474.
The dreaded day finally arrived. Liam had to go back to school today. He asked what would happen to us if he decided he didn't want to go! Anyway, go he went, and Linda went off to St Andrews to meet some of her friends from her course. That left me and Craig to get on with building the driveway, which we did with gusto. The sun was out and beating down on our necks as Craig got on with the task of bedding down the border. Between periods of watching Craig working, and giving him moral encouragement as he carried on about his backbreaking task, I spent most of my time filling in the void behind the retaining wall. With all the walls built and the border laid, there was nothing left for us to do but get to the tool hire shop and pick up a compactor. We were absolutely amazed at the amount of dust that this machine managed to kick up - but then perhaps we shouldn't have been, because the soil was bone dry and as fine as dust. Nevertheless, we persevered until we had a base that we believed capable of supporting the gravel. After Craig left, Dave turned up to have a look at the porch and make his final calculations about how much paint he will need before starting tomorrow. I look forward to a busy garden and a busy day tomorrow, for not only will Dave and his mate, Terry, be arriving with their van, umpteen sets of ladders, tins of paint, tubs of putty and pots of brushes in readiness to paint the porch, but we will also be taking delivery of four tonnes of 20mm pink whinstone gravel. I can't wait.

Liam was engrossed in the Royle's on this day last year