Urgh! Here goes… A confession. I have a massive phobia of dogs!

People say, oh you don’t like dogs, then? It is not that I don’t like them, I am just very scared of them.

But after someone told me that phobias are irrational, I decided that it was time to try and overcome mine.

Eight dogs later, yes, I made “friends” with as many as eight dogs, I made a little step forwards. Thank-you to all the dog owners who helped me with this.

The workday was good with four of us braving the lull from the storm. Mick, Aaron, Martin and myself cleared the last bench area.

We extended this area to about the same size beyond the tree, and also on the other side of the path. We are going to seed with lady’s bedstraw and hedge bedstraw at the end of the month.

These whips won a reprieve and will be transplanted into the hedge that we started last week. Everything else had to go, though. We need dappled shade at the very least.

I cannot stress enough, the benefits of getting away from a screen and into the green!

We moved the bench to the other side of the path. When the lady’s bedstraw flowers it will be a mass of yellow and smell like honey. I am madly looking forward to just sitting at the bench and watching and photographing the wildlife in the summer. I think we all need to start enjoying the fruits of our labour, as well as the labour itself.

Next week we can go both ways. We can scallop towards the bird-feeder clearing and sow more wildflower seeds, or we can transplant our whips. Either way, we can meet at this clearing and I will bring a spade and loppers so we can decide on the day.

Paul