Earthworks

There is a track running around the back of the gîte that allows for the passage of vehicles.  However at one point, it turns sharply behind a shed, and this makes things difficult for long vehicles or those pulling a trailer.  Having gotten fed up with scraping my car, damaging a mudguard on the trailer, and knocking bits off the corner of the wall, I decided it was time to do something about it.

It took a little time to discover where a digger might be found, how little it might cost to rent it, and who might drive it, and so on, but once this combination of things was brought together, work could start.  I am always surprised at how much of a change can be effected by these diggers, but in a day, the area was transformed, and I now have a nice turning circle ready to be covered in gravel.  (Another challenge to find all the right ingredients, but not an urgent one)

In the course of the work, a lot of soil was dug up, and since the area round here is stony, there were a lot of stones in the soil.  I have spend the last couple of days pulling large rocks out of the soil, and using them to build a retaining dry stone wall that will hold back the topsoil we dug out, and, I intend, make a nice lawn/flower bed one day.   The availability of the digger has brought this project forwards, probably by several years, and here is the before and after result so far.

..... and after

Meanwhile, the heavy rain has brought the Dahlias on, and they are giving one final flourish before the frost clobbers them.  We're hoping they survive the week until our next guests arrive for the All Saints holiday.