Insert pithy Autumnal title here ;)

Broke ground on the new veggie garden today.
The other one really hasn't been great to work with. Its too far away from the main house and therefore tools, seeds, water etc, its a mish mash of beds that, having been put up over time, are just scattered randomly about the place.
We talked for a long time about moving  the veg garden... After all its a commitment, a lot of work and , well, we already have one!! 
It really had run its course though and now its time to move on and treat the garden less as a hobby and more of a lifestyle.
In planning the new garden I have some fairy non-negotiable points.

• It has to be close to the house.
• It has to be easy to maintain.
• It has to be easy to care for the ground around it.
• It has to be sheltered AND sunny.

We decided on raised beds again, but have learnt from last time that if you're going to raise them then RAISE them.... 6" off the floor is stupid... you may as well not bother.
We're also making all the beds the same size, this is so that we can build some frames, some in glass/plastic and some in netting to use with any of the beds, rather than having to make heath robbinson contraptions when needed!!

The old veggie garden isn't to be completely abandoned though.
The tractor tyres will be used to plant fruit bushes in, the whole area will be fenced in to act as a forest fruit garden and winter chicken run!

Today feels autumnal.
As I type this I have chili bubbling away in the slow cooker, I can hear the squeak of our poor abused trampoline outside as the youngest two play in the afternoon sun.
The dogs are snoring and across from me is the lovely sight of  this stack of logs waiting for the fire to be lit later :)    

Most of the day I've been thinking about ...shhhhh..... XMAS!!!
Too early?
Not if your budgets tiny and you hope to make/find all your presents this year!!
A quick look online this morning yielded a surprising amount of good ideas (and a hysterical amount of awful, awful things!), and I now have 5 pages of a note book full of ideas for gifts and a heap of bookmarked tutorials and recipes.
Anyway, below are a few links to get you started.... will post more Xmas stuff in a few weeks!

Do-it-yourself Xmas  

100 home made gift ideas

Easy Homemade Xmas gifts

Homemade Christmas gift ideas