With school holidays in full steam, I am balancing work and home life precariously. This morning I proved my full navvy abilities by creating two garden beds using a tool very like this one. The goal is to reduce the lawn area and to allow for drought tolerant plants to be taken out of pots and planted where they can soak up the sun and look good. Our new house has virtually no shade unlike our last one. We also have very restrictive watering allowances, with watering using a hose only allowed for a few hours once a week. Radical horticultural plans were required. Stupidly I volunteered, thinking that the alternative using a shovel would be longer and more tedious, especially given how dry the garden is.
I can recommend that if your partner suggests the same thing that you pass and claim that it is too difficult and that we really need to hire someone. My upper body is still aching. It is amazing how you get into a sedentary mode, with the only parts of your body moving at work are your fingers, with extra exercise from the walk to the kitchen. I am quite out of shape, which is good and an excellent reason for sticking with my day job.
The end result is very good however with the addition of large volumes of mushroom compost, which the dog really appreciated as he rolled over and over.
I am now in the office doing the night shift, glad that I don't have to do that again and aching slightly. Next up retaining walls, moving the pool pump and a long list of smaller projects that seem to be part of the duties of the male of the house. I shall also be sure to be a good boy. I don't think that I would last long in hard labour.
