Easter Weekend fun

Well, what a blisteringly gorgeous weekend it turned out to be!  Especially after the way that March 'went out' like a lion...who would have thought I would have spent most of Easter Sunday and all of today outside, in a t-shirt (no jumper!!!), and that we would eat both lunch and tea outside for the first time this year.

Fabbydoos!

We started the Easter celebrations off with our Easter tree, made out of dogwood prunings this year so even the twigs add to the colour - and it will stay on the table as long as it looks good (regardless of how many times it pokes me in the eye as I sit down to eat...)

Things feel at last like they are gearing up for the garden too - I potted on my little tomato seedlings and moved them to a sunnier home on the lounge windowsill:

It has been a busy weekend all around, with egg hunts at friends' houses, swimming trips to burn off all the excess chocolate, dinner at grandma's (more chocolate...) as well as general lounging around and playing too many computer games (post-chocolote blood sugar dips...).

But thank the lord, with the amazing warm and sunny weather today, and no where to go but the garden, we all spent most of the day outside in one way or another, even if Evie did spend half of it snuggled on a cushion in the tree house reading a book and the other half mixing suspicious looking 'potions' from the contents of my flowerborders, playing Masterchef (and not cleaning up after herself, as usual).

Leo, incredibly, made himself useful to daddy, dragging all the recently pruned material to 'bonfire corner'. I've been abandoning lots around the garden over the last few weeks during snatched half hours of garden work - desperately trying to catch up on lost time since the middle of February caused by my neck injury and subsequent evil cold virus.  March not a good time at all not to be firing on all cylinders!

The Engineer had decided this evening would be ideal for a good bonfire to 'tidy up' and round the weekend off properly.  So I leapt at the opportunity to point the pair of them (as they were obviously in a suitably destructive mood) at the scary yellow Choisya ternata 'Sundance' that has had it's card marked since last summer - I don't like it (prefer the green choisya) and it really doesn't help that this one seems to be unhappy in it's position, with the leaves looking bleached out and pale lemon even this early in the year - and the sun hasn't got going yet.  Add to that the fact that when the purple maple above it leafs up the two together look hideous, and it's all that catches my eye every time I look out of the kitchen patio door...time for the big chop chop!

Choisya Sundance - before (don't be deceived by this distance shot - it really is in a shockingly stressed state and not pretty at all)

...After.  Hurray! Swing your tomahawks in celebration!  Now I can press on with salvaging what's useful and pretty in the rest of this corner, before weeding out thoroughly, rescuing the honeysuckle and climbing rose which were growing behind but have collapsed, and preparing to replant something more pleasing to the eye.

While the boys were happily ensconced destroying and dragging and preparing for the big fire, I turned my attention at last to creating the willow windbreak, ready for my bees (whenever they arrive) and the development of the 'wild garden' corner around where the bees will be sited.

More on this, along with some pics, hopefully over the next few days, as I progress with my willow weaving. Couldn't take a photo of the work so far, as by the time I had finished the sun was very low and in completely the wrong place to try and photograph, unfortunately. Watch this space (and pray the good weather continues).

Stinky Brew watered onto the veg beds, and I'm ready to crawl into my bed, rather concerned that I will be paying for this excess of garden activity tomorrow in my neck...oh well, that's what painkillers and physio exercises are for, I suppose x