The posh shed

After the demolition

The new summerhouse is now complete, and a great improvement on the old one (and not just because the old one was rotting away).  It's slightly larger and allows us to fit in a big enough table for four to eat, either inside or on the veranda, and refinements such as insulation and windows that open should allow it to be used in a greater range of weathers.  Having a summerhouse in that corner of the garden also provides a significant focal point; in the brief gap between the demolition of the old one and the construction of the new one that part of the garden felt quite featureless.  In the latter stages of the work we were able to use it in the evenings, but just as it was finished the weather turned blustery and showery, so we're waiting for better weather to enjoy it fully!

All finished!

The rain is very welcome despite curtailing work in the garden; everything was getting a bit dry.  And it obliged me to crack on with work in the greenhouse, pricking out seedlings (that should have been dealt with long ago) and sowing seeds of hardy annuals and overwintering veg.

I see that the cyclamen have started flowering; autumn isn't far away.

The adult birds are finishing their moult and returning to the garden; we've had at least one adult robin back (thus far tolerating the youngster who is dominating the patio) and more blackbirds about, as well as the pair of chaffinches and various tits, and a brief visit by a male bullfinch picking seeds off a tall grass (I'm always surprised how such a chunky bird can balance on thin stems without bringing them crashing down).  A group of young goldfinches was feeding in the plum tree one day, and a hen party of five female pheasants came to strut about in the rain, pecking at fallen plums and posing on top of the garden table.  A willow warbler also visited the birdbath; we usually see them around the time of their migration and I've always assumed that they were on passage, but this bird was moulting (either an adult, or a juvenile getting its adult plumage) and I doubt that a bird undergoing the stress of moulting would be undertaking a flight to Africa.  Anyway it's too early for them to migrate, so it looks as though this one at least has spent its summer around here.  There would be plenty of food for it at the moment as there have been a great many flies about; a flock of the local house martins was feeding over the garden for a couple of days, and the sparrows were also fly-catching, sometimes just over our heads (which could be disconcerting for us, though it didn't seem to bother them!).  We still have large sparrow parties on the lawn and in the shrubs, and enjoying perching on the garden bench.  One day there was a distant bird-call, and all the sparrows immediately dived for cover; it must have been an alarm, because a couple of minutes later the sparrowhawk dashed across the bottom of the garden.  The warning system obviously worked that time.