Building Futures

In the garden
Despite aches and pains from the previous day the ‘Garden Crew’ all reported for duty with great enthusiasm and laughter. The team was once again led by Nic who was turning out to be a leader of great strength …..the list of jobs was well defined and each team member felt truly looked after and appreciated …….and then there was Brian!! The team had fallen in love with Brian – he was the Pathways gardener and his expectation was to spend one day guiding our gardening efforts …by the end of Day 2 he was engineering working with us for the duration of the week he was having such a good time – and in return his sense of humour made up for what was a seriously physical role. The team started the day fully engaged – at some point Suzi will have to explain how one can manage to look so glamorous whilst creosoting a fence – an amazing feat, although the rather tangy orange finish was not to everyone’s taste……

Fiona grabbed the power hose – what is it about a power hose which is so attractive to women? no idea ….,but the patio started to sparkle. Karen had a good go at removing the graffiti paint all over the tarmac and walls and failed dismally – within a short space of time men were organised to come in the next day – their skill - graffiti removal experts… And Nic continued to work with the ever patient Brian on the raised beds – which as the day wore on became an absolute work of art ….Brian is a perfectionist and his patience was sorely tried working the Garden Crew….borrowing the builders spirit level huge efforts were expounded ensuring that each bed was level….with the help of Jane, 2 tons of soil was then moved into the raised beds…..(with another 3 tons coming tomorrow.) And then someone, probably Brian, decided that we needed a plan. We had made huge progress – the garden was unrecognisable compared with what had confronted the team the previous day but we realised we need to start prioritising. 

The Garden Crew were all set to get some turf and lay a square – not so Brian…..within a short space of time we had tea, coffee, biscuits, paper and pen. The plan evolved – in front of the raised beds we planned to put staggered trellis against which soft fruits would be grown. There was then a huge circle of lawn surrounded by herbaceous borders and interlocking with a second circle – this would be a seating area. Based on this really exciting plan we then needed to develop the shopping list – interesting discussions then occurred around how to work out the area of a circle for turf and how many litres of bark we would need…and then the classic from Nic – one the younger members of the team ‘How many inches are there in a foot?’ - Lets move on… we drew the circles on the ground with string and an old peg – this was a truly enlightening moment as we could now see what we wanted to achieve – anyone standing on our circles received very short shrift. The day concluded with the raised beds being finished, the trellis up and huge anticipation for what was going to happen the next day.

…and meanwhile in the house
Today it was all go indoors at Timbrell Avenue. Thanks to an early dawn raid by Kate and Justina on the shops, paint and rollers were acquired then it was go go go …. It was a big boost to morale to see paint finally going onto the walls and the graffiti and hedgehogs become a blur upstairs thanks to Maria, Jane and Suzanne. Captain Sarah kept us all honest most of the time, though we are not telling Maria that the two Sarahs hatched a plan with builder Mark not to sugar soap the walls! The changing room was changed thanks to Sima’s grouting skills and some sterling painting from Suzi, and Jackie. Jennie won the prize for best painted face with a Dali-esque design while transforming the office.

  
 
Meanwhile the battle of the cupboard’s raged. Jan stuffed into hers wedged between two batons and Ruth in her Harry Potter cupboard downstairs. We think Jan had the edge even though Jackie practised some particularly unusual spoiling tactics. While it was all go in Jan’s cupboard, in the bathroom outside, Sarah, Louisa and Sue were practicing their synchronised brushing skills. Downstairs there was action in the kitchen with Kate, Justina and Yvonne adopting a much admired sponging technique. Georgina was coached into relinquishing control of her wall upstairs therapy is ongoing…