Plans

Plans sometimes don’t go as scheduled. I had forgotten about a diary item that occupied the whole afternoon, leaving only the morning for activity on building the patio. Despite the limited time available during the morning I was more or less able to finish laying the hard core; a few more bags of pea shingle will complete the task. That leaves me free to concentrate on laying the paving slabs. Six a day would be a very good target. This is what was achieved with the help of my great nephew; therefore working on my own, six a day may not be possible.

All of this is new to me, and I’m finding it difficult to work out the amount of time required to do various jobs and what quantities of materials are required. With prior experience I would have been able to order items in bulk, saving on costs. On the other hand, as I have been buying smaller quantities when required for specific jobs, I have not ended up with loads of unused materials. The exception to that, was not of my making, because I ordered 130 bricks for building the wall, but B&Q sent me 204! The surplus bricks came free of charge, and I’m told the reason for this was that the ‘picker’ could not be bothered to separate and pack the smaller quantity.