Nov/Dec - Patio, plants and poo

You may recall that I'd put a shout out on the Whimple Facebook page and local sites for anyone wishing to get rid of old paving slabs, after all you have to pay to get rid of them at the recycling centre so recycle to me instead!

I'd been collecting quite a few including slabs from my parents. I was delighted when then said they had 10 I could have (and having learnt from previously loading my car up with 20 slabs, and Si pointing out that I was practically bottoming out when I got home (who'd have thought they'd weigh so much) I figured 10 in one trip from their home in Plymouth to Whimple would be fine. Wrong! These slabs were monsters! They are probably 60cm square and weigh a tonne. I can carry quite heavy weights, testament to handing heavy aircraft parts and lugging diving cylinders around in my youth. We decided that 5 was the limit and I would have to wait until our family Christmas get together before I could bring myself to handle manhandling the remaining 5. Told you I was learning to be patient in previous blogs.

With all the booty collected and the front porch of our house resembling Steptoe's backyard, temporary laying of all the patio slabs was well overdue. I'd also been very kindly given half a mature rhubarb plant by a work colleague and I was itching to go to the allotment and get going.

A little rest on the patio with a cup of coffee and then it was time to put the rhubarb into their permanent homes and bed them in with the free communal manure..