She's got it on the list ...

The "list"

It’s been three months on Cracroft Farm and the one thing I can say for certain is that progress is much slower than I had imagined it would be. Just last week I mentioned to Cath that perhaps we should establish a weekly list of things we wanted to accomplish. I thought it was a good idea at the time, but the length of the list which was ultimately delivered was  way beyond my initial expectations. Indeed I began to get a premonition that perhaps I had started something I couldn’t control. 

I have already alluded to my weakness for a good Gilbert and Sullivan tune. One that has been rushing around in my head of late is the little ditty sung by Koko, the Lord High Executioner in the Mikado.  Faced with an ultimatum to execute someone by the end of the month, Koko comes up with a list of society offenders who never will be missed. I started to wonder if the slow rate of progress would inevitably lead to Pepper and I appearing on Cath’s list

I’ve a scatty Collie dog that insists on chasing birds,
I’ve put her on my list
And an academic husband, who numbers with the nerds,
He drives me round the twist, 
He surely won’t be missed
Chorus:
She’s got them on the list - she’s got them on the list
And they’ll none of ’em be missed — they’ll none of ’em be missed.

(see the 2011 Australian Opera version of the "List song")

Anyway, this weekend I think Pepper and I escaped the executioner because some pretty amazing progress was made and some of the major items on the list were ticked off. The first task that the three of us accomplished was to hang a double gate (quite a tricky job for complete novices). The gate actually shuts and looks more or less level – a major win. Then today we managed to fence the front driveway with top grade chicken wire. Okay, so that seemingly innocuous statement masks a fair amount turbulence, caused mainly by the irritating habit that fence staples have of bending under the hammer. In the end it was the intervention of the Bosch Blue Series impact driver that saved both the marriage and the day. It turns out that fixing the wire with flat-headed screws is much easier than trying to hammer in staples. 

The view down the drive with fence and double gate at the end

To top off a serious weekend of work, we even made a start on building a little retaining wall of rocks as a garden feature. Seriously though, as we knocked off this afternoon for a well-deserved beer, we looked around the place and felt as though we have made a huge difference in the three months we have  been in residence. It was a very good feeling. 

For the record, we have added the following trees to the collection mentioned in my two month update:

• Fagus sylvaticus ‘Purpurea’ (copper beach)
• 3 x Betula pendula (silver birch)
• Gleditsia ‘Eligantissima’
• Acer rubrum ‘Autumn red’ (Canadian maple) in honour of the oft mentioned Shelley scholar 

• 3 x Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’ (purple smoke tree)

Once again, thanks to everyone for reading the blog. This is the 37th post and there have been 4147 views.  I am happy to say that so far I have been able to avoid  the fate predicted by the Shelley scholar when he read my first post:
"Good god, man, you've gone over to the dark side! You've become a scribbler! No good will come of it. Broken nails, shattered egos, blank stares into the abyss: I've seen them all."

I am, however, slowly coming to realise the wisdom in these words.