A lot of people who have bought houses in new estates in the last number of years will be all too familiar with my previous garden problem. It was full of what can only be described as rubble-filled clay with some poor grass/weeds and moss on top. Not exactly pretty to look at and almost impossible to work with. Initially when I moved in three years ago I raked it, planted more grass seed and generally gave myself some back-breaking evenings trying to make a silk purse out a sow's ear.
In the end the feed/weed and lawn seed that I put into it seemed to work but then it seemed like only the weeds were gaining benefit and taking over. Friends who had partners had had their equivalent blocks of weeds rotivated, re-seeded etc. but me taking on to rotivate was simply not an option with my arthritis and chronic laziness!
So at the beginning of September I took the plunge and got a man "what does" in to fix the disaster that was my garden. I only wish I'd taken before pictures. By then after our wet miserable summer I had given up on the garden and it was simply a jungle of waist-high weeds. I had gotten a number of quotes and knew exactly what I wanted done. I ended up going with the most expensive quote for a couple of reasons; I instantly felt the guy was trustworthy and straight as a dye, also he immediately "got" what I wanted and even better suggested other things to put the polish on the final product.
All I can say is that sometimes you get what you pay for and I sure did. The night before the father and son team were due to start in my garden I arrived home late to discover all the materials in my garden. They had been dropped off after their full days work. Next morning they arrived early and worked unbelievably hard for the next two and half days through rain and whatever the weather threw at them. These two guys were not afraid of hard work, very, very hard work. I managed to get two hardworking guys, well qualified in their trade who were a pleasure to have around - honest, trustworthy and delivering what they promised on time without any hassle whatsoever! So, if you can, find a good man "what does" is my advice.
And as you can see the results speak for themselves. The grass is still a little patchy as it's only growing in and the empty plastic bottles are my addition to keep the cats of the soil when it was freshly turned - grrrrr!
What is it with fog-lights in this country? Recently there is an epidemic of gobshites driving with their fog-lights on, full blast in perfect weather conditions! It's not only annoying for other road-users it's actually against best practice, dangerous, arrogant and frivolous! For those assholes - the hint is in the name FOG-lights i.e. these lights should not be used unless there is fog or at the very least very poor visability but no, there are an increasing number of what can only be termed as gobshites (excuse my french!) who insist on using fog-lights regardless of weather and visability conditions, with no consideration for the fact that they are blinding all other drivers - all too often to simply show-off one of at least three things: (a) the car they are driving is older than they are but full of beautiful (in their eyes!) modifications (b) the car they are driving is a high-end jeep / people-carrier or executive saloon or (c) they're too fucking stupid to realise that firstly it ain't foggy and secondly they're blinding other road users!
