Father's Day #2

 

So the Sunday following Father's Day my brother and family visited for a belated Fathers Day - mainly because by the time he'd decided to visit the previous week we had already booked a table for four which couldn't be extended to eight!

So this week we had lunch at Pizza Hut down at Dockside and then did a little retail therapy before heading back to Chez Ware for an afternoon sunning on the decking.

Just about squeezed enough chairs up on the main tier to accommodate us all although the boys sneakily pinched the more comfortable seats leaving Julia and James on some older style deckchairs!

We had coffee/cakes and then an al fresco tea and everyone seemed to enjoy using the deck and the better view that has come with binning off the old shed and getting the new garage roof done.

All in all a really good family day 💓

More Balls!

 

So this Off Friday, along with some gardening, I eagerly awaited delivery via Amazon of another set of stainless steel balls, albeit these were rainbow coloured and have a small hole on them so unsuitable for a water feature.

Here they are in all of their iridescent glory - tried separating them around the yard but they seem to look better as a collection. Originally I thought the largest one would fit inside the metal spider that sits in a pot in the yard but then you couldn't really see the beauty of it. So abandoned that idea and popped them up near the end of the garage roof in a small "bunch". This looks much better!

I'm really loving the colours of these, hopefully they will wear well, my metal peacock has lost much of its colour over the few years I've had him which is a shame, especially when he's put away for the winter months so he's not left out all year round. At least they brighten up the garden ;-)

Garden Balls

 

So these stainless steel balls are my latest garden purchase - hollow but hopefully robust enough to not blow away (the review said they withstood the Scottish weather) these mirrored balls in various sizes came from Amazon after I originally saw something similar in a little magazine Dad gets.

Thought they would suit being on the slate piece of ground above the bank and what used to be a pond many moons ago. The feather type shape you can see is my metal peacock from Leeds Castle, although he is fading in vibrancy fast.

Hoping to purchase a rainbow iridescent set of these balls for elsewhere in the garden although I believe this set are likely to contain a small hole and so unlike those in the photo, would be unsuitable for floating in water. Not that I have any water anyway for them to float in ;-) Hoping the largest ball in this set as yet unpurchased, will fit inside a metal spider that sits in a flower pot in the yard and used to contain a solar ball light until the plastic eventually became too brittle and fell apart. I've recently cleaned said spider up, brushed him off to remove the rust and sprayed him with some WD40 as it worked wonders on the metal nodding dog - also in the yard.

I'm not a keen gardener and these types of thing help to bring some life into the garden, some interest that isn't yet another Hebe! In fact my yard is mostly artificial plants, ornaments and Mum's sewing machine installation along with a myriad of solar lights.

Garage Tidying Up

 

So on one of the hottest days, Friday, I spent most of the day outside in the garage tidying up and working out where I want to store my tools and generally sweeping up the crap post the refurb. Sweeping the floor is like painting the Forth Bridge, a never ending task, a bit like sweeping off the laurel crap off the decking! That was something else I did to pass the time on a too hot day.

This is me sitting in one of last year's Dobbies purchases, two reclining outdoor high back chairs - except the reclining bit is quite the faff so beginning to wish I'd settled for something less complicated! I popped the chair in the shade of the garage area and used a new 75lt storage box on wheels as a makeshift table for lunch and afternoon coffee. Probably the most amount of time I've sat outside for, I'm not normally considered to be a outdoorsy type of girl, too many bugs for my liking, but it was a very pleasant and relaxing day just pottering around Chez Ware.

Subsequent to this Dad's been up today (Saturday) and sprayed the back wall and part of the sides and floor with some sealant to help keep any damp out bearing in mind that the back wall is built into the garden. The garage has new guttering fitted and Dad tweaked it so it didn't have to drain uphill (the way VSF had left it!) and so at least any rain from the roof should drain away quite nicely into the side garden.

Apart from potentially adding some low fencing across the back of the garage to keep an inquisitive Annie off of it, it's pretty much complete. Possibly some spare soil from Julia & James if they have any left from their garden refurb and some grass seed should hopefully finish the job off.

It's certainly a very marked improvement on the old garage area and the bright goose-grey roof reflects a lot of light thus opening the garden space up.

Another job ticked off the list :-)

Next up is laurel tree trimming which is booked in for 1st July.

Garden Tiger Moth

 

So I was sitting up the garden chatting to Dad after work and spied this colourful little chap making it's way across the lawn.

Used Google Lens to identify him as a Garden Tiger Moth, not very usual but can be found in the UK.

Gently used a piece of veneer to pick him up and deposit him under the plants to prevent the pesky birds making a tasty morsel out of him.

I'm guessing the long white hairs are some sort of defence mechanism but either way I wasn't prepared to take a chance and leave him out in the open. The birds, especially magpies, are quite prolific around my way and they are nuisance enough without encouraging them to feed on the smaller wildlife.