Cold and raining today, autumn is definitely here. We were in two minds whether to go or not but windguru showed that the rain would taper off so I thought it would be a good opportunity to retrieve a piece of old water pipe from Gibson\\\\\\\’s farm.
On arrival Ellie went to see Goodman with her suggestions for improving the look of the entrance to the reserve (he liked them a lot) while I went on to the FOVS room to put the refurbished drawers back and deliver the petrol for the brush cutter. To my surprise Jenny and Rob were already busy in the potting shed re-potting stuff from the weekend.
Off we went, parked at the arboretum and walked along the pipe line to Gibson. We were very happy that the line looks in very good condition and our hard work earlier digging it in better has paid off. We found the pipe easily and, as luck had it, there was a loose piece just the right length so I didn’t even have to use my hacksaw and we carried it back between us.
It took longer though than we had thought so we were late for tea with the others but a hot cup of coffee was most welcome as we were quite wet.
We then decided rather than going to the arboretum to do some more levelling and digging out of vibracrete panels by the shade house. It took many more wheelbarrows of soil than I expected and ended up digging quite a hole to provide soil. The fun part though was using the car as a steamroller, low range 4×4 and up and down to compact the soil. Worked a treat.
After lunch Rob and Jenny left and we then filled the hole with soil from one of the compost bins behind the potting shed, not quite enough to fill the hole entirely but a good start.
Ended off with a walk through the arboretum where we found that the “pond’s” lining has a leak and removed some Bryophyllums and other nasty weeds.