This first photograph shows me amongst the debris of a lazy Sunday lunch on the lawn, under the old apple tree. Notice the (mostly) bare earth in the bed behind me - this is a project for the boys this summer - to dig it over for me so that I can replant it in the autumn. I hope for great things to appear there next year - for the moment, it still awaits attention on its final few yards (hint, hint!).

The table and chairs have seen better days, so we have promised ourselves a new set for next year - or even this year, if we nake it to the sales of garden furniture which seem to be happening everywhere at the moment. If I am honest, I tend to just buy more plants at these sales, where some exceptionally good bargains can be found now. They are finishing their flowering, you see - along with all the tatty plants that have been pushed to the backs of the displays for several months, and have become straggly and wan in the process. Nobody seems to want them, so they are sold off very cheaply.

But I love to rescue them, bring them home, water, cut back and tend them. Next year, in my garden, they will all come up a-flourishing, I hope - I'll have the satisfaction of knowing that I rescued them from the compost heap, and what is even better, I got a bargain as well!