CHAPTER 11. LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON (P.7)

Finally I was able to reap the rewards from all of that hard work spent in the tent over winter thicknessing the floorboards. These were installed on the kitchen wall & ceiling, then on the mezzanine floor upstairs.

We stood up the spiral staircase king post, which was welded and bolted to the floor and ceiling. This was the beginning of a lovely friendship and working relationship with a local welding artisan, Wayne. We struck up a contra deal where we would barter labour-for-labour. I would eventually repay him by building an island bench for his and his wife Bek’s house, just down the road.

Weather permitting, work headed outside and I worked with Dave to install the septic system. Dave dug all the trenches and the hole for the system, then laid down all the rock, trench liners, matting and piping. Eventually he dropped in the septic tank and filled all his hard work back in again, like nothing was ever there. At the same time Tony also came back and connected up the system to the house.

Holly and I also started planting out the first stage of the garden. Finding time to do this was difficult, as it was hard to tear my attention away from the immediate gratification provided by working on jobs in the house. But, by taking a breath, a step back and a moment to reflect on the bigger picture, it was clear that time needed to be spent in the garden so that the native plants would grow at the same pace as the house. Holly’s extra set of hands were invaluable to the future success of the garden to say the least.