Attack of the mattock

We woke to a day quite grey, and a little chilly, but we were all ready to get started. Louise and I were going to start on chipping away all the old cement and Chaux from one of the stone walls — near the steps of the walled garden. It was a tough job, and one we soon realised was going to take several days of work, it would just be a case of perseverance.

Brian and Chris had chosen to start on preparing the area on the other side of the wall, to lay some pavers and create me a bed to plant some dahlias. I’d like to try and grow some for cut flowers in the house. I will also use this area to pot up cuttings and bring on smaller plants in a cold frame.

It really didn’t seem to take them long to have the area measured out, and a plan in place on how the pavers were going to work. It was very exciting seeing this vision actually happening.

Whilst Brian progressed with this, Chris was attacking the ground, with what we found out was his favourite tool, the mattock. He was swiftly cutting the path on the opposite side of the steps, to lead up to the composter.

It was a very rewarding first day, which we finished off with a little stroll up to the point de vue to show them the village from above.