BEFORE AND AFTER

today ive been pottering in the garden, its not been as hot today so i thought i'd get a bit of weeding etc done. its melissa's birthday tomorrow so we have a fun filled weekend ahead and will be out most of the time, so thought i best give the garden a bit of love and attention today. as you may know im starting to get green fingers recently and although my garden is know where near as impressive as my mums http://ruthjen.blogspot.com/ it is coming along slowly. so here are a few before and after shots for you;

i cant believe my border has filled out so much in just a few weeks....to this!!
and here is the bird table mick made for me and some newly planted strawberry plants

and look, we've even got some red ones...how exciting!!

A BEGINNERS GARDEN

as some of you may know, my mum is an avid gardener, and has the most beautiful garden ever. this year i've decided to follow in her footsteps and try, i repeat try, to take some pride in my own garden. when i moved into my house 2 years ago, the only plants growing were stinging nettles and the previous tenants had decided to have a bonfire smack bang in the middle of the lawn, it was an absolute tip!! i wish now i'd taken some before and after photos, but at that time i hadnt even heard of a digital camera and never owned a pc or heard of blogging lol! this year i've pulled my finger out and started on my garden. ive painted the fences, dug out some borders and planted some flowers. with a little help fom my mum of course lol!

im so pleased with the results and its a pleasure to sit in my garden now. im just waiting for summer to finally arrive so i can laze in the garden with a glass of wine and admire my handy work.

NOT SO HAPPY TUESDAY

ive had quite a sad day today, ive been thinking about mick(my stepdad) alot the last couple of days, not that i dont think of him everyday, but yesterday something happened that made me 100% positive he's watching over me. when he was alive he made me a bird table, and as ive been getting the gardening bug lately, his bird table is now proudly erected in a small corner of my garden. well yesterday i'd got some compost and planted a few plants underneath it, its sorta like a little shrine area to him. i was sitting admiring the area, when i heard what sounded like someone knocking on my gate, next to the bird table, no one there, except the biggest most beautiful dragonfly sitting directly on top of mick's bird table. now i truly believe that it was mick telling me ...well done! today he has been in my thoughts constantly, i even started blubbing at work, something i havent done for ..oh at least a week! my friend at work was so sweet telling me not to feel silly. mick only passed away 11 and a half weeks ago, so its all still so raw. i think i try and be so strong for my kids and im trying to keep life as near normal as i can for their sakes, but sometimes i cant help but to let it all out. i just wish i could turn back the clock to 3 years ago. my life and all those in my family especially my mums, will never be the same without him, but its reassuring to know he's still watching over us all.