Now that we have an expanding fleet of kayaks, we need somewhere to keep them so we have ordered a long, thin shed which will be delivered in a week or so. Last weekend’s big job was to clear a space in the lower garden to install it. Lots of spiky blackthorn bushes were removed along with a few old gooseberry bushes and a variety of other sharp, scratchy plants and eventually we had an area cleared behind the compost bins.

Here’s the space after the bushes were removed but before the ground was dug over and levelled. The pile of blackthorn is in the background.
Gabrielle started up a bonfire to dispose of all of the trimmings. Because the blackthorn is very angular and spiky it is difficult to get it down onto the flames and the hottest part of the fire. Gabrielle solved this problem with the aid of a very big stick and some muscle power.

Our latest addition to the garden is a greenhouse. It arrived in kit form with a very long list of instructions. The first job was to lay out the side walls and ends and start bolting together the various pieces. Luckily we had family visitors staying for a few days and Jerry and Billy were able to provide a lot of help with the construction. This is the point where we had the frame erected and were starting to put in the glazing. This is definitely a two person job to ensure that the panes of glass stay central in the openings as the glazing bars are pushed in at either side.

We eventually got everything installed with minimal disasters (one broken pane of glass) and stabilised the structure by attaching it to some large blocks of concrete set into the ground. The final touch was to use up some old sandstone slabs from the original Craig Cottage roof to make a walkway down the middle of the greenhouse then tidy up the approach with a big concrete slab and some grass seed mixed in with the soil around the entrance.