Planning indoors and outdoors...

It has been excellent weather here in the Duchy this weekend,although now at the time of writing seven am on Monday, it is a tad overcast for my tastes. We have spent much of the time gardening and improving the garden both for flowering plants and vegetables too. I know from your blogs that quite a few of you enjoy your gardens or allotments too.My wife Jan ,who has an excellent eye for design inside and outside ,keeps coming up with excellent tweaks,changes and enhancements for the garden.After this we work together to execute them.

One of the joys of gardening is the time it allows for reflection and a chance to think one's own thoughts- be they profound or otherwise. The same can be said with regard to ironing- something I find is in much demand here...

Planning ,dreaming & thinking are some of the greatest joys of the hobby. It is free ( albeit with the potentiality to give the Ducal Warchest a nasty dent...) and can be done in odd moments anywhere- garden,railway station or even speeding over the Forth Rail Bridge on my daily commute. For some years now I have used Dodo pads for combined hobby and work use. They are fun to read well laid out and entertain others at meetings who stick to pedestrian diary formats. I always keep mine as I am a hoarder by inclination. It is good to keep one's hobby/work ideas to look back on even if they never come to anything...

I have enclosed pictures of the Dodo Pad weekly format as well as an example of my jottings - in this case a map of my Parent's garden circa 1986 drawn last year from memory. It is styled as it could have been used (but sadly never was) for out door gaming in the style of that tremendous chap John Ruddles . His garden was filled with concrete houses,54mm figures ,buildings and much more. Last June I was musing upon using the garden in some way for al fresco gaming. I have posted a photo also of the garden taken yesterday which gives some idea of the layout here. Soon the Beech hedge will come into it's glory and provide a discrete barrier between ourselves and passers-by for around half the garden. This area with the three small Apple trees in it is the one I was thinking of with regard to outdoor gaming this July and August. I am still at the thinking stage and no doubt when the gardening boots are donned today more thinking ,planning and jottings will taken place. I'll let you know any more developments and perhaps even post more photos.