For a while now, I have been wanting to move the paving stones from the center of the yard to the side. The thought was that we don't use the stones to walk on, since we always cut diagonally from the door to the yard to the shed. Instead, we wanted a square section of pavers where we could set up our table and chairs when we barbecue. It was a big undertaking for one person, but yesterday I did it. It required me to lift a paving stone, move it over to where it was going and cut down into the grass around the stone. I carefully removed the grass in one whole square section, and put it where the paving stone WAS, thus leaving no part of the garden without grass. It took me hours and the stones are VERY heavy. Today I'm sore all over, and I'm still on the fence about whether I like the result.

NEW ADDITION!
I had a delphinium here that I salvaged after a severe slug attack, but then the wind broke the rest of the stems in half. After agonizing about what I should put in its place, I finally saw this very hydrangea bush in B&Q nestled with about 20 other of the same. THIS one, however, was calling out to me, so I bought it and introduced it to the garden. It's very happy to have a new home and looks lovely against the fence proudly showing off its bunches of blooms.

I put a new trellis up behind the climbing plants (finally). It was easy enough (€13.00 expandable accordion) and the Clematis looks beautiful trained onto it. I trained the winter jasmine a little later and it looked less-good but I'm hoping it will fill in soon. The 'herb planter' has filled out in the past week and now I have an abundance of thyme, coriander, rosemary, and parsley.

The Shady Corner

This part of the garden gets little direct sun, and as a result, stays quite damp. A woman at the Clarinbridge Garden Center recommended the plant in the back, which is thriving here. I rounded out the corner with a blue hosta and some ferns. Most of these plants are perennials, so hopefully I can pretty much leave it as-is in the years to come. The little trolls moved in here one night, and are quite happy to hang under the hosta.

Two weeks of amazing weather and finally all the plants are in the ground (except for the new pack of pink allysum I bought yesterday!) It's been dry enough that I've actually been worried the plants would dry out. I've never been able to say that since I've moved to Ireland! Now when everything fills out, it should be spectacular...I hope.

The garden. This year I started early, planting seedlings in my little greenhouse, which unfortunately was blown over in the Irish winds scattering my seedlings all over the yard. After I was finished crying, Kevin and I set about rescuing them and putting them back in containers of soil. Needless to say, everything got a bit mixed up so there were beans growing around sunflowers, huge clusters of broccoli in tiny containers, and daisies mixed in with absolutely everything.

Crisis averted, and the seedlings were underway.