At home: Welcome to the garden

On days like this I feel very lucky to work from home - Sunshine, freshly baked gingernut biscuits cooling in the kitchen and a pot of tea by my side.  What better way to get in the right frame of mind for working on exciting business plans?

There is a cute water feature surrounded by white stones which remind me of island hopping in Greece, although we don't actually turn it on very often as it seems like such a waste of water.  The neighbour's cat tends to get more use of it, as a mirror in which to preen himself...

And there is a wall of black bamboo which reminds me of where I used to live in Kyoto, surrounded by rice fields and bamboo forest.

But my favourite bit of the garden is this sunken table, which has benches on each side and played host to a party of 15 with room to spare last weekend.  We had the clematis cut back a bit, got rid of the bindweed and tidied up the deck so it is now a lovely shady place to gossip, play cards or relax with a chilled glass of wine...  It looks magical at night, all lit up with small spotlights in the steps, and little candles on the table.  Now all we need is a barbecue...

Having lived in flats with no outdoor space for years, this is a very special place indeed. 

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For more peeks around our new house see here