Like 30 years ago - only without the energy!!

My OH and I were just talking, as I rubbed Ibruprofen gel on his sore back.  I said this hunker down time was like having the clock turned back 30 years, when money was extremely tight and our main luxury was having the time to do all the jobs which needed doing - and thereby saving money.  This year we will save a big chunk this year not having to have the paddock (sorry, "Side Lawn") cut - that was £80 a hit for half an hour's work!  Since no-one will be viewing any time soon, we can let it go feral.

Anyway, before and after photos of the wall which separates the main garden from the yard, where we grow veg.  Before, it was smothered in brambles, both dead and alive, which hung down in a long fringe.  What I wanted to see there was cut back Snowberries (which form a tatty "hedge" along the top - planted before our time, probably by the Dutchman who lived here when he milked for Next Door back in the early 80s) and a repositioned well-grown Clematis Montana rubens which had decided to leg it up the apple tree whilst my back was turned.  The green bit you can see below is the Elder tree which planted itself there and despite all my best efforts to eradicate it, has grown away and is now allowed to stay as Elder is Good Stuff.  As you can see, the swirly bits are the errant clematis, and the ladder in the background is what I climbed up, loppers in hand, to cut through some end branches it was entangled with.  Then we had no option but to literally pull it out of the tree - surprisingly, only two bits right at the top got broken off - the rest is now draped along the short-cut snowberries and should cover it all thickly in the fullness of time.  I am looking forward to it flowering soon - it's covered in buds.  That little job took me three days and we had a bonfire at the end of it!  The next bonfire will be all the brash we have left over from cutting the thicker branches for winter fuel.

Cloudier skies, looking across the yard, but still sunshine.  It was blowing fiercely yesterday though - a Northerly wind I think, brisk and chilly.  Tam and I kept our walk just to the top of the hill and back but I must be getting fitter as I managed to walk the steep bit without stopping to draw breath!

Here is a triptych of  photos of the scenery from left to right above the farm buildings.

Right, this won't do.  Nearly 10.30 and I've not had breakfast yet but I have started some dough in the breadmaker, and will make some muffins later on too.