After two weeks of chaos, this is the day the paving is finally finished. It deserves a celebratory post. The noise of a brick saw has to be one of the worst sounds in the world, and then, there’s the fact that it kept tripping the electricity. Even that wasn’t the worst. Preparing the ground for paving kept throwing up surprises — like broken roof tiles buried sharp side up in the ground. Who does things like that?

This is the side of the house with the new raised garden bed that will hold up the fence that blew over in the storm. Isn’t it pretty? I didn’t take a “before” photo because some memories need to be forgotten. It was ugly and dangerous. Now comes the fun bit of planting tomatoes and basil and maybe cucumbers for summer. I’ve already eyed off the lovely north-facing fence and intend to grow pea this winter. Nothing beats fresh-picked peas.

And Christmas is officially in the house. The nativity from Bethlehem via Oxfam is out in my study.

Now, I have to write like a demon and catch up after the chaos of the last few weeks. Or is that, months?