It’s been a long time since I last posted, largely because even finding time to write is hard with a new baby. However, it’s also because work has slowed right down, with learning to be parents higher on the priority list than DIY.

Things haven’t completely stopped though. We’ve been focusing our efforts on the garden, with the help of Chris’s brother, who we’ve contracted out some of the work to.

Chris has been desperate to tidy the drive for a long time. This involved borrowing the mini digger from our neighbours, and Rich and Chris clearing the drive. Rich could then build an earth ramp up to our garden. Here he flattened out the lumpy ground, before adding new top soil.

The digger then returned down its ramp, which was spread out on the drive. Finally stone was added to neaten things up.

Next Rich and Chris rebuilt the walls lining the drive, back filling with earth.

My pre-baby request had been to fence the garden, so I could let the dog potter around alone while I took care of the baby. A little later than planned but Chris and Rich did a great job.

The dog of course quickly learnt how to open the gate, so a latch was added.

I’ve not had a great deal of time to spend on DIY – my hands generally full or too tired to start on jobs. However, I’ve plodded my way through clearing the bed in front of the house, which was full of rubble and weeds, filling it with soil, and planting it.

I spent the first month post-partum weeding out our big flowerbed, which was overrun with creeping buttercup. It’s still a little dominated by daisies, but it’s been full of colour and life all summer so I can let it slide for now.

I also re-cleared the side bed, which became overrun with yellow loosestrife, nettles and ground elder while my back was turned.

Our long-term plan for the newly cleared area is for it to be where the play equipment will go. However, as it’s not needed for a fair few years, we’ve put down wildflower seed for now.

It’s now over four years since we first stepped into our house as owners. It’s not done yet, and we’ve got even less time than before, but it’s a lovely place to bring up a baby.