Hired help

The morning seems to have drifted away: mostly in slowing and meticulously vacuuming the pool. Starting to look normal at last. I feel a cold coming along. Or did I just inhale too many Ambrosia plant spores when I was strimming?

But did I languish in the shade? Lie down to read a book and eat chocolates? No sireee. Kevin came up for three mighty hours of work and I knew that I had to work with him if I was to get value out of this unexpected labour.

We started on the eyesore that has been the mini building site for a year at the entrance to the track up to the pool. It was here that Nicolas parked his first one and then two cement mixers, tarpaulins of sand, empty sacks of concrete, broken tools, and general squalid detritus. Well that’s an exaggeration, but I have dreamed that one day we can mow the path and the orchard area without having to haul the lawnmower over the rubble of dead cement and stones in between the two. We removed the soil from the path and placed it back in its rightful place behind the wall. Shoveled sand until blisters popped up and took it up to the top near the pool. It’s tidily tucked away under a tarpaulin.

Then we hauled stones to fill in the end of the wall. And with just a short break I had to prepare the poor lad for the worst. Moving the decorative river stones up over the lawn to the strawberry bed. And it’s done. Can’t believe how efficient one can be when you work in pairs. I will sleep well tonight. Couldn’t flag and show that I was tired. I am now, and especially as I have realised that I have left the lawn mower down on a lower terrace. I was making loud machine noises in the hour before Kevin arrived so he could find me on the vast acres.

And trying to get the lawnmower back with weakling arm muscles reminded me of that great expression  – trying to push water uphill with a fork. I couldn’t do it via the terrace I was working on. Instead had to hack my way through the dying branches of the mulberry tree, excavating stones and dodging new mole hills and gingerly getting this mighty machine back to a terrace that is more or less clear.