2.03.2024 Another day older but no wiser.

 ~o~

 Saturday 2nd 41F/5C. Overcast and misty. A long streak of cloud is sliding just pass us heading north on the radar.  Possible light showers this morning. Possible sunshine this afternoon. It could reach nearly 10C/50F after lunch.

 Up at 6.30. My back is aching from yesterday's gardening. I need to shop again. Bike ride into the village?

 8.00  Time for a walk to sort out my back.

 8.40 Back from my walk. The sky was dripping. It would be an exaggeration to say it was actually raining. I reached the lanes before my back pain eased. It was colder and wetter walking back against the southerly breeze. 

 9.00 No idea what I am doing this morning. I still have a trailer full of garden waste to empty. Do the shopping while I am in the village? Save a journey.

 12.00 50F/10C Sunny from mid morning. Greenhouse and internal doors open to share the warmth. I saved two journeys this morning. First I delivered the garden waste and shopped. Then collected a trailer full of crushed concrete gravel on the way home. After putting the shopping away I started filling the cleared space. To make it firm and level. Just finished. Though it needs more to make the space wider. 

 It falls away quite sharply near the western and northern edges. Which would easily eat up another trailer full to little avail. It's not the modest expense but the considerable effort involved. I am thinking I could park the Morris Minor on the new pad. Which would allow a lorry load of gravel to be dumped at the inner end of the drive in its place. While still allowing access to the parking area. So the cars would not be trapped. 

 Which would relieve me of the pressure to complete the landscaping task quickly. Because the cars would not be behind a mound of gravel. I don't think his tipper truck would reach the sunken area for direct tipping. Due to a lack of space for turning however slightly. Otherwise the filling would be so much easier.  

 The gravel man suggested I bring up the bulk of the sunken garden level with sand. It being much cheaper than gravel. Then a thick layer of gravel can be laid on top. As the load bearing surface. A plate vibrator would do a much better job than stamping. 

 This major levelling job is probably some time away. I have a load of trees to remove first. The back garden would expand to twice its present size. If this huge strip were cleared and levelled. To match the rest. Taking down the two storey observatory ought to be the first priority.

 17.30 Several hours spent dismantling the big green dome. A build project to provide me with an enlarged 4.3m Ø observatory. Which I started exactly three years ago. The last time I worked on it my wife was still alive. First I had to remove all the junk which had accumulated inside. It was a handy place to throw things when I was desperately tidying indoors two years ago. I haven't looked at it since.

 Dozens of bolts, screws, washers and nuts had to be removed. The nearside segment is now free. While I have the centre section propped on a stepladder. The left and right segments are stable and self supporting by their lower edges on the ground. 

 The centre section rests on those two. Removing both sides requires great care. The segments are far too heavy for one person to handle! Hopefully, the arched reinforcing bar will avoid my being crushed. 

 18.00 I have had a cup of tea and a much needed rest. It has been a long day but it is getting dark now. So I'll have to collect my tools together and stop for the night. Mist is forecast but no rain until late tomorrow afternoon. Easterly winds are too light to cause any problems overnight.

 18.20 Stove lit and more logs brought in. 62F in the room all day but I wasn't indoors. So I didn't bother to light the stove.

 Dinner was poached eggs on toast. Both broke as I cracked them open.

 

  ~o~