Yesterday Steven lighted the Garden Rubbish Tip. It was his own idea. No one asked him for that. No one wanted it. But it happened. Just after Rory, Sheryl, Diane, Amy and Steven finished the garden pond. We took it for granted and after the first operations to rescue the sides of the tip I started cleaning up the whole tip. Get everything from the sides to the (slowly burning) middle. We got help from a few showers. Not so good for the fresh concrete in the pond, but good for controlled burning of the tip. 3 hours + 1 of Wilma.
Late in the evening we got a third shower. Again a rather heavy one. But the fire was still burning this morning, so we cleaned it further. Especially in the afternoon.
But first our morning:
Wilma and I both mowing and raking in the Rhodo-project and the little piece of land in front of it.
Wilma with the light Husqvarna. She did the stretches that we had already done before: 50 m2 in the front and 75 m2 in the Rhodo-project.
I worked with the heavy Shindaiwo. Cleaned some 20 m2 in the Rhodo-project and some 20m2 of blackberry in the front. We raked not (yet) everything we mowed, but we got help from Diane and Pet, her mum.
In the meantime we discussed some future plans. We especially agreed on continuing the working relation for next year. Exact arrangements still have to be made, but I will be back at Hackfalls Arboretum from October 2008 to March 2009, and Wilma will accompany me again for a couple of months. Diane is alright if we try to get new volunteers on the project. The shearer’s quarter is available (when there is no shearing, of course). Same for Isobel’s cottage. Perhaps some members of the family will want to use it for a short time.
2 x 4 hours.
In the afternoon Wilma cut down the grape behind the homestead garden. Freed the Feijoa. The grape weeped. After about an hour I put a cup under the dripping stem. It was completely filled up a few hours later and then it was still dripping. The rubbish tip was still burning and I went on cleaning it up. Diane had added some garden rubbish to it. I carried 10 + 5 wheelbarrows of good compost out of the Garden Rubbish Tip into the compost bins. 10 in the third bin and 5 in the first. At almost nine o’clock in the evening in the middle of the tip there was still a niece fire going on. You could now walk all around the fire, but inside the tip, with the wheelbarrow.
2 x 3 hours.
