Cat's away, the mouse might play...or garden...

Yesterday, to save my Mum having to keep raising her eyebrows and 'tutting' about the huge pile of garden debris that is STILL on the front drive after umpteen weeks, I spent the afternoon cutting up said garden debris and shoving it into the sacks the bark chippings came in, ready to transport to the tip. I sustained many scratches, five splinters and a large blister on the middle finger of my right hand. I managed to get all of the splinters out bar one which, this morning, was red and producing bubbles of pus. I hope this won't result in my hand eventually turning green and dropping off, for that would be very inconvenient indeed.

And whilst I was out in the front garden I scrabbled about on my hands and knees on the driveway with a trowel clearing weeds and moss from the spaces between the paving bricks, and then I thought, 'I don't like that rhodedendron' over there so I set about it with the secateurs and created another pile of garden debris for Mum to 'tut' over. However, the death of the rhodedendron left a nice space in the corner of the front garden. What can I put there, I thought. It looks about the right size for a...

...BEE-HIVE!

I stood back and looked at the front garden with new eyes. My enthusiasm for bee-keeping has waned recently, mostly I think because I keep e-mailing the Bee-Keepers Association asking for information about courses and meetings and impressing on them how keen I am to have a go at keeping bees, but they have so far ignored my interest. However, I have discovered the existence of a bee-farm on the Isle of Sheppey and, if the web-site is anything to go by, it will be well worth a visit and chat. And my interest might well be re-invigorated.

So, I was thinking, cordon off that area for bee hive using willow trellis (I am very keen on willow trellis at the moment), make circular beds across the lawn between the new willow and the magnolia. Fill circular beds with bee flowers (of which there are many in the greenhouse). Put new gravel in space under window and cover with large containers filled with more flowers, tall ones, that will disguise the presence of a bee-hive.

A picture of a re-vamped front garden materialised in my mind.

And Andy is going to be away from home for 4 days to attend the BSAVA Conference in Birmingham. Leaving me with the car. Alone. With bee garden fever.

Now I don't want to alarm Andy. And come tomorrow, it might be snowing and I'll have gone off the idea of playing at being Charlie Dimmock and hide indoors for 4 days writing novel number three and eating chocolate chip shortbread and liver. (Not together I hasten to add - but Andy won't eat liver and I love it, and there's a bag of it in the freezer just waiting for the opportunity when the only person I have to feed is myself.) In fact, the most that might happen could be a few strategically placed canes and bits of string to mark out my ideas and a trip to the Isle of Sheppey.

All I'm saying, Andy, is you should brace yourself for your return on Sunday. Just in case.