The Adventure Starts Now

With so much to do we just did not know where to start.
There was the unpacking to get on with, shopping to get, a mattress to find, the garden and veggie patch to attack, firewood to chop, photographs to take, dogs to walk, and of course exploration, and it was raining, but that is why Scotland is so lush and green, plus it was keeping the dreaded midge away.
So to make things simple we just got on with a little bit of everything.

The huge ancient Oak

The wee burn

The wildlife in the garden is like nothing we have seen before. At least four different species of butterfly, two types of bee, a colony of sparrows,will have to watch them with the fruit next year and try to beat them to the harvest, one Robin that we have seen, but have heard a couple of others nearby, swifts, Buzzards on the hills behind the house, and the most amazing of all bats. We don't know what species they are yet, they are fairly large. As you step out the door in the evening they are flying around our heads. We have counted four so far and guess they live in the derelict part of the barn or in the ancient Oak that stands at the head of the garden. A lovely wee burn also runs to the side of the Oak which has been lulling us to sleep at night with its gentle trickle.

The garden itself (secret garden as we call it, because the entrance is hidden by honeysuckle) is full of well established shrubs,although very much over grown and untouched for what looks like many years. We found a compost bin buried at the back of the secret garden, that, after a good wipe down, now has pride of place at the entrance to the veggie patch. Numerous blackberries and a huge rhubarb patch mark the leading edge of this. On the far edge I have dug in and erected a poly tunnel. It took ten hours to get  from a patch on the ground to poly tunnel erection. The site I chose for it was where a Dutch barn used to stand and the ground was full of huge stones and hardcore, but it was the best location as far as good sun and shelter from the wind was concerned. So with more gallons of sweat and cups of tea we have warm shelter for the tomatoes, peppers, chillies, and whatever else for next year. I dug down to 18 inches in a 12 inch wide rectangular trench, placed the frame in and pulled the cover over, back filled the trench from the outside, over turned the cover on the inside under the frame legs and then filled that up with the hardcore from the trench. The wind coming off the hills is quite intense apparently so I was taking no chances.