Walls! It's all about walls!

I've needed to mow and then re-mow in order to return the upper field area to its previous near golfability status, and it continues to grow at its extraordinary April/May super-rate! Can we really afford that much petrol? No. Do we want to use a scythe to cut it? No. Do we own a scythe? Yes. Do we need sheep? Probably. You'd be horrified if you knew how much I love my ride-on mower...

And so the construction of the terrace begins. As you can see, the land at the back of cottage #1 is quite sloped, so our first step is to build a wall to retain the hard-core and gubbins in the form of a rectangular level surface. Our friend Malcolm, as you may remember, brought his digger to help begin the flattening operation, but, as these photos show, there is still much work to be done before we're drinking gin and tonics by the pool.

And so you see, all of the necessary equipment has been gathered and primed...

Time for a little rest. Each year, this little tree stands out in the midst of a green screen backdrop. I enjoy the way the other trees 'give him room'.

Looking up the fields towards our grubby little collection of buildings

I don't mow this dandeliony end parcel of land, as it's not our land, even though it's the tiny 'toecap' on the end of our middle field. Hope they don't build a high-rise there!

Planting gladioli in with the vegetables last year proved to be awkward; the great big lolloping blooms kept sprawling themselves all over the leeks and broccoli. This year, I've commandeered one of the old stone troughs and some of the ground around it to plant the same gladioli, new dahlias, new Cosmos and a big batch of irises (donated by ever-giving Ems). As usual, I dug up lots of Monsieur Geneix's old bits and bobs, including that tiny soup bottle you can see there. He must have enjoyed scattering clothes all around, as there were buttons and hooks and... ah, I think I understand now! He probably washed his clothes here beside the well. Doesn't explain the soup bottle and broken cutlery though...
Wherever we dig on our land, there is always an odd collection of old rusted treasures. I think the old farmer actually did just throw his discarded items about, willy-nilly.

Last year, I gloated at Kevin's ridiculous attempt at tree pruning, which consisted of cutting the pear tree down. Meanwhile, I carried out a classic 'goblet' prune of my small apple tree. Mine blossomed, his didn't. I was very proud. Then a late May frost killed off all of my young fruits, and the tree appeared to be dead. His pear tree limped through to see another year, but still no blossom. Here is it below:

 And this is my apple tree:

It was SO dead that it just snapped off when Kevin went to inspect it! My gloating days are over. (Yes, I do see that there is room for suspicion here...)

And now back to the wall. You can tell that Kevin is about to embark on some building, as his cup of tea is in the work zone.

Why is the top of the first brick all wet, I hear you ask. Kevin says it helps the bricks to bond to one another. It is definitely not a sign that Kevin initially put the brick in upside down. No.

And that's where we leave the wall for now. More exciting updates next week! Now to MY wall, the wall I used a tower to scale, so that it could be scrubbed and painted. Look what the North has done to it! I'll need to do it all over again, and this time I'm using a mould remover first.

And now to my other wall. I thought I'd pull out some of the weeds and grass on the wall facing the front of the house. That was a very bad idea, as it was the weeds and grass that were keeping it together! I've now created a new danger zone.

The seed-growing is going well. The cucumbers, broccoli and cauliflower are already sprouting! We SHALL eat this year!

This lot are out partying again... blooming firebugs! They still look like African tribal masks to me.