by Elizabeth Ducie

Created on: May 26, 2009

I wake up every morning and pinch myself. For a townie who's always lived cheek by jowl with other people, this is so different and yet so right. We moved from London to Devon, in the west of England, just eighteen months ago, yet it feels like we've been here for ever. Devon is a county which is just 7% urban and 93% rural.

Our house is a converted granary, with walls of granite more than a foot deep. We have oaks beams, roses around the door and room to display all our books (finally the library we've always wanted. After a few false starts, we also have a plumbing system which works without depositing water through the ceiling.

Yet, it's when we step outside the house that the dream really starts. I had said I wanted a small garden or backyard, but with someone else's view. That way, I would have minimal maintenance and maximum enjoyment. I couldn't have done better if I'd designed it myself. We have a little garden running around three sides of the house. There's a tiny patio area where we watch the sun going down over a cool glass of white wine. There are a couple of flower beds, which start the season full of yellow daffodils, cowslips and primroses. Today they are a riot of blues and purples as the irises, wild geraniums and delphiniums come into their own. Soon they will turn red as the roses and clematis take centre stage.

Our garden is bordered by a stream. We'd said we wanted to be in sight of water. This isn't quite the seascape we had in mind, but it's an acceptable alternative and the sound of running water is always with us. Today it is just a gentle spring trickle but in winter it can become a raging torrent. The sandbags lying around the garden are a reminder of the day when I stood at the window and through the pouring rain, watched the water level rise above the bank and across the lawn.

The garden is alive at all times of the year with wildlife. There are squirrels and a rare sighting of a fox. Judging by the piles of earth, we have an active colony of moles nearby. We've seen grass snakes and slow worms. Pheasants, finches, tits, blackbirds and robins are regular callers. The sparrow hawk pays an occasional visit, as does the heron. Gulls wheel overhead. Crows chase away the buzzards and kestrels soar from the nearby crags. We provide a nursery for one of the local ducks. Last year she presented us with five offspring this year we are hoping for more. At dusk the air fills with bats and at night the woods

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