for the start of the winter season and so Milo and Coco can play safely without any risk of falling in. They will be taught to swim properly next summer.

We are really fighting a losing battle with the small grassed area to your left. The puppies have been digging it up in chunks and with so much shade, it dies back considerably during our wet winter season.

This is the far end of the house with the raised terrace up on your left and our office/study area on the right where we spend our days with the puppies.

We are standing in the flowerbed on the top terrace looking down the length of the front garden. My greenhouse is out of sight at the far end behind the trees.

This is our bedroom end of the house. The pond is behind us to the left and my bedroom is on our immediate right.

See what I mean about perfect weather! The light fittings on the edge of the pool paving are solar powered. It looks so pretty lit up at night.

This is the garden behind the pond.

Same garden from the opposite side. My little coffee table and chairs are off to the left. That's my favourite spot to relax in summer, when I'm taking a gardening break.

The pond, before I worked on it today. I removed the cyperus and cut back a lot of the overgrowth to allow more light diffusion. These are all wide-angled shots, so things look a little distorted.

We are seriously considering removing the grass altogether this winter and replacing it with pavers, interplanted with greenery, as we spend the whole of summer getting it to grow and, as soon as the first winter rains arrive, it dies back rapidly and becomes a muddy nightmare with our dogs!

A section of the garden path that runs along the top length of the front garden.

From the garden path, looking across the top bed towards the house.

Every walk around my garden has to include a stop at the greenhouse. Most of my orchids have buds and I'm really looking forward to enjoying their blooms (I need to put down snail bait, pronto!)

These pictures were all taken by my husband, at my request at about 10h30 this morning, using his wide-angle lens. I got stuck into the garden afterwards and spent almost the whole day outdoors, with all the dogs keeping me company. My dear, sweet husband produced all our meals today and did a marvellous job, so I could garden without interruption.  It's evening now.  All the dogs are well-fed and napping after a busy day outdoors. I'm hoping tomorrow will be just as lovely, so we can pick up from where we left off today...and maybe I'll be spoilt with yummy meals prepared for me again :)

 

Beauty is not in the face;

beauty is a light in the heart. 
 

~Kahlil Gibran~