Delightful Weather

We are having the most delightful weather these days--lots of sun, just enough of a breeze, and very few clouds. Can you believe I stayed in my sleeveless top all evening long yesterday? It feels good to be wearing lighter clothes and sandals. Poor Don had gone to the golf course yesterday morning in a long-sleeved shirt! He said he was miserable and I'm not surprised to hear it because the Comrie Golf Course is a sun trap up on an south-facing hill.

I realized after I published yesterday's blog that I had totally forgotten to put up photos of my quilts in the St Fillans exhibition, so here they are. The red backdrop behind the 5 colourful pieces actually changes my digital camera's perception and everything turns out too lurid but you get the idea. The original idea was to hang the 3 quilts that are in the basket beneath the tree quilt on an artistic "clothes line" but the line wasn't strong enough to hold them so they took on the role of "laundry". The Clootie Well Tree quilt got a lot of notice and queries, as did the quilts in the other grouping.

Yesterday Ally came back and finished putting the exterior cladding on the front of the house. He also did some work inside the house. Only a few interior items need his touch but he's not here today. Most likely, he's waiting for the long-awaited worktop for the kitchen to come in, which is due tomorrow, so he can finish all jobs in one go.

George Ferguson the roofer and 2 helpers arrived bright and early this morning to get the roof finished. George thinks they can get the job done in a day but if not, it won't take much more time than that to finish.

We're still waiting for the wallpaper to come in so we can get that put up and the remaining interior painting done. Don spoke with Raymond Cramb last night who is checking to see why the paper isn't in. Now that the last of the exterior walls have been clad, the remaining exterior painting can be done as well. Then Gordon the sparky can come back and put the two porch lights on the verandah, the porch light at the front entrance, and install the new front door bell.

We're still waiting for that wardrobe/cupboard to get installed in the studio but I suppose I'd better finish putting things away as best I can because who knows when that cupboard will actually be delivered.

Now we're starting to think about indoor accessories such as window treatments and cushions and pillows for the windowseats. And we're beginning to talk about landscaping ideas. Don picked up 3 outdoor lights to illuminate the new walkway so we will need to get someone here to dig a trench for the cable. Fortunately, we had talked with Gordon about this and the cable has been added; it only needs to be placed where we want it, the lights hooked up, and the cable covered over with earth. I have been reading through plant books to figure out what we can plant in the new front beds. They will have to be shade-tolerant as the house will block most of the afternoon sun. I'm thinking that we may simply buy blooming annuals and a few herbaceous plants (perennials) for now. This will give us time to be more deliberate in our final plan. Meanwhile, I have put a call in to Billy Swanson, the gardner who has helped us in the past and who also was the gardener for this garden's previous owner. There is a lot of pruning that needs to be done now.

Don's off to the golf course and at 11, I will go to the Royal for coffee. After lunch Don and I will go to Perth to get some plants and garden accessories, such as bordering material (low fences) for the beds, some window boxes, an archway to give a good start to the new pathway, and a trellis with a planter box beneath it for sweetpeas which we can use to cut off access to the existing steps leading down to the patio. We want people who come to the house in the future to use the pathway to the new front door. This will render the patio more private and leave the French doors for going from the house to the patio and back. (Right now, people tend to want to use the French doors as the main entrance.)

Yesterday Ally carried a lot of the construction debris to the skip. The patio is now starting to look like a patio rather than a construction yard. In the late afternoon, Don and I took glasses of iced tea out there and sat at the picnic table, which hasn't been used since last autumn. I reclaimed the wind chimes from where they'd been stored in the garage and rehung them from a lower branch of the apple tree. We moved a few planters around and began to feel like we are getting back to normal both inside and outside. It feels really good.