Our new section: June 2011

Another new month and another new project! This time we turned our attention to a poly tunnel or greenhouse. Yet again we had trouble as we bought it online and the packaging was seriously damaged, by a forklift most likely, and so we lost several of the bits en route.

But eventually they were replaced and we could assemble it.

The brochure showed a young woman with her toddler assembling theirs but I was not fooled this time and knew Dave and probably concrete would be involved! Anyway, the site was all ready ...

... and it sort of sprang up very easily before our eyes.

We then had a public holiday weekend which coincided with some dreadful weather so we had a Great Queens Birthday Weekend Challenge, where he had to make the staging for the poly tunnel and put the soil inside it before I made the remaining three huge pairs of curtains for the living and dining rooms. Competition was very fierce but the conditions got changed several times and the prize was never specified so it was all a bit unsatisfactory but we did make enormous progress.

During the competition, Dave decided the fixings would not be secure enough in our strong winds so, once the weather improved, he proceeded to concrete in all the pegs.

We had saved all the topsoil removed from the site in a, by now, rather overgrown soil mountain at the edge of our 'front lawn' so it was very good to get rid of some of that. And even more exciting to at last find a use for the fishing net we had found on the beach on the other side of the world about 25 years earlier and carried up and down cliffs to try to win the day's 'most interesting object' competition with Uncle Tony!!!

Paul made a brief visit which was just long enough for him to lend a hand (but just the one) and shift the staging in.

And then we used the net again to sift some more of our free bark chips to add as a mulch.

We also planted a rather handsome magnolia grandiflora which we hope will like its new home and grow big and strong.

The very mild weather continued and at the end of the month, which was close to the middle of winter, we had flowers on several plants and bulbs, including our new camellia and even the strawberries.