(This blog was written the day before it appeared here.)

I spend most of my time in the garden these days, reading, writing and getting my hands dirty. I?ve created a little haven out here and although it?s my favourite place to be, I?ve missed having a word processor at my disposal. However, that?s been taken care of for now because my daughter is home for the summer. Naturally, the first thing I did after all the niceties were taken care of was to commandeer her laptop.

?Hello dear, how was your trip, I?m fine, no, Tansy is with her hero. Cuppa tea? Yes, nice photos, he?s cute? where?s the laptop??

The laptop and I had a trial garden run yesterday. I managed to navigate the alien keyboard without too much difficulty, but a mouse that wants to be tickled instead of clutched proved to be more of a challenge. After much fiddling and fussing, I finally managed to launch the word processor and twine my way into my very first garden writing. Just as I was getting into a groove, I received a rather rude message about the state of my battery. I mean really, sometimes I think computers have no respect whatsoever for the creative process. They up and pack in when you least expect it and if that alone isn?t enough, they also threaten to wipe your work right off the face of the known universe if you don?t comply with whatever demand ? like juice - is on their mind? erm, chip.

So anyway, the nearest power is upstairs, so I had no chance of supplying the demand. There was nothing for it but to memory-stick what I?d written, take the lappy back upstairs and plug it in. So much for writing in the garden! I got on with putting up a trellis instead. This afternoon I managed to get my hands on a cable reel with 25 meters of laptop-reviving energy connection and so, dear friends, I now write with no worries of interruption ? at least electronically speaking.

Ah, but life is never that simple, is it. After devising a way to lower the reel out of my bathroom window, over slates and gutter, to the garden below, I plugged everyone in and took a coffee out to my seat. I sat in the sun, opened the laptop and heard the creaking sound of my gate and the rustle of shopping bags? ~sigh~

?Hello dear, how was shopping? I?m fine, no, Tansy just got back. Cuppa tea? Yes, nice present, it?s cute? yes, I?m just about to use the laptop.?

Or at least I was going to use the laptop! We had a nice chat and catnipped the cats so we could laugh at them. Before I knew it over an hour had passed and the sun was on retreat. The young one was off for a shower so I?ve been writing for about an hour and in that time, I?ve had to go from a strappy tee and open cotton blouse with jeans, to buttoning up my shirt, putting a jacket on and I?ve just added thin long-johns. After wrapping up, I brought a small thermometer out and watched it quickly plummet from 72 degrees in my bedroom to 58 in the garden. I tell you, it?s chilly here out of the sun. We had two weeks of summer at the beginning of June and here in the beginning of July its freezing. Yes, I know people are sweltering across the heartland of America, but I just had to put long johns on for cripes sake!

By now you probably have probably realised that I love writing outside and you might have an inkling that more blogs are on their way. Well, I hope you?re right! It?s always a good thing to write about what you love and right now I?m in love with my garden. I love coaxing and nurturing the plants. I love the sun, the birdsong and the peace. There?s something about being surrounded by plants that I have always found soothing. I come out here to something new every day; last night I saw the first buds on the nasturtiums and this morning the first rose was about to burst. I?ve been tinkering around with cheap materials, twine, bamboo, wooden trellises and transforming what was not long ago a barren waste into a private retreat. It?s been so good for me on so many levels, getting me out of the house for some fresh air and physical work, soothing my ruffles and providing gentle time to think. I love my garden, slugs and all.