Tag Archives: fence

Finally a greenhouse – in (many) pictures

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This January we decided that we would – at last – invest in a greenhouse to replace the plastic plant storage affair we had used for many years. [Short of time? Smart suggestion – jump to the end.]

DSCN4610Especially after the wind did this.

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We thought we’d finally use the old marble (see post  https://greenwritingroom.com/2013/04/19/happy-ending/)

DSCN3575However there were one or two things to clear first.DSCN4622

Then the fence blew down.
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We started clearing the site and preparing the ground.

DSCN5258 DSCN5265 DSCN5273Then there was the archaeology.DSCN5278 DSCN5287 DSCN5296 DSCN5306The re-siting of the big slabs that had supported an old oil tank.

DSCN5302 A heck of a lot of digging.DSCN5303 And levelling.DSCN5406 Laying of porous, breathable membrane.DSCN5428 And the shovelling of vast quantities of sand.DSCN5434 At last some of the marble can go down – using an intricate plan.

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 DSCN5452 DSCN5455 DSCN5460 DSCN5463The greenhouse arrives.

DSCN5480 DSCN5481We exchange the big water butt for a smaller one and the base makes an appearance.DSCN5474 More brickwork required.DSCN5477
DSCN5498 The day dawns and help (daughter Amy) has arrived.DSCN5502 DSCN5507On Day One we get this far.DSCN5509 DSCN5512 DSCN5520DSCN5522 DSCN5523And on Day Two we finish the task.DSCN5524 DSCN5526 DSCN5535 DSCN5539

On Day Three I planned to sleep, but found myself starting on the excavation of the narrow passageway linking the greenhouse to the back of the house. I must be mad.

 

 

Far East POWs – reflections

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It is some time since I posted about the men I have been writing about who were Far East POWs (and their wives and families). The MS is currently being read by an historian so I planned to take a break. Nevertheless I have been thinking about the men rather a lot. In the past few weeks I have been labouring against the clock to clear the ground for a new fence where mature trees once stood (https://greenwritingroom.com/2014/03/14/). I have also been trying to make a level base for a greenhouse (a task I have never done before).

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In the course of these endeavours I have been very tired, very hungry and slightly injured. Then I contracted a feverish cold, and the weather became strangely hot for April. With each of these sensations I couldn’t help remembering the accounts of the extreme versions the prisoners suffered on the railway. I tried to imagine how it would feel to be sicker or to have no rest, or food. As I stamped down the earth on my greenhouse base-to-be, I found myself repeating the phrase my father had remembered from his days when they were building the embankment on which to lay the tracks on the Thailand-Burma Railroad.

 At the end of each days work we marched up and down on the newly placed earth stamping it down firmly. I remember the Japanese engineers shouting “Orr men stepping very hardly”.

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It sounds perverse to say that I also enjoyed myself, I actually like labour, something I suspect I have learnt from my father. Anyway the fence (done by professionals in contrast to my DIY)) is now up.

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I can now get on with the rest. There is still rather a lot of earth to move, rather a lot of sand to lay as a base and all that lovely marble (purchased for another purpose several years ago) to go on top. In the meantime I have managed a few hours of editing on the POW MS. The men are not forgotten.