Down and dirty

At last I don't have to sit back with a g&t and watch other people play in my garden... I got to get down and dirty! The soil was delivered on Friday. Beautiful, rich, organic soil that even had the neighbours crossing the road to ask where it was from. Of course the excitement of soil quickly waned as the 4m3 appeared to take on the characteristics of the Magic Pudding... no matter how much I shovelled, the hill didn't get any smaller. Maybe I over-estimated the amount I needed? This soil is allegedly so good I am not allowed to add anything to it for at least six months. My vegetables would be bursting out of the ground in weeks from now. I'll keep you posted about that.

 

 Then came the fun of laying the reticulation lines. I had the contractors lay the mainline and connect it to the automated reticulation system, but wanted to lay the brown dripline myself, because I know where I want it to go, and it's easier to do it myself than to explain. I had a lovely experience at the irrigation shop. I walked in and was served by a man with L-O-V-E and H-A-T-E tattooed on his knuckles. He was very sweet, extremely helpful and gave me a nice discount because I was a 'lovely lady'... even when I came back a second time because I had UNDER-estimated how much I would need. Despite what you may be thinking... for a journalist, math IS actually a strong point of mine. I must have been having an off week. Or maybe I should just get my engineer hubby to do the math for me in future!

 

 Anyway, we got the retic in as well as the soil. Some days when the sun is shining, it's not too hot and your shoes sound like maracas as you walk because there's so much sand floating around in them and your fingernails are black with dirt, it seems such a shame to have to clean yourself up and go to work.  *sigh* My 'sand shoes' are sitting by the front door waiting for me to head back out and finish the job soon. For now... it's off to my day job.