Fergal Quinn, where are you?

Getting to the painting stage - exciting

Sometimes it feels as if we are in one of the business make-over shows you see on TV. We have all the familiar OMG moments - excitement alternating with anxiety, worry about budget over-runs, moments thinking we are crazy and will never be ready to re-open on time... and also times like today when the sun shone, the garden glowed and everything seemed possible. Unlike the TV shows,however, Fergal Quinn or the Brennan brothers aren't here to help. We have to do it ourselves. 

Wood anemones - I love 'em

We may not have a TV mentor, but we've got a great staff team, a good contractor and lots of other help. And the Garden is a beautiful and comforting presence. When the noise and stresses of building get too much a short walk in the old woodland where the starry white wood anemones are in bloom restores the soul wonderfully. The build continues to fly along - in goes an enormous treatment plant, in goes an equally huge soak-away area, in come painters and electricians, and we move into our bright new office at the weekend. There is still lots to do to get the Gardens ready for opening at Easter, but hey, the sun is shining, we'll manage somehow. And plans for the big Re-launch Weekend are coming along - keep watching this space!

The treatment plant goes in - a very big hole