Restoring the gravel bed .

                                  Yesterday I turned my attention to this .

                              In earlier times , 2008 , it looked  like this  !

It actually looked really nice  for about 15 years , I would regularly rake the  gravel and would not let any seeds germinate in it , nor allow any fallen leaves remain on it for long . Then in 2014 , I was not able to do it after a  long recovery from a big op . Now fully recovered ,but struggling to catch up with it all in the garden which I love so much .

More Ivy ...sigh .  Stinging Nettles  . Just look at those brambles ! 

                              Then there is this Wild Strawberry .....

.......which I fell in love with at a local boot fair and had  thought how sweet it would look growing next to my Agave . It seemed like a good idea at the time but now I am sorely regretting it . A nice plant in the wrong place . It has a become a terrible rampant thug ! 

                                   Under the watchful eye of the Robin ....

                                        I slowly fill the wheelbarrow .

I don't like to use chemical weedkillers , so it really is a very slow job , on my hands and aching knees . 

I sit back to stretch out my aching back and take a moment to watch the Robin hopping about , very boldly now , in front of me .

I lift out a couple of the rocks that surround the Agave , to remove more Wild Strawberry plants and find a couple of Agave pups . Delighted ! I carefully pull them away and put them aside to pot up later on .

As the sun sets I put away my tools and leave the other half covered over with a tarpulin and a sheet of black plastic .

Cleomes on the garden seat , waiting to be planted out .

I,ll be getting back to it , later today .