Having spent two weeks in South Africa I have come back to the Lakes feeling 100% revived and freshly inspired. The landscapes over there are often desolate and baron as the poverty level is still extremely high, but on the other end of the scale they often have extremely plush and beautiful gardens, vineyards and farms where poverty is far from their minds.

Below is a driftwood globe at a farm we went to visit. It was beautifully set at the entrance of the house beneath some trees. Studied closer it was a intricate building process and something that I would love to implement somewhere sometime this year. It is a rustic twist to the stone globe we built at a stunning lakeside house in Ambleside.

Back in the Lake District now and its full steam ahead. The boys have managed the existing jobs very well, but we have since started some work at James Croppers PLC working on flood defenses on the River Kent.