30 July - back on the job

So, it's been a while, but not an official holiday. The last couple of weeks have seen the birth of Stella, when we were on sibling duty in Manchester, the gradual ending of the heat wave, and a few days enjoying the company of Chris and Katie and their children in Devon.

It felt good to get the work clothes on and crank up the Land Rover this morning - it's been a real bonus to have a vehicle in which I can keep all my tools (except the big stuff which I have been protecting under a tarpaulin at the site).

I was just getting going on the remaining cap stones (another 20 placed today) when Michael came out to ask if I would carry on round the corner of their wall into the driveway with the same pattern of stones, assuming I could rescue a suitable number (about 30, I think) from my stockpile. So before I had my lunch break I went foraging and laid out a collection which will do the job. I will also need to build up the wall a bit on the corner to make things level. I guess it's another full day's work, but it will make the job look right, and I've been promised a 'consideration'.

I ate lunch during a prolonged shower, during which Liz came over with some very welcome coffee and chocolate as an energy boost. When she left I decided not to do another mix, but took the chainsaw to the yew 'bush', only to discover that it was a pretty sizeable tree which had been reduced to a height of about 6 feet some years ago, and which had of course sprouted hundreds of shoots. A couple of fills of petrol and oil and the chainsaw did the job. The afternoon ended with the wheelbarrowing of the cuttings to the back of the site, and the moving from there to the woodpile of the cotoneaster logs which had been chopped just before we bought the site. So the day ended with a tidy site, a view round the corner where the yew had been, and a splendid sunny evening - home for 7 to a delicious curry.










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