Hard work, mint and raspberries . . .

I got these two craft books from the bit car boot sale on Saturday, and look forward to settling down properly with them when I am not having to Do Things Outside . . .

This was one of my headlined jobs to do this morning - clearing up in the wake of the builders.  A job we couldn't tackle until the scaffolding came down last Friday.  Under all that rubble should be some gravel . . .

The general area.  I have cleared the bit just either side of the hose and was working my way upwards towards what's left of the Escallonia. The darker yellow on the walls is the damp still coming out.  There had been a big plinth here, apparently built to hold the oil tank . . .  It was not a pretty sight, and as you can see, held a lot of damp in that wall.

As you can see, I got the easy job, as here is my OH manhandling the stone (some of it dressed stone, possibly from an earlier incarnation on this site) which had been inside the plinth.

This used to be a raised bed area for growing veg in.  Needless to say, it was destroyed when the builders were at work, although I had removed most of the soil prior to them starting.  We now have to replace all that.

One of the next jobs.  This is the bed in the middle of the stable yard.  It has . . . "got away" . . .  from me this year.  That's what comes of being ill and unable to do anything outside since the end of March . . .

I had a rest from the hard work and went to pick raspberries.  I have an absolutely bumper crop but unfortunately they are the smallest raspberries ever -shrivelled by the heat as I just couldn't carry water over to them from the house. I shall freeze them anyway and use them in a cake or two.  As I was picking them, I could smell the Mint I was crushing underfoot - picking raspberries and smelling mint are synonymous with summer here.  I was also getting stung by nettles, and prickled by brambles, as needless to say the raspberry plot is completely out of control this year.

Finally, a corner of yesterday's car boot sale.  It is very hard to take photos at a boot sale, without impinging on people's privacy, and without having the stalls completely blocked by buyers . . .