Wow, the sun came out today and Bear and I were smitten with the urge to do some gardening.

This year has been so wet that the weeds have overtaken everything but, with a bit of help from Yvette's gardener, the bank outside our bedroom has finally been cleared and I have put stepping stones in strategic places so that I can a) climb up  without slithering backwards and b) have somewhere to stand with my feet at a reasonable angle when I'm planting or weeding.

The next bit to be tackled was the border by the terrace. Bear doen't differentiate between flowers and weeds and is always dumping tiles, bits of wood etc on top of the wallflowers and other plants that do look a bit 'flowerless' at this time of year. But while forking up weeds today I discovered that he had planted a stake right through my poor azalea. It seems to be alive still so I hope it survives to flower next year.

It has to be said that I'm a crap gardener but Bear has various ways of making things worse. For example:

Mowing down the raspberry canes when he cuts the grass.

Cutting with the mulching blades when the grass is too wet/too high and not cleaning the mower after use.

Tramping over plants or (see above) dumping rubbish on top of them. Last year he even plonked his sundial on top of my baby rosemary bush!

Last but not least: tramping through the house without changing his shoes - and it's amazing how he does this when I've just washed the floor.

Either we'll have to find a house with a smaller, low maintenance garden or Bear will have to find a flat on his own.