As anticipated, today was another busy day, and perhaps the reason I left this job until last.  In fact, I will even admit, I wrapped up today, before I had finished as I knew I was at my limit. That, and there was a pile of washing that I folded that needed putting away before I got to collapse on the bed.

Connor and I got started early on emptying and shifting a range of planter boxes, while his younger brother went to his grandmother to help with mowing the lawn. Like anything, we weren’t sure what we would be met with in terms of the condition of the wood underneath the planter boxes (they were lined but with drainage holes), and whether we would be able to maneouver them ourselves. The big boxes had no rot, and were lighter than I remember. The smaller one, which contained the rhubarb was Connor’s initial garden when he was four and was rotting at the bottom, unfortunately. We knew that screwing or nailing a new bottom was fruitless as it wouldn’t have held, so we used the scraps from the fence, and lay them in place on the bottom before putting the main part carefully on top, and the lining the bottom and poking holes in for drainage. Interestingly, this was the only box that was not lined at the bottom. It was also possibly the one that sat in the most water when things were not draining with all the rain we've had. Hubby from work, agreed that this was the best approach for now. Eventually, a new one will need to be built. To ensure that the strawberry one on the lawn doesn't rot, I have also placed the legs on more off-cuts. It will also make the edge trimming easier for hubby.

Unfortunately, moving the second strawberry box got interrupted. We emptied it, but had to leave it on the plastic on the grass, as the builders who turned up to fix the rotting post hit another barrier. Even though they brought in the concrete cutter this time, the concrete goes a long way down, further than anticipated. They need to come back next week with a ‘breaker’ to finish the job. I was a bit disappointed after waiting such a long time for this job to be done, and until it is done, I can’t move the last strawberry into place, as it will hinder their access. That being said, as I said to the builder ‘it is what it is, and there isn’t much we can do about it, and we know it isn’t their fault’.

I also moved two of the three black boxes that turn into seats. Those two are now placed next to the herb planter with alstroemeria in. These are a smaller variety and perfect for pots and planter boxes. I thought the pink of those would contrast nicely with the boxes. The boxes are about 20 years old, and probably only have a few more years left before they fall to bits. The legs, because they were in the grass were a bit rotted so I sawed those off, and added a few offcuts from the fence (I was even lucky enough to find matching-sized ones in the scraps left by the builder).

The other one will get moved in the next day or two, and hopefully, by then, the bbq area will have dried out so we can scrape off the soil left behind, and sweep things out. Once that is done, hubby is coming in with the water blaster. At the moment, the jury is out on who has made the worst mess. Me or the builders with their concrete mud splatter everywhere, or me with my mud trampled everywhere. Combine that with the grime everywhere from a wet winter, I can’t wait to have things cleaned up so I can sit down and enjoy the outdoors without thinking about all the chores that need doing. 

In terms of the seedlings, we are slowly getting there. We now have a few corn seedlings starting to emerge. We are still awaiting on a couple of varieties of tomatoes, but these were the latter sown ones. We do have enough though, to do what we had planned. And thanks to James' generosity, we have some cucumber seedlings. I enjoyed meeting you today, and cannot believe how close we actually live.