All Sandboys Here!

Yes, we're all as happy as the proverbial! Another glorious sunny day and another day of achievement.

However, the day started interestingly because, whilst I was out in the garden about 10 am, I heard some strange noises and realised that there was a hot air balloon floating over our barn. I called Sue and then we saw that it was losing height. The next thing we knew it was landing in the middle of the village!!!

We don't know if it was a planned landing so I will have to quiz our neighbours who I saw racing off to investigate.

After this excitement it was back to the more pressing matter of rotavating Sue's beds. And this is where we embarked on 'the joy of mechanical equipment'. I hadn't used the rotavator since the autumn, so I was slightly worried if it would start, but the engine fired up no problems. I positioned myself and the rotavator at the start of the first of Sue's beds and off we went. I got about half way along it when the blades stopped turning!!! At the risk of getting too technical, I discovered that a pin holding a pulley to the drive shaft had dropped out/disappeared. Fortunately, a bodge later (found a nut and bolt to substitute for the pin), we were off again. 10 metres further up the bed, the right hand set of blades fell off!!!!!!!!

Was somebody trying to tell me something, I wondered. At first I thought that we had again lost a pin or a nut and bolt, shaken loose from the vibration. More searching of the invaluable jam-jars and biscuit tins that are an essential part of any good workshop. Meanwhile Sue was searching in the earth and compost of the bed. And she found it. However the bolt had sheared off. I guess that the blades must have hit one of the inummerable rocks and the bolt had broken in two.

Having replaced the bolt, I recommenced, whilst thinking 'What's going to be the third thing?'

But Lady Luck was now prepared to smile down on us. I was able to finish both beds either side of the 'serpentine path'.

I was in the process of taking the rotavator round to the back of the house when Sue reminded me that I had to do the 'white' bed! We were actually both worried that I might be fighting tree roots but we were in luck again, and the ground turned over without any problems.

At this point it was lunch time and as there seem to be local rules (written or unwritten) about making noise on Sundays (or just Sunday afternoons) I decided to defer rotavating the long bed under the trees in the back garden until tomorrow (Monday) morning.

Needless to say, the head gardener is chuffed to bits. She was out there raking the beds this afternoon, getting ready for starting the planting campagn.

This afternoon therefore, I was able to continue with my steps/wall. It was my turn to be chuffed to bits. I'm now putting stones into the middle of the top of the wall at the back of the house. I had previously left this as we wanted to run an electric cable to a light at the end of the wall to illuminate the tree at the end. A bit poncey I know but, why not? I can't get over how, just putting a few flat stones to finish off the top of the wall completely changes the look of it!!

At this point we did a tour of the garden, feeling pleased with ourselves, and then retired for a well earned drink.