For every muddy puddle, rainy walk and dewy grass there is always the same outcome. It doesn't matter if Monty's been towelled dry or not, as soon as he gets inside... he shakes! Water and mud sprays everywhere as the long ears flick backwards and forwards. That done it is off to bed for a good lick clean, then curl up and fall asleep, leaving us to pick up a cloth and clean up.

One Friday the weather forecast was sunny weather so we decided to head out and explore a National Trust Property with a garden. Winding through the English country lanes we arrived in the village of Smallhythe, parked beside the church then followed a path through the churchyard into the garden of Smallhythe Place.

Once called Port House but since the river and sea receded there is no more shipbuilding... and the sea is nowhere to be seen! That was during the early life of the house in the 15th and 16th century. A more recent owner was Ellen Terry, a Victorian actress, who left a variety of stage items and artefacts from her theatrical life which are on display plus some beautifully restored stage costumes.

A half-timbered house, the floor of the first floor is very interesting in the library - the floor boards rise to a peak in the middle of the room! Noticeable above the front door on the outside.

At the back of the house are barns where plays were held in Ellen's day and they continue to this day.

Swirls of trained branches of a climbing rose on the side will be beautiful in summer when the buds are in bloom.

The thatched roof on the barn was inches thick.

Daffodils were still in bloom in the garden and in the field next to the house an old tree was in full blossom - possibly a damson tree (if it isn't please let us know as it was beautiful).

The light was fabulous and the colours gorgeous - Spring in all it's glory.

Recently time just seems to be slipping by, days merging into weeks and weeks into days. Without fail Friday keeps creeping up on us, another week over and a weekend begins.

So much to do and so little time as the saying goes.

L x

Love this colour combination, the pink Ranunculus really offsets the bluey-purple of the Grape Hyacinth, plus the green adds to the fresh Spring feel.

Happy Monday!

Slowly but surely we have been getting through a variety of shapes and sizes of sand paper. Large odd shaped rectangles on an industrial floor sander, round disks on an extremely heavy orbital sander, smaller rectangles (half sheet) for our hand held sander and the smallest rectangles wrapped around the block for hand sanding.

Starting at P40 going all the way through to 120. I definitely feel like my knowledge of sanding has come on a treat. My hands and nails do not feel so good. Maybe wearing gloves is a good idea, they just don't feel good.

The wood floor is looking good. Stripped back. Just a little bit more under the radiator and around the door frames to do. Phew! I say phew but L has done most of it. Alright 98% of it. I just did the hand stuff under the radiator where no machine would reach.

The weather - typical English spring days with every day running the gamut of sun, grey cloud, rain, cold wind and then sun again.

A free month of Netflix has seen us watching a couple of films, plus a couple of food documentaries that are making us seriously think about going vegan. Which is going to be difficult...maybe not difficult, just require a lot of change and thought, changing habits of a life-time.

Other thinking has been about the garden and growing vegetables, with a trip to the local library providing a host of books to read on the subject.

A's highlight of the week: enjoying warm moments in the sun - in the garden with a cup of tea and dog walks.
L's highlight of the week: taking the sanders back to the hire shop!

When April shower's strike what do we see across the sky.... Rainbows! They're today's inspiration for this weeks #Friyay shown in dots.

Roll on the weekend!