A mixed few days

It's certainly been a mix of things over the last few days or so. From dramatic thunderstorms earlier in the week to sweltering heat over the last couple of days that was a real energy drainer. It was a mixture of good and bad things too.

On Wednesday one of the two dogs belonging my neighbour across the road had to go to the vet - sore pads on her feet. When she came back the other, smaller dog went up to greet her and was immediately attacked. She was rushed to the vet but has, sadly, lost one of her eyes.Thankfully she pulled through a big operation to repair her face and is now home, sporting an eye patch but quite chipper considering what she went through. The other dog had to be put to sleep and, although that was the right thing to do, it was still very sad to see her being loaded into the car yesterday morning to be taken on her last journey.
So, it was very traumatic for all concerned, and a really depressing end to the week.
On a lighter note, I've been busy getting to grips with the Big Shot and the TH dies and getting samples made for next weekend's event at The Paper Warehouse in Kendal. I was going to take a few pictures of the cards I've been making but my camera batteries ran out, so I will have to get some more tomorrow. I am getting on with some creating I promise!
Meanwhile, this was the horrid sight in the garden today..... .....the large bags are my first two lots of bark chippings but as the little wall at the edge has been crumbling and collapsing bit by bit I thought I should repair that first or I'd have bits of brick everywhere if I did it later. I found some mortar powder in the garage and decided to get it done when I got back from an appointment today. All well and good until a well meaning but rather enthusiastic neighbour spotted me and decided that I should pull down almost all of the wall and set about doing it for me! So, I have very quickly run out of mortar and most of the bricks he pulled out have disintegrated. I was looking forward to testing my bricklaying skills but now it's going to be a much bigger job to sort out the dimensional jig saw that it's turned into. Oh well, I like a challenge!
However, on the up side, here is the "after" picture that I promised in my last post. Yes....I have a lawn, albeit a very small one. It looks very patchy at the moment but will be fine once it's bedded in properly and the turf has rooted. It took about an hour to lay it yesterday and I have a strip left over for filling in any gaps that might appear. I've been watering it every couple of hours or so since then as it has been so scorchingly hot and if it dries out it'll shrink! And, yes, they are my TH scissors lying on the soil there! They have been very handy for outside as well as inside work! I can't describe how good it feels to have got it done as it was really depressing me that it was such a mess and knowing how very much David wanted a lawn in the garden. Someone else was pretty impressed and decided that it was a new and comfy spot to take a rest on.... ....so far, Thomas has been a bit wary but he can be a big wuss! So, once I've repaired the wall, laid the weed suppressing membrane, covered it with bark chippings and put my new bird table (thank you again Joanne and T!) into place, that will be just about all the groundwork done. I'm planning on planting aromatic herbs in the long strip of soil alongside the lawn - not that I do much cooking, but they'll smell nice!
Anyway, next time you pop back here I should have some creative pictures to share so long as I remember the Duracells tomorrow. Thank goodness there's a slight breeze coming through the door now, so it may not be quite such the humid night as it was promising to be. Have a lovely weekend everyone.