A change of plans?

Yesterday it turned out to be Ray we bumped into. He & his wife have only recently moved into Heysham. They arrived just before Christmas last year. Since then most of their time has been spent making their house into a home. A frenzy of redecorating has been under way. Now Ray finally thinks he’s got time to make the model railway set he’s been planning for the last 25 years.

Meanwhile at home the sound of the saw has dominated, along with billows of smoke. Our neighbour has decided his garden too is disappearing under self-seeding trees. The time has come to do something about it.

I wonder if what he does will affect our ideas of what we want to do. I had been thinking in terms of a series of trees on the left side of the garden, where the fence is low, to give us privacy. This neighbour, on our right, is now cutting down some of the trees on his side which may mean we will be overlooked from that side too, so will we have to think of screening of some sort on that side too?

I’m certainly thinking of having plenty of trees & shrubs anyhow. Partially because they will help take up the excess water which we suspect will still be around despite any drainage scheme, partially because they take up a substantial amount of space without requiring too much attention &, above all, because they provide homes for our feathered friends as well as perching places. We want the garden to remain wildlife friendly. Seeing the birds, butterflies & frogs give us so much pleasure. And we love trees anyhow.