I’ve always liked the idea of an arbour for the garden – somewhere I could sit and read a book or relax with a glass of wine in the evening. It seems much more practical than a bench because you can leave cushions out overnight and tuck things under the seat knowing they will stay dry. Trawling the internet I came across a very reasonably priced and rather attractive Umbria Arbour from www.buyfencingdirect.co.uk . It does require some self-assembly and is delivered unpainted. Experience has taught me that I’m not one of life’s self-assemblers, so I generally outsource that particular task, but the fact that it is unpainted means that the color choice is mine. It’s just the sort of thing that would look perfect in the garden, now I just need to work out if there is somewhere to put it.