Our first garden painting day dawned damp and chilly but the collective talent of our visitors was undimmed, with some gorgeous still-life flower paintings in progress by the end of the morning. A brighter afternoon gave Chris the chance to do a quick demonstration and some of the hardier souls managed a couple of hours outside. For June it is extraordinarily cold – no more than about 14C today.

My curved bench for Tatton Show arrived today and I collected the paving slabs yesterday so for the first time we can actually see all of the main components for the garden. The most satisfying thing is that it looks almost exactly as I imagined it. I’m starting to think it will look OK. I finished painting the fence and Deb had a moment of inspiration for edging the fig tree seat – lead flashing. So here I am, happy as Larry, jigsaw in hand making the frame for it.

June 27, 2007