Almost there

I'm busting to get some soil into these garden beds!!!

Now we're awaiting reticulation and lights!

Following the red brick road...

Today I've made a pain of myself. But I'm glad I was at home to do so. The paving went in so fast, these guys are machines!

 

 

 

Then the edges started going in and I was getting a bit edgy myself. I know my plan was thrown out by a metre due to forces beyond my control... but when the edging went in I realised my garden beds were going to be a lot narrower than I had planned!

 

That's when I started making a pain of myself... asking if the paving could be made narrower so the beds were wider. The men were very helpful and before I knew it, it was all changed and I got my extra centimetres here and there. I was afraid the armillery sphere, which is going in the centre bed as a feature, would be wider than the bed.

 

 

So they've made the bed above wider too. It is odd when you think you know what something is going to look like, then it turns out different. I was a bit nervous about asking for changes on the fly... but I figured it was better to ask now before any mortar went in! And they were very nice about it!

 

The earth moved!

The earth moving men have put down conduit for the electrics and back-filled the yard with sand, so it's all ready to be paved tomorrow!

Chilli and Mustard escaped to help out. They saw dirt and thought they'd like to be a part of it. Trying to haul two beagles at 15kgs each back inside when they just want to snuffle is no easy task. The earth movers learnt some new skills that day. How to wrangle beagles.



I liked their earth-moving dingo so much, I wanted one of my own. I could have fun with one of those!!! At least I could use it to move the beagles around.

Ever feel like you're being watched?

Mustard has decided he is the unofficial site manager of the project. He likes to sit and supervise from the sunny spot by the front door. He listens to Dave and Russ singing along to their easy listening radio station and occasionally barks directions at them. Probably when they've stopped for a bite to eat. And only because he wants to eat something too.

 



Today Chilli and Mustard conducted a survey of the works. They did this by sniffing every square inch of the site, until they found and ate a leftover piece of sandwich one of the men had left behind.

Taking shape



Progress!! The gentlemen tell me they probably only need one and a half, maybe two more days to finish the limestone edging, paving and garden beds. How exciting! After they complete the final touches to retaining walls and the step over the weekend, the team will come back and fill the area back up with soil early next week.

 

Then they will put down the paving and the edges to my future garden beds.

 

 

 

My step up to the fruit tree/asparagus area (below) is taking shape. It's looking even better than I had imagined.

 

 

In glorious 18C sunshine, it's been lovely to work outdoors, they tell me. As for me, I enjoyed the sunshine with lunch and a magazine in the backyard. Soon I will be in the food garden, working in the sunshine and growing lunch.

Another Brick in the Wall

The rain has abated for the day and Dave and Russ were back fulfilling my fantasies... of having a landscaped front yard, of course!

I asked them today how much each one of those blocks weighs. 84kgs. Then, just to prove his worth, Dave lifted one up for me. Very briefly. It actually takes the two of them to lift each block into place. Luckily for them, the retaining wall isn't going to be six-foot high.

Here's the progress from today. That's the finished height of the wall at the back there, but it will be filled in with the piles of sand you can see on the verge.

I'm hoping there will be even more to show tomorrow. I've checked the weather bureau site and it's looking fine.

Frickin' Laser Beam

Here's a piece of equipment that impressed me! Just over a week ago our yard sloped in two directions. My simple view of how to fix it was 'why don't we move the soil from the high side to the low side to make it level?' seems simple, right?

Now they have removed 12 cubic metres of soil to level the yard so I don't need a retaining wall the size if my house, I can accept that maybe I was wrong!

Here's Adrian with his frickin' laser beam measuring the height differences in our yard. Incredible! It made things so much easier to visualise.