Coming together nicely.

It's been another full on week filled with hard work and organising.

Moomin helped me to clear out what was formerly the garage and is now our tack and tool room. This is the tool end, it was quite a mess as T and I both have lots of tools and gadgets. He has a good excuse, being a builder, but I just love DIY (even if I'm terrible at it!)

 We had a huge delivery of horse feed. It will save me a lot of time and money for fuel plus I like to know that the animals have food in case of emergencies. Being without a car for so long made me realise how much I rely on it to 'pop' to the shops. No more, I'm cutting back on that to once or twice a week.

 The tack has been organised and rugs hung up for the summer. We love those plastic buckets, but in time will go over to the reused car tyre trugs as they last forever which the platic ones don't. Merlin and Bo love to rip the handles off their coloured buckets when they play tug of war!!!

 My handy shelves are waiting to be filled with more homemade creams and insect gels. I've tested the stopitch cream I made on Merlin and not only did he accept it, but it didn't cause any skin reaction, so that will be made in a bigger batch.

 The front garden had become a wild jungle! We booked a builder to come and clear it and lay a proper driveway. Moomin and I took over an hour and 3 barrow loads just to clear this tiny space!

 This was my view from the kitchen the following morning as I cleared the breakfast things. This area to the side of the house was lawn and shrubs. There was no way any of us could have done this work by hand.

 The whole drive was cleared in less than an hour!

 The lawn and shrubs removed and best of all the root of an enormous laurel that I simply detested! It's not like me to dislike any plant, but laurel can be so poisonous and I just don't want anything toxic so close to the house.

 The new drive is finished and the cars are tucked away out of sight.

 The front of the house can now be enjoyed without any cars in the way. I've wanted a gravel garden for so long and I adore this one. The next jobs are, paint the house and build the gazeebo. It may seem like quite a luxury to spend good money on a posh new drive, but this is the first view people will get when they come for a holiday in our Gite and so I think it's a good investment.

We celebrated our new drive with a couple of loungers. These fold up a little too easily and have a habit of swallowing you whole if you move suddenly. I knew they were cheap for a reason, haha :D

The two faded red chairs were left here and have seen better days. I'd love a little French set in iron, but that's out of our price range for now, so I'll paint these and make do. The flower bed here has been cleared of weeds and planted up with the herbs we brought from England. It looks so sweet now and I have my morning coffee here. It's my favourite spot. Gigi likes it too <3

Just in front of the Gite is a sun trap for most of the day. It's shady but still warm in the evenings and a peaceful spot for a little knitting after a hard day. Moomin has been planting seeds like they're going out of fashion. I think I'll have a decent flower garden for once! I don't have much patience with flowers, as much as I love them, I tend to prefer vegetables!

It's a Bank Holiday here today and I intend to do nothing other than feed and play with the animals :D