Playground fence

Playground fence
Originally uploaded by davidjennings.

Erection of this fence began yesterday. I can't say it looks attractive to me, but I believe it's going to be partly obscured by plants.

Just two people on site this morning, working mainly on carpentry.

Digging up the patio

Digging up the patio
Originally uploaded by davidjennings.
More soil gets shipped off
Originally uploaded by davidjennings.

This patio, underneath my window, has gone now; turned into a pile of rubble. And as you can see, you go ten days with no sign of a digger on site, and then two come along in close succession.

This new JCB model has been put to use shifting cement mix and, in the picture below, shovelling soil into a lorry to be removed. It's been thumping the ground a fair bit as well. Oh, as I've hinted before, I don't like that.

And then it drove away again at the end of the day.

Little digger returns

Little digger in the ball court
Originally uploaded by davidjennings.

Not seen since Day 3 of work on site, the little digger made a welcome return today. It is seen here spreading more surface material on the ball court, but also helped dig the Quiet Garden path before the path border was extended.

Not only is the digger more photogenic than carpentry work, but it also seemed to accompany a general increase in the buzz of activity, as the men in yellow jackets were back drawing more lines and the headcount increased again.

Cutting blocks for the ball court border

Cutting blocks for the ball court border
Originally uploaded by davidjennings.

Building this third border for the ball court is much more labour-intensive than the first two, which were created simply by pouring concrete into a wooden mould, and then removing the mould. (These two sides have solid concrete trenches underneath them, whereas the third has concrete only under the fence posts, as shown in this photo from four weeks ago.) Concrete blocks have to be cut with the band saw and then cemented into place.

Work started on the border for the Quiet Garden path.

Metalwork for garden path

Metalwork for garden path
Originally uploaded by davidjennings.

It was a cold day today, and wet at the end. Activity was muted, with some work on the final border for ball court surface left half-finished.

One of the yellow-jacketed engineering/surveying staff was back, and lines for the garden path have been painted on the ground for what seems like the third time. The arrival of the metalwork shown in the picture suggests some imminent construction in the garden area.