No pics today, too busy for that.
The day started of with a meeting with Goodman, mainly to get permission for the biking trails which he was quite happy with and to meet the new students. It remains to be seen whether the students will be a help or will take up even more of the staff’s time.
We also discussed the flower house and he is well aware of the situation. The person doing it is not very knowledgeable but Tony is supposed to check up. It will also be one of the things the students will do.
Jenny joined us and we decided that the best way to deal with the scraggly ericas and proteas near the entrance is to do a controlled burn. At our next meet we’ll work at the first circle to take down some more strelizias and at some stage we must also do something about the keurbooms and Podylaryias there.
Off to the arboretum, connect hosepipe and switch on tap. No immediate leaks. I start on digging holes for the gateposts while Ellie does some more clearing of the fence. After a while I check for water and sure enough there is another leak a bit further on and I dig it out and it is the usual ripped out sprinkler issue. The meeting took quite a bit of time so before we know it teatime arrives.
Kirk is there, he returned the chainsaw and has donated a new chain. Comes in handy because I take it along to cut some branches in “The Gem” (our new name for the arboretums greenhouse). I dig the hole for the second post and Ellie makes good progress clearing.
After lunch we take the ladder along, I put the top post across the entrance and secure it, put a hook on the nookie door and take all the rusty chicken wire off the one side. It looks very clean now but I wonder how I’m going to justify buying new wire.
I prepare a peace of pipe with joins to repair the leak but when we put on glue it sets in no time and I cannot slide the join in place so grrr, next time better. I blame the old glue.
We clear out all the old rotten wood from the bottom section, put it in the trailer and generally clean up. Ellie is nearly finished preparing the beds, I fashion some kind of rockery, she plants some bulbs in it and we return the ladder to the Fovs room, phew, an intense day.
Next week we will have one of the workers helping us as Jenny won’t be there. We plan to get him started on the biking trail with the brush cutter, hope the saw fits.