Garden

I can't remember how the estate agents actually did describe Dad's new house, but it may well have been something like this:

"1950s bungalow, 3 double bedrooms, lounge/diner, kitchen and conservatory in need of modernisation. Mature gardens front and back with established trees."

That would, of course, have been the shorter version, probably with a tagline 'viewing highly recommended', with an emphasis on the garden.

Before he actually started moving, Dad had some changes made. He sensibly had double glazing fitted throughout, including front and back doors, and had the long window at the back of the dining room turned into French doors, opening into the conservatory facing the garden. It was a really lovely view.

When the bulk of the moving was more or less complete, Dad fixed a swing up for J on a low branch of the apple tree. In the late spring the grass was starting to need cutting, flowers were blooming and the dogs sniffed enthusiastically while J just ran around.

The garage was just about bursting with Dad's pieces of wood and the neighbour had kindly agreed to let Dad store the hefty 1930s kitchen unit from my grandmother's house in his garage. Dad, quite reasonably, decided he should build himself some sort of workshop in the garden.