Day two - and my birthday!
I'm not shy about matters of age. Day two was also my 45th birthday. Although they only found out late the night before, Lorraine managed to conjur up a card signed by everyone made from a hotel promotional brochure - very inventive!My birthday was spent building two patios and half a path, sweating like a glassblower in hot sun over two tons of stone, sand, cement and soil. Day two was a heavy physical slog for myself, Hazel and Geoff. Geoff was allowed to bring us materials and help with the hard landscaping, but Hazel and I did most of the slab laying and levelling ourselves. Actually, we both enjoyed it - there's a real sense of satisfaction to be gained from doing something really challenging for the first time and doing it well. My birthday could have been much worse - in the office...
We also got most of the fence painted (that orange had to go...), but not without getting most of it splattered on ourselves. One of the tasks on my pre-departure 'to-do' list that got scrapped for lack of time was 'figure out how to use the sprayer'. And it wasn't straightforward, much to the amusement of the camera team who found themselves filming something resembling a Chuckle Brothers sketch. So funny was it that the three of them stepped back onto our newly laid, still soft patio. That was less funny.
The dreaded pest and disease quiz...
But the defining moment of day two was the much dreaded pest and disease quiz. I went first and was led by Joe to a large white van parked on a side street. I would have 90 seconds to identify 5 problems on 5 plants and to name an organic solution for each one. I took a deep breath, the van door was flung open - and I saw a sea of plants.
'Er, which ones?'
'The five with the labels on - hurry!' Joe urged.
I peered at the five nearest the front. One looked scorched, another chlorotic. I wasn't sure. 'That's 60 seconds, Sue.' I babbled full pelt for 30 seconds, mumbling about ph, watering, possible mineral deficiencies, and then Joe clicked the stopwatch off.
One by one I watched the others being led to the van, like lambs to the slaughter. Afterwards only Martin seemed unfazed. At this stage I didn't know he was a barrister, but no doubt his forensic mind helped him sift calmly through the problems. Poor Lorraine though. After anticipating it for most of the day, she was as tightly strung as a violin wire when her turn came, and the pressure was huge. She came away from the test in tears, furious with herself for cracking and equally furious with the camera crew for witnessing it.
posted by Sue Beesley @ 4:18 PM
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