Pruning The North Front Roses.

I've spent most of today on the North Front pruning the roses and generally tidying the area, I even ran the Allett mower over the small piece of lawn. This part of the grounds is where visitors will park their cars while visiting for the funeral and other events planned for the coming week.
We had a lot of trouble with rabbits eating the new rose shoots for most of last year so the roses in the beds on the North Front aren't looking very well, in fact some have even died because of this. One of the beds is filled with bushes that are just a couple of years old and whilst these seem to have come through better than the older bushes even these are not as they should be so hopefully things will be better this year or I can see these too will be destroyed.

Tidying Around The Graves.

It's my first day back at work after my Christmas break and I can't say that I have been looking forward to it as the former gentleman to the big house passed away on New Years day so apart from the upsetting circumstances there is sure to be a break from the routine in order to prepare for the various events surrounding the funeral. Apart from catching up with some necessary routine jobs I have spent the day tidying up around the family graves in the churchyard which I don't really regard as my jurisdiction but as the area is going to feature center stage in the near future I have been asked to give it some attention. The tasks have been pretty simple, just a matter of removing some nearby tree suckers and ground Ivy and then giving the place a bit of a rake over to remove any rubbish.