Lynn O’Rourke: ‘I’m not sure the mud slides are adding much’

Published on 27/05/2012 15:05

THE sun has been shining, the garden cushions have been rediscovered in the deepest, darkest corner of the shed and the barbecue has been dragged out.

The kids have been going trampoline crazy and I’m going to have to buy another paddling pool – the discovery of their old one amidst a pile of rubble behind the wall of shame at the bottom of the garden was cue for a different kind of waterworks – although running through the sprinkler proved a huge compensatory hit. I’m not too sure those mud slides are really adding much to the overall look and feel of my outside space, but it seemed like a good idea at the time...

And after a few post-sunshine glasses of wine, the non-purchase of a chimenea has been hotly debated and we are now definitely going to get one. So, a word of warning, that very act could spell the end of the sunshine because it is guaranteed that the minute we are geared up for the season, it will change. (The same way we always know we are on holiday, because that is when the rain starts, regardless of where we are.)

However, I’m living in hope that this year will be different. Once we finally get that chiminea fired up, I’m sure I’ll never regret buying it, never peer out a rainy window and wonder if it’s about to be blown into next door’s garden (because we haven’t managed to fix that fence panel yet). At least for a few weeks anyway.

On page 4 we take a look at the contemporary update of a Perthshire farmhouse where Michelle Wilkinson and David Newton have managed the tricky task of creating a family home that still manages to ooze style. On page 14 Gillian Reith explains the story behind the business she started with her two sisters, Three Sisters Bake, and why she is staying put in her third-floor Victorian tenement flat once her baby is born. And turn to page 18 for what to expect at this year’s Gardening Scotland show.