PTC gets its very own letterbox!

The letterbox arrived and we installed it on the right hand pier. It will (hopefully) be used as an honesty box for the egg money.  Chris built a wooden box to fit and then built up around it with more stone.  When his mortar was dry, I raked it out.  Now -here's a funny thing.  Raking out mortar is such a nice job!  Framing each stone is therapeutic as well as transforming!  For the left pier, we made a slate lined alcove.  Both piers now await their respective crowning glories which are stone pier caps but they will need extra muscle to lift them into place!

Gate Piers

A couple of days work and - hey presto!  A pair of gate piers are springing up at the end of the drive!  A melange of stone from various sources was assembled on the drive.  Some left over from a certain memorable trip to Barnsley and some more recently acquired!  Chris dig out 2 2'x2'x2' holes and set RSJ's in concrete in their centres.  These are to carry the weight of the gates yet to be made!  It was on with sorting and building the different types and shapes of stone with their different colours, leaving the mortar to dry a little then sculpting out and around each individual stone.  Due to a very minor miscalculation, there was a little cutting and welding involved to ensure both hinge pins were at the right height but both activities make interesting photography!

A sudden burst of colour

Despite winds, hail and rain, the sun came out and with it,  the Magnolia and Camelia.  What a difference!  Sunshine and spring blooms!

Compost Path

Thyme Out!

Thyme Square minus the Thyme!

It was back in 2008 when we built Thyme Square. Blog followers may remember that it was built using only leftover and unwanted reclaimed materials.  Nothing was actually purchased. 

Back then we had no way of knowing that the Veg Patch was then pretty much a clay bath, only that it was very poor soil.  Well, when we emptied it and refilled it with 16 tons of premium topsoil, it was all rather a mess.  A MASSIVE mess!  We did it one February in 2010 and, with the help of Chris and Ian, a mini digger, a dumper truck and a power barrow,  they moved all the soil (in and out!) through the garage.  The clay stuck to the tracks and the clay on the tracks stuck to the gravel.  Everywhere was a mess - not least Thyme Square.  At the 'time', we cleaned up Thyme Square as best we could but, it's a fine line between a natural look and the appearance of dereliction!   

Chris & Ian emptying the Veg Patch - February 2010

The years have rolled by and weeds have mixed with the soil contaminated gravel and lately it has been looking rather forlorn and a tad neglected.  As we have Chris G. here for a while (and a cement mixer back on the drive!) it seemed a good idea to remove all the soil/gravel mixture from between all the bricks and slabs and renew it with fresh clean gravel.  Well, it did 'seem' like a good idea until we were about halfway through - when we realised exactly what a lengthy and tedious job we'd undertaken!  Now it's done and hopefully Chris will arrive with new gravel on Monday!

This 'time!' Thyme will be replanted around the edges making weed control easier.

Here's a link to the (MASSIVE Mess) soil removal project:

https://picasaweb.google.com/100788191989823327785/TheVegetablePatchGetsAMakeOver

More Upcycling

One again, it was a case of one  Chris giving us an old door canopy and the other Chris remodelling it and putting it in place!

The wrought iron metal canopy came without a roof but was a little too narrow and a little too deep.  The excess metal was shortened and re-welded and the stretcher sections removed.  The roof was constructed from feather boards with an extra central bearer fitted and it was attached the end of the tool shed above the potting bench.  The rotten ply from the bench was replaced with new and extended with new sculpted sides and even more brilliant was Chris's suggestion of using the left over plastic guttering for pot storage!  he attached the remaining sections stored in the cave above and below the bench meaning that plastic flower pots are now stored in a dry area!  It was also another excuse to get out the creosote and give all the raw wood a good soaking.  I now have the most perfect little Potting Station with everything to hand!  What more could a girl ask for (apart from a gin)?

Pond Pump Problems

Following unusual and increasingly strange noises from the pond pump and then noticing a lack of power,  Chris G retrieved it from the icy depths and diagnosed bearing troubles.  It went off to Lanes but, with its guarantee expired, a replacement had to be bought (gulp!)  Taking a pump out of a pond and replacing it is not that easy.  I'm not that good when it comes to electricity but I do know that it doesn't mix well with water and I didn't fancy retrieving a load of dead fish floating on the surface!  The fact that I confused the pump with the garden lights and was attempting to convince Chris that it was only low voltage.............as if!!!  His look said it all and in a flash (!) I realised my error.  A heavy duty pond pump couldn't possibly run on low voltage! 

The power cables have to be threaded through underwater pipes and then the hose needs attaching and much of this work takes place in the middle of the pond where the water is deepest balanced on a springy ladder with a very narrow plank! Then there are all the electrical connections and after that all the protective pipes then had to be recovered with pebbles and hidden from view.  Needless to say, he did a perfect job (with nothing dropped in the pond) and the pump is up and running so the fish have oxygenated water again.  Maybe, they won't eat the frog (or toad) spawn or the emerging tadpoles!

New from old

Metal bench frame

Chris replacing the plaque

One Chris rescues some dilapidated garden furniture from certain death and the other Chris helps restore it!!  

Three garden seats originally bought from J & F Hall Ltd, Ironmongers, Worcester had been allowed to lapse into dilapidation.   Apparently the shop closed and was then knocked down back in the '60's.  The original wood was almost completely rotten but the little copper plaque bearing the name of the ironmongers remained and so of course had to be replaced on the new timber!  We removed all the rotten slats and oiled all the metal frames.  We then replaced the old wood with some oak slats.  Chris had already planed all the oak and, after cutting the lengths he chamfered all the edges.  We then reassembled the 3 seats by bolting each slat to the metal frames. I treated the oak to a 50-50 mix of turpentine and linseed oil.  Result - garden seats, better than new!  Genius!!

The original plaque

The finished bench