Walking on water

Having dug the hole for the first main post of my new verandah, that’s the conclusion I’ve reached. Because on returning yesterday it was full to the brim with water. The water table must be just millimetres below the surface.

I have got a kind of plan for the verandah, but as soon as pen goes to paper I think of something else. It’s going to be the usual approach of see how it goes.

So down on hands and knees to remove water from hole before fiddling about with the pole in the hole (almost poetic!). Having failed to take account of the ground falling away from the shed, the hole was far too deep. Threw a few bits of brick in until I had the right height.

Decided to avoid concrete to fix poles in case some adjustment is needed at a later date. Hammering lumps of clay in worked with the shed didn’t it... of course that was done in summer. A bit of boot stamping told me I’m not going to make much headway until the ground is drier. Now concerned about whether the whole contraption will gradually sink into the mud.

Had another bright idea when I got home. I’ll include some adjustment capability on each pole by topping up with another bit of wood fixed in with other bits of wood so if necessary I can wedge the verandah roof up and replace with bigger bits of wood and gain height. Think it will work, though the look from my wife when I tried to explain it didn’t engender confidence.

I’m applying the Chris rule of measurement… will my 6’ 3” son in law bang his head when he goes on the verandah? He'll view the whole contraption with a critical eye (he’s an ace carpenter) so he’s hardly likely to give it the thumbs up having cracked his skull open. Who am I kidding… I’ve got as much chance of gaining building consent as entering the Olympics 100 metres next year. More photos of sorry progress at the foot of this post. 

On the competition front I’m on top of the world. Won all (OK, both) the darts/pool matches this year so far. Managed to win at squash on Tuesday so there’s hope David won’t have disappeared into the uncatchable distance before the year’s hardly started. And a win at pitch and putt last Friday accompanied by a record 29 shots on the second nine had me skipping home in much joy. So I'm currently champion of EVERYTHING! Months and months since that last happened.

Gearing up for the winter newsletter for our Allotment Association. So far got two articles in the bag, another ten at least to go to make sufficient content. Guess who’ll be writing at least half of those. You can read the autumn newsletter here. Also committed to smartening up my daughter’s and friend Mel’s cupcake site I created a couple of months ago, current site here. So bit of a busy few weeks ahead!