The garden receives some attention

Besides adding flowers and shrubs gratefully donated by friends in the Charente we gave the fruit trees some well needed attention. Most of the limbs were crossing and the central area was clogged up.
Then it was a haircut for the maples that had started to become tall and rampant. The hedge in-between our house and the neighbours that is 2.5 metres tall and over a metre wide needed clipping. The sides did not pose a problem, but cutting the top put me out of action for two weeks when l strained my back. 
Will have to invest in one of those machines that has an extension bar and rotates at the top, cutting the top from the ground.

 before and after photos of the trimmed trees.

Also cut down the hazel in the bottom corner of the garden. It was going rampant and threatening to take down the fences. So we waited for the red squirrels (dark brown in truth) remove all the nuts and then we cut them all down. Storing all the wood for 2017 fires.

 Hazel being cut down.

 Walked up to the refurbished Moulin, only fifteen minutes climb to the top of the hill. The views are magnificent.360 degrees.

 Managed to relax and try out painting in oils. Judith wanted three impressionistic Puffa boats for the kitchen. She was very specific, so managed to finish one and start on two others. Also started a few other paintings. Great medium, so much fun.