........ of the war with the neighbours' many horrid nasty cats! We have tried so many things to keep the cats from using the planters at the edge of the deck as a toilet. We used to grow vegetables in the planters, but who would want to eat something that a cat might have messed beside. Some things just don't work, some work for a little while. The teasels which Maureen gave me last autumn kept them away for the winter, but then in the spring we realised that they had gone soft and were no longer a prickly deterrent. So Malcolm came up with the plan to gather a bag of flat stones every time we were on the beach, and here is what we hope will be the ultimate cat deterrent
the garden is blooming, with yet another clematis flowering
there is still a flush of colour at the tips of the pieris
my Lace Lady tree seems to have doubled in size this summer!
this shrub, and the lambs' ears below it, are always buzzing with bees and hover flies
the climbing rose in the pergola is pretty in pink
this is to the right of the studio door - shame about the drain pipe!
a riot of colour in one of the many pots on the deck
and more colour at the edge of the little cobbled area under the pergola - Malcolm made the chair and beehive from pallets!
some of the many lavender plants - they too are always buzzing with bees
and to finish - two beautiful red roses