Welcome to Melanie’s July monthly news, the latest instalment in what we have been getting up to this month. The first piece of lovely news is that we have received a wonderful photo from one of our clients who received their painting a few weeks ago. Debbie and Neil commissioned Nicholas to paint their Jack Russel Toby for them. You can see a superb photo of Neil with his painting and we would officially like to thank Debbie and Neil for taking time out of their busy schedule to do this for us. It will be going on the website shortly!
New Fence and Garden Renovations…
As some fo our regular readers may know, we have been doing lots of renovations to our garden. The front garden is now done… just needs a bit of clipping back as the foliage has gone wild in this glorious weather. The top garden at the back though needed a lot of work. We have had a new fence, the photo below shows the fence from a couple of years ago. It has been degrading over the years, particularly in the winter storms and we shored it up with a fence post and some rope in the interim! We were so pleased to be able to get hold of some lovely fence panels, which are in fairly short supply, and with the help of our trusty handy couple D.I.Y team down the road, we set about replacing it.
The end result is wonderful, it was a lot of work. We decided that for ease of maintenance we would remove the Laurel hedge that constantly needed trimming, remove the border bed that always needed weeding and opt for gravel up to the fence, to aid it’s longevity and keep the whole area maintenance free. I wanted to be able to sit in the garden and not keep looking around at all the jobs that needed doing!
The Stone Seat!
The central feature turned out to be a huge piece of stone that has been sitting on the stone wall down the garden for many years. It could have been a lintel from a building, or over a fireplace, we just don’t know. We thought it would be a brilliant idea to make it into a seat perched on two round logs.
It took all our strength and ingenuity to get it off the wall, transport it up the garden into place. We used small sawn logs as rollers to gradually roll it up the garden! It was not easy but we did it and it looks fantastic! It draws people in and friends really do take a seat on it when we are sitting having a cuppa. I have planted two Clematis either side, of different colours. I hope to trail them around in an arc over it, along the fence. Watch this space!
Here are a few photos of the beautiful plants we chose from Penrallt Garden Centre, I do love a good shopping trip for plants and pots!!
The view from the cottage is so much nicer now and it has been worth all the hard work. Let’s hope it stays this tidy for a while!
Garden Pond
Whilst sorting out the fence, we did have to relocate some wildlife! A big toad, a baby toad and a number of Newts which we moved from one side to the other. We have a little wildlife pond and we hope that they love it there. I’m guessing they do as there are plenty of them in the garden! The photo below shows two of the Newts we moved along with the waterlilies that are flowering at the moment.
Trundles with Lily
The weather has been so hot here, we haven’t been able to walk Lily in the daytime. It’s either early morning or late evening. The photo below shows a beautiful sunset on the track we walk. It was absolutely beautiful and so photo worthy.
We have been on a number of early morning walks in the last month. Heading up the track when the sun is behind the trees is lovely and so pretty.
The track has overgrown a lot though in the last few weeks. I take my secateurs along with me sometimes just to cut back some of the brambles… as when you are wearing shorts… ouch!!
The Rosebay Willow Herb above and long flowering grasses below, make for beautiful focal points in photos this time of year. Lily loves walking along there in the summer, but she does get covered in pollen and grass!
Our 10k Trail Run Extravaganza!
Some adventurous news now! Friends and I took part in a 10k trail run recently. The following photos show us at the start, midway, at the end with our medals. We also got Tregroes Waffles… however I ate mine before I could take a photo !! So thank you to Tracey, who took a photo of her Waffle with her medal which you can see below!
It was a very hard route, plenty of hills through woodland and some fields and roads too. We weren’t there to beat any records, we were there to enjoy it and have fun along the way. It was a pretty hot day. Thankfully not as hot as it has been, but there was no air. So keeping going up hill and down dale for a couple of hours was tough going. Im proud of all of us, we started together and finished together and were there for each other. We did brilliantly and I hope there will be many similar adventures for us to come.
Koda’s Pencil Drawing
And finally to our artwork! Nicholas has completed a beautiful painting and nearly finished another, however I will show them next month when they re framed. Here is one I drew a few weeks ago of a beautiful dog called Koda. It has been sent off in time for a birthday surprise so I really hope the recipient is delighted.
Hi Melanie,
That looks amazing, we are very happy with it!
Thanks again!!
Mykayla
Stay tuned for more adventures in next months blog post… stay safe and keep well everyone!
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Beautiful photos. Enjoyed your photo tour of the area you live in.
Ahh that’s so kind you to say Frances, I am so pleased you enjoyed this months blog post 🙂 Melanie x
Your front garden turned out wonderful! The design is perfect and makes a small space seem bigger, really draws the eye in. Thanks so much for this post!
Thank you so much for your lovely comments Kathleen! Glad you are enjoying the blog posts and I hope that you are well. Melanie x