Often doesn't run smoothly and ours certainly didn't!
On Friday, I left P in charge of overseeing the patio extension which a local builder was helping us to sort out. I got regular texts and calls during the day about how quickly they were progressing, so was really looking forward to seeing how much they had done when I got home from work.
I knew something was wrong when P picked me up from the station and I asked him how the patio looked. He said, "It is fine." Now, we all know that when someone says 'fine', it usually means that it isn't. And it was so in this case.
When we got back to the house, I saw that the builder had put an ugly black plastic drain right across the entire width of the patio in between where the current slabs stopped and where the new slabs were to begin. He had already laid down one-and-a-half rows (out of six) of slabs.
I stood there, looked at it and said, "I don't like it." He explained that due to the unevenness of our garden and the angle of the current patio, the drain was there to ensure that water did not pool when it rained. After the builder went home, I looked at the it again and had a major meltdown. I told P that it was his responsibility to discuss options with the builder and that the drain was NOT an acceptable solution. P of course went on the defensive and we had a massave blow out. In order to avoid washing our dirty laundry on the www and to cut a long story short, our friends came over and helped him lift up the drain and slabs off the concrete so that it didn't set overnight.
When the builder arrived the next morning, he was not happy to see his hard work undone. However, after some discussion, we came to an agreement that the patio would have a slight angle in order to have adequate drainage so that the drain would not be necessary. They raked out the concrete and by lunch time, finished laying all the slabs.
After that, the hard work really began for P and me. Starting yesterday and continuing into today, he dug up the two beds along the patio and put up the metal arch. He also put in some edging to prevent the soil from spilling over onto the patio. He and I then composted the beds in order to get them ready for planting next weekend.
I've re-arranged all the pots and this is the end result:
The view from the upstairs bedroom:
I must admit that we both have garden fatique and after we plant next week, I plan on enjoying the garden for the rest of the summer. We have to design the front garden as well but I am leaving that for spring 2012. I do have a few ideas but need to think carefully about what would work best. With the back garden, it took me months of drawing up plans, discussing them with friends, listening to their advice, then starting all over again. I'm sure the same will happen with the front garden. Because it is such a huge financial and physical commitment, I want to make sure it is absolutely right before we get started.
I'll post some more photos in the next few weeks once the two beds are planted up. In the mean time, I need a drink!
And here it is:
