Almost there.....
Georgia and
Fintan got going with the planting in her bed - lettuce, a pumpkin, carrots a mix of annuals called "butterfly mix" and red cosmos, later we added dwarf sweet peas to a wigwam in the middle. Raff has runner beans, baby sweetcorn, carrots and a strawberry plant, Stan has courgette "for daddy" and baby sweetcorn to follow.
And I got going with my planting - some of Georgia's spare lettuce - she had sown a whole packet earlier in the year which I 'lovingly' and through gritted teeth, pricked out - I think there were 90! Mum has some in London, Dot has many more and I got the last 20 or so!
I also transplanted a load of leeks which our lovely Asparagus people, Peter and Carolyn from Blackbird Cottage had given me. Plus peas which I had sown in guttering a la
Sarah Raven.
Calendula Officinalis, self sown seedlings from the 'old' veg patch to add some colour. Also French beans went in, dwarf and
climbing, various salads, beetroot and more peas as seed for succession. It has now rained for the last 2 nights and today, so I think it should all do very well - now we need a little warmth! The picture that follows is from the doorway of my shed where I sit ad drink tea and contemplate what to do next. I intend to keep taking pics from this spot to chart the progress.
And meanwhile in a parallel universe Michael has been progressing with the
treehouse project. He has come up with an amazing engineering solution to the fact that it is very windy here and the
treehouse platform needs to be able to move with the wind. I can't really show it with pictures, but the joists are only attached at one end to the beams so that they can slide back and forward
without shearing the bolts. Isn't he clever!! By the end of yesterday he had completed the floor and a ladder - now he's working on the anti-falling off structure!
Treehouse building needs MANY tools!
Happy children!!
One of my overwhelming experiences of the garden is that it is truly a work in progress, not a museum piece. Christopher Lloyd worked very closely with his head gardener Fergus to keep it fluid and since Christopher's death it is still always changing and moving forward. 
The gardens are laid out in amongst formal yew hedging and topiary but are not at all formal themselves - the only straight lines were in the kitchen gardens - even the buildings have wobbly edges - as with this amazing barn roof.
Another striking and well known feature of Christopher Lloyd's planting is the riotous mix of colours, none more so that in the huge collections of potted plants by the front door and on various terraces, I'm not sure I am brave enough. 
So having exchanged details, photographed the scene and calmed down a bit we turned around and came home to report it to the insurers - never a great process. As we didn't get him to admit liability we now have to wait for the insurers to pursue Tescos to admit liability before we can get it fixed, luckily it seems to be drivable. Apparently the fact that we were stationary should make it fairly clear cut. Ho Hum. So an hour later we set off in car no. 2 and finally arrived at Dan and Sarah's at half one. It was great to see them, Samuel had changed so much since we last saw him at his Christening - lots of 'words', many understandable, and a great appetite. Not to be left out having already had lunch he wanted to join us for ours and tucked into the red pepper and basil bread from Oscar's and the roast chicken with tyme, lemon and garlic. I think the chocolate brownines may have been top of his list though!
Jack is the spitting image of Samuel at the same age (6 weeks) Let's hope they don't end up looking like Dan!
We had a really great time there before heading back on the train - via a rather fortuitous walk to the tube which took us past Ambala - home of the best Indian sweeties in town!
"mmmm, where are they all?"
After that we went for a lovely, very hot, walk at Oare followed by a superb lunch at the Three Mariners in Oare - recently taken over by new people and serving scrumptious fresh food. 
I think they would pass the 
On Sunday we carried on with our garden plans. Michael is building a fab new tree house - less dangerously high than the last. I seemed to spend all day digging out periwinkle and other weeds, which I had to do before they delivered the earthto fill the BIG hole, and going to the tip -where I am now a regular! It was another scorching day so we got the paddling pool out - Stan didn't however spend long in it, but did spend the rest of the day naked. Because Michael was 'playing' with rusty nails and rotted wood, we made him wear wellies, quite a look I think you'll agree!
Now there's the small matter of 12 tons of soil to fill in the hole and then I can get busy building raised beds, sowing some grass seed where the path used to be and and and .... all sorts of exciting projects..