I'm sketching up plans for a chicken run and got to the stage where I had to consider the gate. Had a quick search on eBay, saw something gorgeous, and followed the link to a store with more of the same aesthetic - wrought iron garden furniture, with pretty scrolls and curliques. Arches! Benches! Swinging chairs!

I've always longed for a cottage garden, right out the English fairytales of my childhood. Seeing so much of it felt like I'd come home, even though I was only browsing an online store. I feel like a bird who's sighted the perfect nesting material - except it's behind a glass window and I can't get to it.

One day I want a garden with a pond for frogs and fish, with a little recirculating stream. A fern corner, silver birches, flowers that open at night, honeysuckle and wisteria and forget-me-nots. Moss and clover. And a comfortable place to sit and read, or sketch, or watch the birds.