Full of anticipation

I’m sitting here, waiting for the laptop to boot up. I’m half-contemplating the joys of the casserole the Fox has cooked through the night – beef in stout. It’s a while since he last used Big Ears, our slow cooker. This is a real sign that winter is here. I’ve just peeled a few spuds & sprouts to accompany the beef.

The phone rings. It’s the landscape gardener. The Fox was going to e-mail him to let him know our conclusions. Has he done so & this is the response? No, he was obviously too busy getting the dinner prepared. But this landscaper, unlike the other, is eager to hear if we’ve come to any conclusions.

Anyhow the landscaper thought he’d ring & see how we were getting on. I told him we had done a lot of thinking. We had come to certain conclusions, certain changes we would need doing. He’ll be round this afternoon so we can discuss things with the present plans in front of us.

We want 3 main changes. The first is the patio area. On the new design the eating area will be further in the garden than at present, under a pergola. However, we think that we would prefer the eating area to be nearer the house, where it is more private from neighbours & where I will be able to reach for a longer time without having to get the wheelchair out to get there.

The second change we want is for the far end of the garden to be a less formal design. In the present design there is essentially a circular design centred on an artwork of some sort. We can’t help thinking we would prefer an essentially woodland/shrubbery look with meandering paths through. This area we were thinking would be essentially for our wildlife & be allowed to be fairly wild in feel.

My third issue is the area around the greenhouse which hasn’t been included in the design at all. The present trees screening us from our neighbours are all looking sickly – they’ve been flooded too many times. They can’t be easily pruned with the result they are pressing hard on the greenhouse. I half-expect the glass to start breaking any time. The need for a screen is essential as our bedroom windows look out over this area & are very close to the boundary, very easy for the neighbours to look in. To my mind it would be a pity to discover in a few years time we have to go through all the trauma of getting things sorted out then when we could get it done now, while all the equipment etc will be here anyway.

There may well be good reasons for the design as it is at present but that is the point of the discussion today. We want to be confident the design we’ve agreed will suit us for many years to come & bring us great pleasure all that time. I’m really looking forward to finding out what transpires.