This me with my mother at Wayland Smithy just this side of Oxford.  We have our two pet dogs, Tara and Tess with us, they are both gone now.

I was scarily thin here and starting to become ill as I had graduated with an angry bank manager and an ineffective cashflow to make myself good.

This was taken Autumn 1996.  Wayland Smithy is a burial chamber you can go into from Neolithic times near Uffington white horse.  They are both

on the Ridgeway which is well worth trekking if you have the time and are seeking solitude.

This is my mother in 1998 building the garden we now have.  She is making raised beds and looking to all intents and purposes like

Simon Cowell in floral print.

This was taken in the early middle of the garden build, when I formed the base to the four stone seats in the garden from concrete. I added colour

to some, here they are red and black elsewhere they were yellow.  Mothe made Dad out facing stone on the black and red one as she didn't like

it.  I think they look modern and cheerful here.  The squares aren't solid.  I made a open-topped cube box half filled it with concrete then forced a

strong bucket into the mix and weighted it down with scrap metal to save on mix.  Most of the cement and mortar for the garden was mixed by hand

as the low volumes and cost precluded a mixer.  I had started a regular script and was eating well here and working effectively again.