It's been a busy week of progress and setbacks. There was the steel beam thing, the escaping sheep thing, the poly-tunnel thing the planting thing, the paddy's day thing and the ongoing imminent arrival of our baby thing.

The steel beam thing:

It arrived on Tuesday, 500Kg of unforgiving I R.S.J. of course this was perfect. Tuesday was the day when the lads with the power tools were meant to be here to move and install it. Only problem was that although the steel was here the lads were not. So it was going to sit there outside the back door tripping me up for a week and this would be OK but it would stall the erection of the scaffolding (because the scaffolding had to go right outside the back door too), so it had to move. Opinions were sought as they usually are and then roundly ignored as they usually are and I decided that rather than get ten burley lads and pay them half a days wages each I would move the bugger myself. Amazing what you can do with a 2 tonne jack, a few logs and a big lever.

And here's the turn:

Full credit to Dave who arrived just in time to help me get it up onto the slab.

Some mounts ago D and I spent some quality time in the garden planting bulbs. I seem destined not to do well with flowers and I think I should just give it up as a bad job because no sooner had the bulbs begun to pop their heads out of the soil than the sheep escaped and eat them. Don't know why this bugs me so much. I think it's more to do with the fact that they were this whole father daughter co-operative exercise that has now been reduced to sheep poop. At least I get to eat the perpetrators.

The poly-tunnel thing is very exciting, I was knocking it up bit by bit than Dave arrived and finished the basic from in an afternoon. having handy friends is very handy. There's still lots to do but we can now see just how big it's going to be. Big is how big it's going to be...cool.

F has been a trooper, not content with incubating the baby she has been propagating seeds. March is here, spring is upon us and here we go again. Father in law Pat has been here with his spade. Now I can't dig cause of the boketty knee (coming along nicely thanks for asking but still very painful), but that's OK cause Pat is doing it all for me. I do hope he's enjoying himself because he's basically dug the entire vegetable plot in a week (usually takes me a month). Derek our architect arrived the day of the steel beam move to find me taking a rest and Pat in the garden working away like a machine. "that's the way to garden" he quipped to me.

the paddy's day thing, well what can you say, I got ropped into holding a banner for the local playschool but it was great fun, D had a ball with her cousins. F had a rest for the afternoon but by the time D and I got home we were both exhausted and when F and I had got her to bed I collapsed in my own bed and slept for 3 hours. 'Twas a bit of craik though. Parade was OK though it definitely had a tunnel of goats feel to it.

D has just woken up gotta go, baby is arriving in the next 2 weeks or so.......AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!