Although we haven't done anything at all to the house inside (one the reasons we bought the place was that it didn't need anything doing to it), we have been doing a fair bit in the garden.

One of the biggest jobs was relandscaping two strips of ground - one along the driveway at the front and the other a flowerbed along the back lawn. The driveway was the hardest. Too tight to hire a JCB, I opted for the JC-shovel instead and dug it out by hand. I got some relief thanks to Grant who got someone with a tree-muncher to take out an old palm tree stump but I still had to fill two trailer-loads of sand and sod and it was hard work especially on hot days.

Kieran helped me cart the stuff away and lay down some sprinkler pipes. Grant kindly donated some lawn left over from Jhodi's place so I lay that near the road, and then the idea was to fill the rest of the strip with shrubs. Unfortunately, the weather got too hot, and we only managed to get a couple of shrubs in which now look a bit lost and sorry for themselves.

Out the back, I extended the flowerbed along one side of the lawn and lined it with paving slabs (kindly donated by Petra and Jon). This flowerbed now looks great and this upgrade became our preparation for the arrival of the Buddha we fell in love with in town one day. Tragically, however, the statue was dropped in the warehouse prior to its delivery and we had to wait several months for another to arrive. It finally came just the other week (February).

Back to the front, the roses are looking amazing at the moment. We prune them when they get too big but it's never long before they bounce right back. But of course, the main reason for them looking so good - along with our lawns which were a sandy desert wasteland before Christmas - is Grant and his incredible work while we were away.

We had asked him before going back to Ireland if he would mind popping over ever now and then to water the plants and turn on the sprinklers twice a week for the lawns. He came over every night, spending time hand-watering the lawns back to life and then decided to install an entirely new automatic sprinkler system.

He laid new pipes and jets throughout both lawns - front and back - and throughout all the flowerbeds. He hooked this up to an electronic controller box so now everything is timed. Twice a week at 6pm, the show begins as each station (line on the system) takes its turn. The difference this has made to our lawns and gardens is astounding. We now have the best front lawn on our street and the back lawn has come back from nothing. I've mowed them twice in three weeks, which is as many times as I had done so in the previous year!!

So, as you can imagine, we're hugely grateful to the man. We did offer on more than one occasion to reimburse him for his time and expenses but he wouldn't hear of it. Apparently, this project was the best fun he has had in ages and he looks at it as therapy and time well spent. But, we need to say a big thank you to him, Judy (for signing off on the budget) and his helpers including Gavin and our next door neighbours. Nice one.

But Perth is facing increasing water problems at the moment, and there's even talk now of a total sprinkler ban next year which would mean certain death for the lawns and garden. So we're considering getting our own well (or "bore") which will give us free water for the garden but not for drinking. Grant has set the new system up so that it should be easily convertible to a bore so now it's just a matter of saving the pennies.