Saturday 26 June 2021

All Changing.

 



Still in the middle of change, but last week great progress was made in this garden. This is the result of my long time of isolation which resulted in lots of thinking time and a realisation of what is really important for my hopefully remaining years. I have realised how much I hope to be able to remain here.

 In my house which is large for one person, but not large enough if all the family should want to be here together.  

In my garden which is complex and needs a lot of maintenance, but which is a wonderful place for friends and family, especially smaller ones.

 In my neighbourhood, which contains many friends and which is ideally located for good local shops and local rail and road transport, even though I have not used any form of public transport since the pandemic started.

Before Covid struck I had regular help with both house and garden, but since then I had to manage without anyone entering the house, and now I find that I'm able to continue alone.

The garden needs a lot of attention, so it seemed to be time to simplify things. The greatest need was for repair of the crumbling walls, built by my husband from reclaimed stone.  Another need was regrettable but necessary; the demolition and removal of a summerhouse, also created from reclaimed materials and now in a sorry state fourteen years after his death.

So last week it all began with a firm called Colwall Stone who came to do not only the stonework but also some other tough jobs; removing old fencing and replacing with something different, as well as demolishing and removing the summerhouse, replacing it with a stone patio.

This firm does beautiful precise work with stone, but here they have been asked also to create a rustic bridge suitable for Hobbits, to incorporate a fairy door into a dry-stone wall, to make a stepping-stone path from the bridge to the new patio. And to be completely fair, they not only picked up my ideas but they ran with them, suggesting and finding the rustic materials for the bridge, and also finding a stone arrow to point to where the new family-and-friends dining table will be (so that none of the grandchildren will get lost in the bamboo jungle). They have also been asked (not to say nagged) about respecting some of the planting, and one team member is learning rather more than he wants to know about alpines. I hope the regular deliveries of tea, coffee, biscuits and occasional cake help. It's small return for all the cheerful consideration and extra care that is given.

There's more work to go, but I am so encouraged by the results so far that I can look forward to all the planting work to be done as my part. I'm so thankful that I had the time to sort out what I actually needed to do, and that I've found a team who can do it, no matter how eccentric it may seem. All it needs now is family and friends to come and enjoy it.


13 comments:

  1. Living in a place where people meet... and a garden grown with creativity, this is... nope can't find the word. But it's a good word, wandered off to sit on a wall I expect.

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  2. Thank you, Zhoen, it's a good place too. A bit rumpled at the moment, but I'll get to grips with it soon.

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  3. Sounds like you have a good firm working with and for you!

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  4. How wonderful that you found such a good firm/team to do that work (which sounds totally enticing to me). I well remember tears and rage when workmen have carelessly trampled (and in one instance dropped huge rocks) on my plantings.
    I do hope that you will share photos of the finished work - though a garden is never finished is it?

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  5. gz: yes, I'm very impressed by the way they have not only listened to me but come up with their own suggestions in line with my theme - old women are not used to being heard, at least this one isn't.

    E.C: there is a bit of trampling and rock-dropping, but they really cannot do the work in this complicated space without it. I was prepared!
    So true that a garden is never finished.

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  6. Lovely to hear that you are managing so well at gardening and I hope you do manage to stay in your house, garden and neighbourhood. The guys on your crew must be loving this job. How many of their other jobs let them have the fun and creativity of building a hobbit bridge or installing a fairy door in a brick wall? I wish I could be one of your grandchildren for a few days next time they visit.

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  7. Molly: Thank you for your kind comment. I hope the initial surprise for the stone-masons turned into enjoyment. It certainly seems to have done.
    It will be some weeks before any grandchildren visit, so I hope to have all the planting organised again. Then I hope it will be a surprise for them as well. I think I could be nearing the end of the optimum age for fairy habitats with my grand-daughter who is nearly nine, so it's good to make the most of it now. Grandsons don't have quite the same interests - nor did sons, long ago!

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  8. So pleased you've found people who understand what you want and enjoy making it real. I'm sure it'll be an excellent home for all sorts of lives, and I'd love to be able to enjoy it with you.

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  9. P.Pete: I like the point about other lives here, especially as quite a few of them have been disturbed by cement-mixers and such-like. However, it is being made much easier for others as the damaged larch-lap fencing has been replaced by post-and-rail and no one has to punch holes through it to get to the peanut butter sandwiches.

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  10. I know just what you meana now that I am on my own with a house larger than I need and a garden I am not able to cope with on my own topped off by having had a fall and now having to keep my foot up till the fracture I sustained heals yet wanting to stay here in the house I love. I have luckily found someone who will do the garden for me nothing fancy but what I might have been able to do myself were it not for age and increasing decripitude, who also has a husband who is semi retired and keen to help people and who can do most of the jobs I might have called on Mr M to do in the past! I feel blest to have them to help me.

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  11. It's humbling to need help, important to recognise when you need it, and lovely to find the right people.
    I'm sorry to hear of your fall and facture, and I do hope that things heal well for you. Life and living becomes rather precarious for all of us at this stage, and it's valuable to know what you want. My very best wishes to you.

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  12. It is absolutely delightful! I'd have been ecstatic to have the chance to play with toys and get lost in that bamboo when I was a child. What lucky grandchildren you have. I am pleased and glad that you have moved from needing help to being able to manage on your own. How encouraging.

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