Builders ctd. and more socialising.

The work is progressing at quite a rate.  The outer skin of the new front wall is built, the cloakroom fan has been moved to exhaust into the remaining garage, the wiring and boxes for the new socket outlets are in and the chaps are pressing on with making the suspended floor and filling in the doorway between the two garages.  They know how to work, these boys.  We got home this evening to find plasterboard in place on the ceiling, and the inner skin of the new wall in place.

We had a pleasant time yesterday morning when we visited Claire and Richard in the next town.  They are both on good form: Richard is doing some filming and photography for a nearby National Trust property, and Claire is putting the finishing touches to her MA dissertation in medieval culture and literature.  She got her place at Birkbeck despite my reference, and is finding her small group sociable and supportive, however virtually.  Their garden is mature, and like ours, a mixture of veggies and flowering subjects cheek by jowl.  It’s really good to make a modest start to our social life after so long.  It was also a pleasure to get away from the banging, drilling and dust for a couple of hours.

Out the back here, more and more roses are coming into flower.  New acquisitions are doing generally pretty well.  A few that we transplanted are also surviving, though some are more enthusiastic than others.  There are a few more candidates for transplanting when they go dormant later in the year, since they are overshadowed and starved of water and nutrients by the surviving leylandii.  A lot of the climbing beans are near the tops of their poles now, so we’re looking forward to watching them fill out.

More socialising today: we dropped in on Martyn’s sister to collect a gift that has to go back to that scrupulous taxpayer and compassionate employer, the generous Mr B(-z0s.  Good to see her again after so long.  While we were in the area, we dropped in on my former colleagues Angela and Bob on the other side of the river.  We had a good catch up, and were regaled with tea and cake, and a tour of their lovely garden.  A few years ago, Bob posted on Facebook a photo of a couple of rather tired boats he’d seen while walking the dog, beautifully composed and with interesting lighting.  I had a crack at it in acrylics, so it was obvious that I should inflict my offering on them.  I delivered it today, and they were very polite about it…