A cave no more

I have detailed elsewhere the dodgy landscaper employed here at Atomac Towers. I really was in despair when, about a month ago, I sent the final email asking for some sort of movement on the landscaping. By this time we were living in a sand pit since, in one of his manic phases, he had managed to take up all the pavers.

Maybe it was the tone of my email that did it or perhaps it was the planets being in alignment – I’m not sure. All I know is that after 8 months of waiting things actually started to happen. Pavers paid for months previously suddenly arrived. Piles of sand and earth appeared. Walls erupted from the ground. Sprinklers popped up. It was like watching the arrival of spring in time-lapse photography.

One day we came home and we had a garden. To be honest it wasn’t that fast but compared to the months of waiting it was as though John’s energetic brother had swapped places with him.

So with all of the floors replaced and the garden done we are almost there. Unfortunately all of that having been completed the last few things (those things that I have to do myself) need to be done. The outside looking so good makes the paint-work on the flashing under the gutters look awful and the outside being complete means that the eye turns inward and the painting that needs to be finished inside looks a good deal more urgent.

That’s the thing with caves. Since time immemorial people have liked to paint them. Now it is my turn.

Before

Front

After

Front

Before

Back

After

Back