Spring came to visit on our 'Volunteer Wednesday' and gave us a fleeting, tantalisingly brief experience of days that will soon be upon us - and it was great - a little sunshine as opposed to the bitterly cold wind and continuous rain.

More mud piles than defined flower beds!

As we are entered into a community garden competition, some thought has been put into creating the garden so it flows as seamlessly as possible between its various sectors, creating interest as we walk through.

Realising we needed " colour " within eye range of the cabin, Isobel Kate and Brendan set about creating a new cut flower bed in front of our Portugese Laurels whilst Nick lopped the Leylandii behind them before they got too tall.

Nick had already measured the warmth of our vegetable plot which established that the soil was too cold to plant our seed potatoes. The earth was still very soggy, despite being covered, which would have set rot into the tubers so we'll have a look next week and see if the situation has improved. We should have the wood on site by next week to frame the strips which will tidy up that area greatly.

In the afternoon Lucy and I set about the path that leads onto the acre from the Old Vicarage. The border planks have been replaced by brick which Scarlett also helped to lay. Brendan has also heavily pruned back a Laurel and a Buddleia which means the whole path to our cabin can be walked upon. The pruning had the added advantage of bringing a beautiful flowering cherry tree into view.

There's much planning going on too, with Lucy and Scarlett keen to make a start on the secluded/serenity garden. Nick and I spent time discussing the pond and soon we'll need to turn our attention in that direction.

There's so much going on; vegetable patches, secluded gardens, flower beds, willow weaving, tree planting....quite literally there's something for everyone on our acre and that's what is making it such a very special place to be.