Labouring in the summer sun

Knowing the day was going to be sweltering, I went down the allotment early whilst it was still reasonably cool. I was there from 7.30 am to around 9.45 am then went on to the dump to dispose of all the weeds, and from there to Dave's house. He's had the week off working on the construction of his garden room, and he was quick to rope me in as general labourer for the day. We went to Wickes and bought some more ballast, then on to a woodyard - Covers in Aldershot. The guy there was extremely helpful discussing the selection of timber and construction methods. Dave bought 10 hefty beams (see photo for an example) and they helped him load it onto the roof-rack. We took 6 the first trip and came back for the other 4. Between us we managed to get them unloaded and through to the construction area. Then I got on with digging out the holes for the last three footings whilst he mixed the concrete. Some careful measuring, and finally the last three padstones were in place. It was hot, thirsty work. We stopped several times to cool off, drink some water and munch our way through a large bunch of cherries from his neighbour's tree (with his neighbour's permission, of course).

Afterwards he treated me to a KFC for dinner - ahhh, we know how to live! Odd though it sounds, I enjoyed the day. I haven't done so much manual labour recently, and it feels good when your body proves it's still capable.

The photo is a post-script, taken a week later and showing one of the padstones I helped lay, with some of the building's timber framework in place.