We're hoping that in six months' or so's time - well, maybe nine months - we will have a new back terrace or two. When we bought the house, the details said "Backyard & patio is a blank palette waiting to be discovered & created" - which is of course realtor-speak for "an unholy mess." So first step will be to get rid of the large, uneven concrete surface in the back yard, cracked and uneven from tree roots (and then water getting underneath). But we weren't at all sure whether the wall that it sits on was in imminent danger of collapse, or just a bit rough, too, from wear and tear. First step, therefore, was to remove forty years' growth of ivy. I would love to boast that we did this ourselves, but it took a good day's work from our very strong gardener - and the good news is that the wall doesn't look nearly as bad as we'd feared (assessment of What Might Need Doing has ranged from extensive demolition and excavation and big metal pile driving to pretty much nothing - the most sensible voice was that of a contractor who (also an engineer) has said - let's take the ivy off, and see what's underneath. Our realtors - for it is in the business of realtors to feed possible dreams of their clients - said that if we ever wanted to build a pool out here (and I should say - it's on a steep hillside) we could get equipment dropped off by helicopter. We assured them that a pool would not ever be in our wildest plans - but even installing a substantial flat surface is going to be quite laborious, given that this land is behind a three storey house built into a hill. Watch this space for our long, slow progress on this ...
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