Bricks

You may remember that last weekend we couldn’t buy bricks for the garden project Phase Two because the brick reclamation place was closed.

Well. I rang them on Monday and placed an order for 1000 bricks. £420, plus £20 delivery. A bargain! Oddly enough, I didn’t happen to have £440 pounds loitering about that close to pay day so said I would pop a cheque in the post on Tuesday if they wouldn’t mind organising delivery after the cheque had cleared. They didn’t mind. Business concluded. Excellent.

I was quite busy yesterday. Desk first thing. Teaching on and off through the day. Organising things. Rushing about. At lunchtime I had a message asking me to ring the brick place. Oops. I do hope nothing has gone amiss. But no. They were ringing to ask if it was OK if they delivered them that very afternoon!!! But I haven’t paid for them yet. I haven’t even put the cheque in the post. No worries, said they. We’re sure it will arrive.

When I eventually got home yesterday evening, there were two pallets of bricks in the drive. I’ve posted the cheque. Excellent. Mind you, they’re very trusting in Chesterfield. You wouldn’t catch folks in Sheffield giving you 1000 bricks before you’d paid for them. So, Phase 2 of the garden project looks to be in hand. The Builder can start playing with the bricks whenever he is minded. And time allows!

And, in fact, Phase 3 is also in hand. The Builder occupied himself on Sunday afternoon digging over the next new garden bed along from where the patio is going to be. The turf is now on the compost heap. The weeds have gone away this morning in the green bin (garden waste and cardboard). It’s ready for planting. I’m thinking I might put things which have winter interest in there. The rest of the garden is flowery and scented in spring and summer, and even a bit in autumn. We need wintery stuff.

The Builder has also got the first allotment bed up and ready to roll. I’m working late tomorrow. If the weather is clement, I shall plant the over-wintering broad beans. I’ve got the usual ones and some red ones this year. Apparently, if you steam the red ones they retain their colour!

So. Gardening is going apace. Thanks, largely, to The Builder getting stuck in.

I’ve had quite a pleasant day today. It’s been fairly peaceful and quiet. I’ve sorted out my desk and done some book ordering and read some papers and been to a meeting and generally meandered through the day. Would have been entirely uneventful – except that I LOST my phone :-( I hunted high and low, once I realised it had gone. Then in sorrow I rang O2 and had it barred. Then I sent out an email – to which Richard responded with an instruction to check lost property for a phone had been handed in at about the time mine had gone astray. Hooray! My phone is back. But silent. It will take 24-36 hours to get it unblocked apparently. At least it’s back though. I felt strangely bereft without it – if for no other reason than I use it as my clock!