Over the years Management has taught me that it's OK not just to dream but to actually have a go at making those dreams a reality. I only have to mutter
"wouldn't it be great if we could ..." and he's off making plans and sourcing materials. So when I casually said "
do you think we could make a vegetable patch full of raised beds" there was no question in his mind that's what we would do. Thanks to his encouragement and LP's continued willingness to work extremely hard, an overgrown and completely out-of-control part of the garden has undergone a complete transformation. In truth, beds were an absolute necessity because this area is riddled with tree roots and trying to grow veggies straight into the soil would have been a less than pleasant experience but I could not have made these beds on my own.
By mid-way through
Saturday afternoon LP had every scrap of timber, including the old pallets, chopped up, put away and the ground cleared. We don't think this part of the garden has
ever been this tidy and I've certainly never had this quantity of wood in the log store so early in the year. As 'early finishes' don't seem to be in his vocabulary he then made a start on post holes for the next raised bed.
Daisy found a sunny spot from which to observe proceedings.
Sunday was equally productive and as is so often the case when we're this busy, I don't take pictures. Management had an energetic morning when he offered to pressure wash an IBC tank. Bless his heart, I dislike using the Karcher nearly as much as I don't like cutting metal. The steel frame he made was exactly the right size and now the tank sits firmly and securely waiting for me to connect it to the drainpipe.
We were on the home straight by
Monday with a mission to get as much finished as possible by the end of the day because LP won't be back for nearly two weeks. It was a hard day because there are more tree roots the further back towards the fence you go. There was mattock swinging and swearing on more than one occasion.
Daisy was kept occupied chasing rugby balls around the garden
interspersed with snoozes on her 'outdoor' bed which has a water
resistant backing. Spoilt rotten? Surely not :}
We didn't get finished. There are sections where, because of the slope,
soil has to be dug away before the boards can be fixed in place and LP
ran out of time.
And the crime scene tape? Well, we're cogitating a seating area or maybe even a tiny summer house ....