I cannot believe that I haven’t written here or shared any photographs since February. So much has been happening and we have been so very busy that it has been hard to keep up, let alone find time to document what I have been up to.

And this is the amazing thing that we have been up to- we are so in love with our new cabin…

The building project has completely altered my relationship with the garden; as the centre of gravity has changed. I realise as I write this how infrequently I now walk all the way down the end of the garden, to the woods.

The middle of the garden, that used to be an area that I walked through on my way to my favourite seat in the orchard, has now become a garden in itself and the new terrace in front of the cabin has become a favourite place to sit, so that I go to the orchard comparatively infrequently, and paradoxically it now feels further away, while the upper middle garden with the wisteria walkway and kitchen garden, between the cabin and the house, has become the area that I walk most often.  It is as though the addition of the cabin has changed my whole relationship with the garden, in the way that when another child is born into the family the whole constellation and atmosphere changes.

While the cabin was being built I struggled to love the garden, especially the bit in the middle and all the mud and disruption meant that I often avoided going down the garden. It went from being my ‘happy place’ to being a place I barely recognised. Then when the cabin was finished it demanded all of my attention and care ( like a new baby- to remain with my metaphor) and the rest of the garden was sadly neglected. I almost felt guilty as I walked past areas of the garden that before had received so much care and I also failed in large part to propagate seeds, especially for my vegetable garden.

So now I am playing catch up and trying to imagine what I will do next year to bring it all together. As usual I imagine that next year it will all be different and I will be on top of all the jobs and create the perfect garden with just the right balance of wildness and cultivation…maybe.