Sheet of Steel......

Oh my goodness.....somehow I have a knack of creating more work for myself than is necessary.......during the last week of the holidays, Big Lad spruced up the shed with a few coats of Black Ash stain.......it looked lovely, with the added bonus of it disappearing into the shadows of the trees around it.....so I decided it would be nice to plant a couple of clematis plants I had languishing around in pots, in front of the shed, with the black background to set off the green foliage and pretty flowers when they bloom.

I was all set for a couple of hours of work.......to make a little edge with some bricks......dig a couple of holes.......plant said plants.......bob's your uncle ......job done. I wish. As soon as I started to dig the first hole, thud......I'd hit something.......I tried again......and again.......and again. No joy.....it seemed no hole was going to be dug here. What on earth was this? So I started to excavate and traced the line of a very large and very unexpected sheet of steel. My friend M thinks it is probably a piece of the old wartime bunker people had at the bottom of their gardens......buried.....instead of having it removed from the property. Unfortunately, I couldn't just pick it up, or pull it out because it seemed to protrude from some paving slabs that I am unable to lift or move.....

So.....here I was, with a rather large sheet of steel, right where I wanted to plant my clematis......what should I do......how would I get this out? I poked ......prodded......pulled.......excavated dirt.....bent it up with great difficulty ......bent it down again, with even more difficulty.....smashed holes in it with a huge pick axe, to hopefully give me some purchase to move it.....excavated some more dirt.....Big Lad came to help.....still nothing......it just wouldn't budge ......decided to riddle it with enough holes from the pick axe until a piece broke off......well, it might be easier if it wasn't so heavy.....so removing half would make it lighter......surely?

Nope, not on your nelly......it just didn't want to come out.....all it did was leave a very jagged....very rusty......and very dangerous edge. What to do now? Big Lad said I needed to cut it out......but I just didn't have anything that could cut through a sheet of steel......and it was time for dinner......it had taken me nearly all afternoon.......and I was no nearer to planting my plants.....but now I had something far too dangerous to just cover back over with dirt and plant the poor old clematis elsewhere.

Time to call a friend.....or a Dad even. My Dad is brilliant......he always knows what to do.....only thing for it, he said.....you'll need to buy an angle grinder ......WHAAAAT......a BIG scary...extremely dangerous.......power tool? Yep, that's what you need, he said.

Bright and early the next morning......an angle grinder duly purchased..... instructions read......kitted out in goggles and leather gloves......I took to that there sheet of steel.......

Sparks flying.....Little Lad.....who was standing well, well away......said we wouldn't need to buy fireworks anymore, Mummy can just provide entertainment with her new toy.....

One way or other, I WAS going to plant my clematis in front of the shed.......

One way or another, I WAS going to have it out......and I did......I'd done it......by 12pm that there sheet of steel was history.....

I backfilled all the earth I'd excavated.......relaid all the bricks I'd disturbed ......finished my little brick edging.....dug two holes......and......planted my dear old clematis plants......

They've always done pretty well in their pots, despite not really being looked after......hopefully they'll like their new position......and reward and delight me for all my hard work with the most glorious flowers next spring and summer.

And the new toy in question.......one lean.....mean......cutting machine........

Somehow it just doesn't really look much sitting there all docile and innocuous .......but this is one very seriously dangerous and potentially gruesome piece of machinery.

And so, after all that, instead of the job taking me a couple of hours......it actually ended up taking a couple of days......like I said, I have a knack for creating more work than is necessary. It would have been so much easier to have just covered the steel back over as soon as I hit it, and decided to plant my clematis elsewhere, rather than taking up two precious days which I could have spent with my darling Angels before they headed back to school for another year .......but that would have meant letting the sheet of steel defeat me.......my clematis would not be looking lovely against the black of the shed.......I wouldn't have learnt a brand new skill......my Angels wouldn't have seen their mother succeed instead of giving up.......and I wouldn't have gained a huge boost of self confidence. So it wasn't two precious days wasted......rather, they were two days that were different from what I had planned or expected......with a different set of positive outcomes.

I am so chuffed and proud of what I've achieved.....quite an amazing feat for me, I must say.......there has been a time in my life when I would never.....ever..... have considered taking up a power tool of any kind......but those days are well gone now......this is the new lean...well not so lean.......mean.....me.....not to be held back by any sheet of steel......when needs must.......and.....where there's a woman.....ooops I mean, will.....there's a way.

-xx-