Wildlife Ponds... Now Total Garden Rebuild

[teuchter]

Why? Do you want to go on there and take the piss out of me or something?

Yes. But I saw it was 7 pages long and couldn't be bothered.

Have you finished it yet?

 

[Mumbles274]

I'd rather not have this in my thread thanks, take it to pm or elsewhere

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Yes. But I saw it was 7 pages long and couldn't be bothered.

Have you finished it yet?

If you can't be bothered to look at it, you're obviously not interested, so stop derailing Mumbles' thread

 

[Mumbles274]

My elbow is really sore Gonna be tough doing stuff today, will have to dose myself up as I really want to get the base to the path finished before the plasterer comes to render the back of the house tomorrow

Jobs for that are:

Take 15 bags dirt to dump, prob 2 runs
Pick up 20 bags of hardcore from builders store, 2 trips
Dig out rest of path+ dump it (although if it's only 10 bags or so I can leave that for another day)
Fill path with HC
Clear back entrance so can get Cement mixer in

After all that I'm meant to have cricket practice this evening, but I can't even lift my bat at the mo!!!

 

[invisibleplanet]

Clear back entrance = priority job! Cricket practice = next priority!
If you don't get round to the rest could it wait?

*sympathies* Re. elbow - request daughters to kiss your elbow better - always works for me @being kissed better and it's impossible to kiss your own elbow!

I banged/bruised mine quite badly last week and it only began to feel better after I requested one of the Sea-Dads to kiss it better

 

[Mumbles274]

Yeah, it could.. will prioritise the back entrance although that is pretty easy, jut need to move some white plastic chairs and a couple of other things. Not seeing my girls till next week, will ask the builders later

 

[invisibleplanet]

Not seeing my girls till next week, will ask the builders later

LOLOLOL

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

My elbow is really sore Gonna be tough doing stuff today, will have to dose myself up as I really want to get the base to the path finished before the plasterer comes to render the back of the house tomorrow

Jobs for that are:

Take 15 bags dirt to dump, prob 2 runs
Pick up 20 bags of hardcore from builders store, 2 trips
Dig out rest of path+ dump it (although if it's only 10 bags or so I can leave that for another day)
Fill path with HC
Clear back entrance so can get Cement mixer in

After all that I'm meant to have cricket practice this evening, but I can't even lift my bat at the mo!!!

Oh poor you. Know how a dodgy elbow feels. Mine's been like it ever since I fucked it up doing some tiling. Whenever I do anything strenuous, it goes again, and I screwed it up a few weeks ago again and am still in pain. Can't you find some nice builders to give you a hand. When my fence was delivered on Tuesday, the guy's boss hadn't told the guy it was a slot-in fence and therefore a two-man job and he was unable to do it. I went and asked a builder along the road to give him a hand

 

[Mumbles274]

My elbow is really sore Gonna be tough doing stuff today, will have to dose myself up Pain killers working enough to lift stuf

Jobs for that are:

Take 15 bags dirt to dump, prob 2 runs 1 run done
Pick up 20 bags of hardcore from builders store, 2 trips, got 10 bags
Dig out rest of path+ dump it (although if it's only 10 bags or so I can leave that for another day)
Fill path with HC 10 bags down
Clear back entrance so can get Cement mixer in Done

Been cracking on through the pain barrier!!!!

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Been cracking on through the pain barrier!!!!

I've found it's the best thing. Once you get over the initial shock and start working the muscles again, it eases up. Stopping is when you start feeling the aches and pains

 

[Mumbles274]

All done, save a couple of trips to the dump. Next job... level the surround to the pond and then start digging it....


but first... an afternoon off with a can of something cold and the tour de france, maybe a nap

and yeah, now I've sat down, i'm exhausted!!

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

All done, save a couple of trips to the dump. Next job... level the surround to the pond and then start digging it....


but first... an afternoon off with a can of something cold and the tour de france, maybe a nap

and yeah, now I've sat down, i'm exhausted!!

You shouldn't have sat down. You'll never get back up again!

I'm off out now to the £1 shop to buy more stuff

 

[Mumbles274]

I'll have to go to the fridge, that'll get me up!!!

Although cricket later could be tough... might take a coaching role and get people doing some drills

 

[Onket]

Great thread. Looking forward to seeing how things progress. All the best with it.

 

[Mumbles274]

Cheers

A few pics of it as it stands now, path all done, pond is a bit shallower where I was starting on leveling the edge

 

[invisibleplanet]

Nice work, Mumbles

 

[Mumbles274]

I'm living and breathing this project at the moment... did a rough sketch to get my thoughts onto paper, I work better with this kind of loose idea as I have something to work towards

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Wish I could draw. Could you come and do my garden when you're finished please

I bought a coconut palm from Lidl yesterday. Will stick a picture of it on my thread. It's in my "sunny" corner at the moment until I decide where to put it

 

[Mumbles274]

Well, the back of the house has been rendered and the rest of the garden now looks a mess. Had a day off yesterday and playing cricket today so work continues tomorrow with pond digging

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Well, the back of the house has been rendered and the rest of the garden now looks a mess. Had a day off yesterday and playing cricket today so work continues tomorrow with pond digging

I was playing doctor to lots of my plants yesterday. I'd got changed into my painting gear to finish the fence off and then it started pissing down so gave up on the idea. Meant to rain today, but I may be able to get the last two panels done in between showers

 

[davesgcr]

Excellent - very much work in progress !

 

[wayward bob]

what a fab thread, hadn't seen it before a really excellent use of your time atm, i did similar with our garden, took 2 weeks holiday from work when i should really have been signed off sick and put all my efforts into digging, mixing concrete and building walls looking good already

 

[Mumbles274]

what a fab thread, hadn't seen it before a really excellent use of your time atm, i did similar with our garden, took 2 weeks holiday from work when i should really have been signed off sick and put all my efforts into digging, mixing concrete and building walls looking good already

Cheers, it sure has been a great use of time, helped my head no end

 

[invisibleplanet]

helped my head no end

'xactly that's the best part .. ''we can rebuild him ''

 

[Mumbles274]

however my body is fucked!!!! Already done 2 dumps runs this morning and can fill enough bags for a run in about half an hour. I think I've lost half a stone sweating, it's pouring off me!!!

The back of the house is looking acers. It's ready to paint now, will be done by the end of the week and the scaffold will be down on Saturday, can't wait to see it all fresh and clean.

The list of jobs is short but they are major

Dig pond, fill it, install pump and electrics
Pave path
Landscape round pond
Build deck
Lay gravel
Planting
Drink beer


Actually the drink beer bit happens at the end of each days graft

 

[invisibleplanet]

I know how you feel. Re. Garden waste: I felt like that when I was clearing the junk left behind by previous tenants from our communal garden. I think Mum (the driver) counted. I lost count after the 10th tip trip. I remember there were 3 journeys for the contents of the main shed, and the excavated waste alone from the pavement (left there after the fence was erected) was 21 bags.

I painted the outhouses (sheds) last autumn too, a mediterranean blue with white window, black drainpipe/doorframe and a 2-brick deep black soil 'splashback'. Looks great Must get around to painting the door white at some point. It's not a pressing priority though right now

 

[Mumbles274]

Spent the day digging, another 30 odd bags of dirt, still got 20 ir so to take to the dump. The final shape of the pond is in place though, this taken from the shallow wild end. I've put some stone blocks in place to give an idea of where the stepping stones between the 2 sections will be. this will be nice and shallow with plants growing, the far end sloping off to a margin shelf and then dropping down to the deep end which will be 3 foot deep

Looking back to the newly rendered house, not a great pic to show it with the bright sun and the scaffold in the way

The pond from the deep end, so far at a little over 2 foot deep in this end, the margin shelf here will be about 18 inches deep. The deep part is marked in the dirt as you should be able to make out

Beer o' clock now

 

[invisibleplanet]

The back of the house looks fantastic, and I'm loving those defined, clean edges on your pool trench

 

[xes]

if you're going to have fish in the pond, make sure you build a good cover for it to stop the herons. (netting on a wood frame is best IMO)

You're doing good work there, I know just how much digging a pond hurts, and just how much dirt you dig out.

 

[Mumbles274]

Good point, probably not so much herons as seagulls to worry about though