Ho hum, this greenhouse is NOT going to beat me. So, a week off and we now have the foundations dug, the area cleared and a layer of breezeblocks being cemented together as I type (by ever hard working Luke). He's been at it all day as his Mum and I have chatted. BUT, ta da! All this hard foundation work means that tomorrow we may finally get around to actually putting the framework up. Our tomatoes are rapidly raising their heads towards the conservatory ceiling and will so love their new home which is still a collection of metal and glass in the shed. Everytime I stray in there for the lawn mower or spade or whatever I worry that I am going to stick my wellie through some panes and then will have to 'fess up to Luke. So far, touch wood, that hasn't happened - there is still tomorrow though!
Talking of lawn mowing, I bought the cheapest strimmer I could find (two pence under a tenner) yesterday and put it together today to have a go. Whilst strimming the edge of the lawn I beheaded a pelargonium and hacked a great clump out of my golden thyme before I finally got the hang of it. It now languishes in the shed. I told Luke it was the worst tenner I've spent on the garden in a long while. It just goes to prove yet again that buying the best you can afford always pays. Of course most of us would buy the best we could if we had the money but it's not that simple, is it? However, when you work out how much the thing will cost you in the long run the good stuff often pays for itself, is more comfortable to use and ends up saving time and money. I think I've bleated on about this before so I will hush up.
I was up early this morning, 4.45am, as I couldn't sleep and I didn't want Luke's stepdad, Chris, to miss his early morning start (he's a wildfowler and was appearing at a Welsh show this weekend so had to be up and at the showground early). All well and good but now there are TWO birthday parties going on either side of the road and they are very, very loud. Dance music through speakers on one and karaoke from the other. Not a happy bunny!! Good night!
The next day - all Luke's hard work is not going to waste as you can see from these photos. First off, the hens have a messy dust bath in the overturned ground. They all budge up together and scrabble around, flicking dust up and over their bodies, they twist and turn and end up almost upside down and unrecognisable as chickens - there is often no head to be seen; possibly just a foot sticking out of a ball of feathers. Once finished they stand up and have a jolly good shake when a huge cloud of dust rises from them. Job done, they wander off though the falling dust in search of more food.
On the other hand, Socks (Jack's cat) makes use of the ready made litter tray - we need to get this greenhouse up and sorted quickly before all Luke's hard work just becomes Poo corner!
July 5th
This greenhouse milarky is turning into a saga. I keep grumbling to Luke that if we ever buy another greenhouse it should be new (which totally goes against our mean streak) but now, finally after weeks of digging, concreting, foundation building, frame erecting and glass and clip (a huge thanks to my Mum) cleaning we are on the final stretch and now it looks like a real greenhouse. We even planted it up before the glass went in as the tomatoes were in desperate need of some root space and had all flopped over in their pots. We have quite a bit of glass to buy as there were some missing panes when we bought the greenhouse. We have to wait until the weekend before we can get them, no time in the weeks. Somehow, Socks the cat has decided to stop using the greenhouse base as a litter tray which is a relief (but not for her).
I'm looking forward to putting the staging in so we can pretend it's Mr McGregor's greenhouse and start potting up.
The view from the conservatory.
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