Front Lawn HIghway

I have accrued a huge 'to do' list (in scale of job and quantity) of the front end of my fridge.  These jobs (should I get round to tackling all of them) will fill out spare Sundays for the remainder of the summer.  In the main they are the a*se numbing, laborious type of 'To Do': for example, this summer I have to varnish/stain the fence which separates our garden from the neighbour's.  In fact this is the fence I fitted in nearly two years ago, a job of which I'm still rather proud of (although trying to manoeuvre 8 foot high concrete poles might be more efficient with someone along to help you).  I know this is one of those I'm bets to get up early one weekend morning and spend the best part of a day carrying out.  It might be an idea to stick my iPod over my brain and take out a days worth of Irish Coffee in a flask – actually come to think of it, that might not be such a bad thing.  Actually, I've come to realise that such tasks do wonders for you mental well being: they're almost cathartic and meditative once you get cracking.  Your mind starts a little journey, sings to itself, creates parallel universes and at 'close of play' generally much better off that we you started: all the cobwebs and knots have been 'down-dumped' and sent to perma-trash.  Not unlike when you're body is tired from lack of harsh exercise and once you take it back into this environment and nearly cough your viscera through your tear ducts it soon enough becomes re-energised and tingly from it's  brush with reality (you can't fool your lungs or lactic acid).

Anyway...the weekend just passed I ticked another box on the to do list titled : 'Kerb the drive'.  Sounds like a new HBO series, but rather mundanely it meant I have to fit kerb stones around the driveway which were ripped out when I put the fence in.  Thing is I enjoyed this job.  It entailed me using a whole gamut of tools: spirit level; plumb line; rubber mallet; Timmy mallet (who happened to be in Manchester at the time); wheelbarrow; concrete ingredients (1 part cement – 2 parts sand – 3 parts gravel!) and other bits and bobs.  To complete the 'builders' look I took the belt from my faded jeans and proudly displayed by 'builders derrière' to all and sundry.

Surprisingly, I managed to get a straight line (vertically and horizontally) down one side of the garden and god forbid it looks quite professional.  The concrete set solidly and the kerb was as firm as something really firm  - I'd created a mini Berlin Wall on my drive.

This has inspired me...following on from this I'm looking into building a small highway in my garden – an American highway or Thelwall viaduct right up to my front door.  It will be a tourist attraction one day, rather like the Watts towers in Los Angeles.