A common man marvels at uncommon things. A wise man marvels at the commonplace. CONFUCIUS

Thursday 12 April 2012

Digging

Having finished renovating inside the house (it's only taken fifteen years!), it was time to tackle the outside. This fine-weather springtime gave us the opportunity. The ill-sited and out-of-control Corsican pine tree had already gone. Now it was time to bid farewell to the ugly old concrete path and patio ... 

Dan, Tony, Jimmy and a nifty Bobcat digger. 

Tony has a few words with the skip hire man and his daughter.

Jesus Christ! They've dug a pit in front of our back door!

Dan awaits the next bucketful of stone hardcore.

10 comments:

George said...

From the solitary walker to the communal digger. After this, my friend, it may be time for another camino.

The Solitary Walker said...

Funny you should say that, George ...

Ruth said...

This looks like a faster renovation, good.

The Solitary Walker said...

This new footpath/patio/garage makeover will only take 2 -3 weeks, Ruth. But the rest of the garden? Forever I should think!

Susan Scheid said...

Wow, look what I miss when I'm offline a couple days! A whole patio removed. Brilliant and I look forward to future reports.

The Solitary Walker said...

I know, Susan. You turn your back just for a moment and look what happens! Major demolition! That'll teach you ... Bet you can't wait for the NEW DRAIN INSTALLATION FOR WATER RUN-OFF!!! Now, that will be exciting ...

Dominic Rivron said...

I've always fancied having a go at digging a hole with one of those bobcats. If we need anything like that doing we enlist D's help with his tractor, which has a "JCB" attachment on the back.

Last time we dug through a waterpipe, which was pretty dramatic (instant water feature).

Goat said...

Will there be space for a nice vegie or herb garden in there? Your backyard seems to go back a long way.

On matters very, very vaguely Camino-esque - well, Spanish at least - I just began 'Don Quixote' yesterday. I'm still in the preface where the translator is going on and on about the successes or otherwise of the translations over the centuries. It must be a substantially sized tome in book form -- I'm using the Kindle and after all this history the gauge that measures your inroads into the book still reads "1%"!

The Solitary Walker said...

Not sure Karen would trust you with a Bobcat, Dominic!

That'sone of the first and one of the greatest novels, Goat. All camino stories and road movies stem from this. Don't let that preface put you off. It won't be long before you get to the sex, the violence and the donkeys.

Laurel said...

I find those concrete patios grim and depressing, even on a sunny summer's day they seem to bring things down. The stone in the later post looks much more natural and cheery. I love to see people improving the aesthetics of their living spaces; beauty matters.