The Pig Yard

July 2003 @ the Pig Yard...

July was an average English summer month with some very warm temperatures at the beginning and then some extensive downpours. It meant we had time to relax when it was very warm and also get some hard labour completed in the cooler, wetter days.

A rare photograph of Jane relaxing in the garden. It was a bright Sunday morning, we'd been swimming first before coming back to have breakfast outside and read the Sunday Times. This is Steve's favourite time of the week, relaxing and reading and not paying too much attention to what needs to be done in the garden.

Our greenhouse was delivered in mid June but we didn't really find the time to get started on it until July. We had decided where it was going to be erected before we ordered it but Jane had a last minute panic as to whether it was the most appropriate place. In the end there was nowhere better so we measured up and mixed the concrete for the base - this was our first slab foundation and getting it flat gave us a few problems.

We waited a week for the base to dry out completely before erecting the greenhouse. Thankfully Jane is fluent in Swahili so she could interpret the instructions and together we bolted it together.

It was not all plain sailing and we managed to break the penultimate piece of glass because it had gone in crooked, stuck to the mastic and Steve applied too much pressure to get it unstuck.

The final product was well worth the effort and it is a superb addition to the landscape.

One windy Sunday evening when we were supposed to be flying but the flight was cancelled we held an impromptu barbecue. The usual suspects turned up and we used the tower for the first time. The last time we had properly barbecued was over 15 years ago.

As always we had a great evening with plenty of wine consumed.

In the last days of the month Steve's brother Clive and his son Lewis arrived on their way to the Edinburgh Festival. Clive has booked accommodation that sleeps 6 and we have arranged to spend the first week there.

We shall be writing a special on the Edinburgh Fringe for the August page.