Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud.

Not a lot has been happening inside the chapel for the past few weeks. This is because nothing further can realistically be done until it has been re-roofed. And it can't be re-roofed for another two weeks because that's when (we pray) the rooflights arrived from The Rooflight Company - the ordinary rooflights, that it. We have two escape rooflights, a buildings regulation requirement, on order but as they are more complicated in structure they won't be ready until even later. Once the roof is done, then the main internal work can start. So somebody up there, please, please can we have some spring weather? A bit of sunshine even? Temperatures above freezing?

In the meantime a lot is going on outside. The garage foundations are in place as is the concrete base for the new conservatory. The old pond which was too near the road and in the full glare of the sun in summer has been filled in and the new one pegged out. What with this and diggers/dumper trucks trundling around like metal dinosaurs, not to mention a covering of snow last Wednesday morning which had melted to mush by midday and the garden is a now sea of sticky clayey mud. Stand too long in one place and you find yourself slowly sinking. I'm going to slip and end up face down in it one day, I know I will.

But there are some signs of progress. Peter has weeded around and fed the new hedge and shoots are already appearing. Now it is fenced off from the lane, any passing sheep will not be able to feast on it as they did last year and put back its growth a whole year. He is about to start landscaping the pond. He also tells us that what we thought was a type of cypress tree is in fact a cedar that has been successively chopped back every year to prevent it from spreading because a previous owner had (not sure why) planted it too near the chapel. We have decided to move it further up the garden and leave it alone to spread and grow. This will of course create even more mud.

I'm trying to imagine what it will be like when all the work is done. It's hard.