Repairing paths

This is one long overdue task. I have teetered down this path for the past few years, telling myself I really must redefine the path.

Gravity is the enemy of all terrace banks. And over time this rather simple but steep path has become overgrown and soil has worked its way from the road to the grass.

I figured that if I dug out a line on the far left hand side of the path with a spade, I could level it out.

So armed with my trusty string and iron thingamy (what on earth is it called?) A reel and line. You don’t want to know how long it took me to try and track down the technical name for this wonderful piece of Victorian ironmongery.  If you look on this website you can see other examples. http://www.oldgardentools.co.uk/demarcating

Mine came from my father in law who was given it by a gardener from a big estate in the Borders in Scotland. So I treasure it.

And for some reason it always brings out Artur who is curious about the unfolding twine and the spinning spindle.

It was a job that took very little time; maybe an hour. And if you think about how long I have been meaning to do it, planning to do it, and writing it on my To Do List – that is more than an hour of my time over the course of the year.

It’s done now. I unearthed some impressive rocks, lots of weeds and now it is a smooth surface just ready for grass seed.  What a shame it is so dry. I’ve scattered the seeds but I don’t have any hoses that can reach this far towards the edge of the farm.  Never mind, April showers are forecast.

And speaking of getting a Round Tuit.  The electricity company has finally, finally repaired the telephone wires down the road to the letterbox.  How long has this taken? Two years.  They came down in a storm two winters ago and a very temporary repair job was effected the next day.  But seeing wires danging in trees for two years was always annoying as you came up the drive. They weren’t dangerous. And the phone works, but it looked very shoddy.

I didn’t notice them working away.  And if I had, I might have raised an eyebrow (or my voice) at their method of getting rid of branches that are in the way of their wires.

A giant pine tree. Shoved over. Grrr. Pines are not much value for us in the firewood department as we have chestnut and oak which burns better.  So this is going to be a new eyesore to replace the old eyesore of the fallen wires.  Time to get out the chain saw.