In which I learn that some things are meant to be enjoyed, not finished.

I think that goes for a lot of life. It teaches me not to say ‘this must be perfect’ and I’m so, so sorry that ‘Once Upon a Christmas’ wasn’t. It’s sorted out now, so if you’ve got the wrong story, then please return and download it, and forgive me.

I’m working on the garden again at the moment, so here are some pictures. Please bear in mind that it isn’t perfect; it won’t be perfect any time soon, and I’m happily moving things around and waiting for others to arrive, so there’ll be more pictures in a couple of weeks. And yes, I did cheat with the solar lights, but they lift the green in the day and look gorgeous at night. It's as if I'm shouting 'I won't let the darkness win.'

It’s all the National Trust’s fault because they reduced a couple of gorgeous books. I’ll blame Geoff Hamilton too, because I’ve been rewatching his TV programme on ‘Paradise Gardens’ which you can find on YouTube, and I think you should because it and he are both lovely. You can also see a very young Adam Frost helping him to build the garden because it was the first one that he ever designed. I think he’s great and I’d love him and Frances Tophill to take over now that Monty’s left, and please ignore that bit if you don’t watch the BBC’s Gardeners’ World. I love the way he builds things, takes cuttings and grows them on, and often copy them. Also making me smile is that my spell check thinks it should be Frances Topsoil. How appropriate!

The wildlife pond. Home to tadpoles, dragonfly larvae and lots and lots of snails

The side return. AKA the sunken garden or the bit outside the back door! The garden stool/kneeler you can see belonged to my grandparents so happy memories there too

The odd thing was that I was struggling to work out what to do with my green garden chairs which have faded due to sunshine and more than a thousand hours of sitting. Some were happy, some were sad because it was where I used to go and cry when things looked grim because no one could catch me doing it, but all deserve to be remembered even if it's on a 'well, it's not as bad as that was' basis.

That's when I realised that most of what I needed to do was tidy up rearrange what I've got and buy some new little plants while they're selling them off, and some posher pots than the Poundland ones I started with, which are breaking after eleven years of memories. Not only is that ecologically friendly, but the memories are priceless. They’re just opposite a solar fountain I added last year, which has frogbits in it, which are like baby water lilies. They attract the insects for me to watch, including dragonflies and it looks gently aged and will look better still when the matching pots and new plants arrive. Now all we have to do is make ‘gently aged’ a style aspiration for women and I'll be an icon!

Till then, I’ve had a good sweep up, tidy, weed and rearrange and I'll carry on whenever I've got time because I don’t think I want it, or me to be finished. I’d like us all to keep growing and I bless the kitchen rearrange that gives me a good view from the kitchen window as I sit with a cup of coffee and plan and then nip outside to rearrange a few things.

Think of me out there in the cold and rain because I want to be there, have a good weekend and we’ll catch up on Tuesday.