With the weather in the last few weeks taking a more depressing turn, I’ve not had a lot of time to get much done in the garden. A month ago, I planned the dates for the volunteering weekend to take place on the 9th & 10th June. I was quite concerned that the weather would force me to call this off, but, as if mother nature was watching over the weather herself, a window of no rain and gorgeous sunshine fell on the very days I was planning!

The friday before the arrival of the volunteers was absolutely horrible. I was assured by Derek (the local weatherman) that Saturday would be the opposite, and I wasn’t let down. By the time the volunteers had arrived and unpacked, the sun shone on the back garden, and smiles were firmly fixed on faces.

Showing the detail of the pipe going through my front wall.
Chilling out at Cwmcarn Forest Drive Saturday evening.
My completed dry stone wall(s)!
The water was pretty cold!
The drainage pipe will be laid along the front of the foundations.
Beer + Tools = Happy Volunteers
The front of the building foundations going in.

I was fortunate to have some very hardworking people helping me this weekend. My mum and dad were on hand to help out with gardening and feeding, and some of my friends came up to help out with the tyre ramming. My volunteers had come from all around the UK, and attacked the work with enthusiasm and seemingly unstoppable energy. It wasn’t long before all the tyres I had were rammed and sitting in the ground waiting for the next course. To ensure I had more to do, I had to change my plans and do the last course of my wall with 155’s, otherwise we would have been out of tyres completely!

Saturday evening was spent relaxing near the Cwmcarn Visitors centre. We found a spot where we could dip our feet in the freezing cold water! Those who dared took a dip, but it was far too cold for that in my opinion!

A small spot of rain on the Sunday morning threatened to put a stop to the work being done, but without hesitation, the volunteers threw on their rain coats and marched out, tools in hand to do the work. I was mightily impressed at the positive attitude on show. We were rewarded with retreating rain clouds and a nice warm, cloudy day to work through.

With the tyres being rammed, I managed to get some more work done on my dry stone wall, so my little pond area is coming along nicely too. The trench for the foundations of the north side of the building have also been started, so given some more time in the garden, I should soon have one ‘L’ of the wall done! Only two more trenches to dig then and I will have a building outline! Exciting times.

Many thanks to Chris, Nicola, Sarah and Tom for coming along on the weekend. Your enthusiasm will be hard to match!