My New Career

Well, the weather decided to give me that break I was hoping for yesterday. So out I went, ready to get this thing done!



I hauled out the shovel, a push broom, a rake and the wheelbarrow. Then I stood there looking at the labyrinth for a few minutes trying to decide where to begin. The centre seemed to be the best place and so I took the push broom and started pushing the water that had gathered in puddles on the lumber wrap out toward the edges. Once the puddles were reduced I started filling the wheel barrow with the large gravel to make the lines. Oh, dear! What is this?


The gravel was caked with mud. I got the hose out and started washing the muck off the rocks. It didn’t help much, but it was better than putting all that mud onto the clean lumber wrap. Then I looked down. I was standing in a mud puddle from the run-off from the washing and my shoes were caked. Not much I could do about it. Best just to keep going. There was going to be dirt in the gravel no matter what I did.


Okay! Things started to rock (pardon the pun) and soon the lines were being transformed from bright orange paint to dull, dirty-grey stone. I stood back and looked at the first looping line. It looked awful. I could feel a little catch in my heart. Was this going to work? Too late now! I was committed.


I continued adding rock to the lines until I had an area big enough to start filling in with the crush for the pathway. Before I started filling the wheel barrow, I washed down some more rock, thinking that the ground would have time to absorb some of the run-off before I had to stand there again. Then I started shovelling crush and dumping it in the labyrinth. A couple of loads of crush. A bit of raking. And voila! It didn’t look bad at all.


With my enthusiasm recharged, I returned to the rock pile and started filling the wheel barrow again with the relatively cleaner rocks. More lines went down. Then more crush, which I raked smooth. Yes! This was looking pretty good and I was feeling pretty good. It was time for a break.


I went into the house to pour myself a glass of water. When I looked at the clock it was 3:30. And that’s when my heart sank again. I had been out there for four hours. I went to the bedroom window to look at what I had done. Barely made a dent!




Four hours work!  I must be insane!



Suddenly I was tired. Suddenly my arms felt like lead and my legs felt like jelly. But I forced myself to get back out there. I decided to walk the labyrinth before I continued with the filling in. Just as I finished the walk, it started to rain. I took this as a sign and started to put away my tools. Just as I finished putting everything away, it started to pour. I took this as another sign and went back inside where I drowned my sorrow in a hot bath with a good book.



Today I am sore all over. It’s not raining, so I will tell my aches and pains to suck it up and get back outside. Not sure I will manage another four hours, but every little bit will get me closer to done. Not that getting the labyrinth finished will mean that I’ll be done shovelling gravel. There’s tons and tons more that will have to be cleared away after this. My yard is not just a project; it’s practically a career!

Oh, knitting! How I miss thee...