K's latest woodworking project and sunbathing cats, and a small garden roundup

A bit of a garden round up.  These beautiful Irises flower down at mum's (and I have some in the top garden too).  They are more purple than this but the camera insists it sees them bright blue!

Pretty pansies down at mum's, growing in an old cast iron pig trough.

This vigorous rambler, Rosa Bamksia normalis, also grows down at mum's.  It has a lovely perfume.  The recent gales sent it tumbling from its moorings and we need to put in some more vine-eyes and wire and get it back in place.

The cool air (due to the ever-present strong winds, mainly from the N-W) has allowed my Aquilegias to carry on blooming.

I took more photos, to show different petal types, but they were too blurred too use.  Much worse than this blurry one.

I love the deep purpley-black ones, and the William Guinness which have a white centre.

This is one of the things we bought recently, prior to my dear friend Annie's worldly possessions going to auction and finding new homes (much of the rest is in an auction today which we are going to).  This was a work in progress which, sadly, her late husband never got a chance to finish.  It is a solid Yew table.  The top is a slice of a huge old Yew tree, the the two supports, slices of a large bough.  It needs a little rejiggling, my husband says, so he has been dedicating his spare time this week to doing just that.  One hot afternoon we had to bring it into mum's cool kitchen, as the wood was starting to dry out alarmingly.  It will look stunning once it is finished, and will be a "forever" piece of furniture for us to enjoy and remind us of Annie and Mick whenever we look at it.

With those natural holes in it, the style is very reminiscent of George Nakashima table.

The reclaimed bit of the herbaceous border.  All garden thugs removed to a depth of 8", apart from to the right of the Graham Thomas rose . . .  Work in progress.

A bevy of sunbathing cats for you.  Fluff, who had got Too Hot, in the shade at the edge of the main pond.

Her sister Lucy, who can never be Too Hot.  As she gets older her silver undercoat (which she got from her black mum, who had it too) is turning her very grey indeed.  She and Fluff are 18 now.

Ghengis has it right - head in the shade.

Amber is happy with dappled shade. She's 17 or so now too . . .

Work still to do.  This is meant to be a clear gravel path in the paddock plot . . .

The other side of the paddock plot, where OH has obligingly mown for me.  But lots of trimming round the young fruit trees and the Bay tree at the end, and the overgrown bed to the right.

Ah well, onwards and upwards I suppose.