Steady Progress

It was 08.00am and the garden was already calling out to us. It was a fairly fresh morning yesterday but once we'd started titivating we soon warmed to a working temperature. So after an hours titivating about and some more in depth planning over a cup of coffee we started to level the ground in the back corner where our first sleeper was going to be laid which we could then take our levels from in forming the new raised patio in AREA 51. With the ground duly skimmed level and a good helping of sand laid to bed the sleeper on, it was finally time to move one of the mammoth lumps of oak.

We decided it might be easier on the arms and back etc to load a sleeper on to the wheel barrow and barrow them around to AREA 51. Although this approach to moving the sleepers from one part of the garden to the other was fairly precarious to say the least, it was certainly much easier and less strenuous than trying to actually carry them around.

Progress in taking down the old pond was actually quite slow as most of our time was being spent building the retaining walls for the raised patio area and ensuring they were bedded down correctly and of course level. The oak sleepers were beasts of wood to lift, move and maneuver so it really was essential that the ground was prepared properly so that the sleepers would fit absolutely first time so that we wouldn't have to move them again. Fortunately we managed to get this right with all but one, so we were pretty pleased that the thought and effort we put into planning paid off. So where does this leave us ....

Old Pond - Part Demolished

The above picture was taken yesterday when we'd finished for the day. There's just one row of sleepers that we need to remove from the front and right hand side of the pond before we start dismantling and clearing the earth out of the border to the left and back of the pond, as well as the retaining sleepers. And as for the raised patio area at AREA 51 ....

AREA 51 - Raised Patio Build

We've left a gap for now so it's easier to get the barrow in for tipping the rubble and soil. We also need to cut some sleepers so they fill this gap correctly which is not an easy feat to achieve, even with a chainsaw! I'm positive though with some perseverance will get it done. In the meantime, there's more barrowing to be done.