Summer at Roskhill

Apologies for my long absence to any regular readers of this blog - now that the Barn works are completed, and the summer visitor season is at its height, I have rather too many demands on my time, and I'm afraid this blog is one of the first things to be set aside for 'I'll do that later'...

So now, with a little spare time on my hands, I'll attempt a quick update- which will also hopefully give a flavour of what summer at Roskhill is like for me and Sue.

Firstly - here is the barn this morning -

Roskhill Barn, 16 July 2015

I have now completed the painting of the front, and am half way down the larger gable end - so I've done the skews and top of the wall - which are the highest bits which I am not so keen on doing, as teetering on the top of what feels like a very tall ladder is rather outside my comfort zone!

Inside, I have completed the decorating of our bedroom and the new downstairs bathroom, and have also tiled the bathroom floor.

We don't have two beds - that's a mirrored wardrobe on the right...!

No much to say about a bathroom!

As to the garden - Sue does the borders and I am in charge of mowing and strimming. We don't have a lot of flowers, as summer storms are not uncommon, and it was heartbreaking in our first summer here to see all our bedding plants blown to bits by the wind. All the same, the garden manages to look very pretty, and of course, being surrounded by such wonderful scenery, one can always look over the fence...!!!

The Barn, front garden

The road through Roskhill
The Barn entrance is the white chippings bit on the right - the trees are in our garden
On the left of the road is the allotment.
I keep the verges trimmed - there's plenty of un-trimmed verges elsewhere!

Finally, here is the allotment. It's not easy to see in this picture, but the broad beans are coming on really well, as are the mangetout peas. The onions and carrots look good, and the potatoes will be ready to start digging quite soon. The runner beans are still struggling, but I have some more in pots in the cold frame straining to be planted out - I'll try to get that done this afternoon. I also have brussels sprout plants and broccoli to plant out, though after our cold wet spring, they haven't flourished, so may not do much.

Roskhill Barn allotment, 16 July 2015

And now, with my allocated blog time almost up, I need to get myself organised to dash off and 'turn round' Summer Cottage, and have it ready for the next group of visitors who arrive later today. Tomorrow, I turn round Loch View, and Saturday, it is the turn of Rowan Cottage. I get to do all these because Sue's rota means she is working today and the next few days. Still, she can do some of the ironing in her next period of days off!