This is shameless in several ways – firstly it bears no relation to my day, I have spent the day digging the trench for the new patio and hauling granite around. It’s also a photography cliché but done as badly as could be – dusty, unsharpened pencils etc etc. Finally, it was borne of me wandering into our studio and nicking DMs props from his photo. Well, actually I’m not sure if he’s going to use the pic for his PaD – he was photographing something to sell on ebay.

It’s not as depressing as it sounds – it’s the result of a “eureka moment”. We’ve been hoping to put in a new patio for years. All we’ve had is a patch of broken concrete with a smelly old oil tank but we desperately need some mud-free outdoor space to help keep the indoor space from getting caked in mud every time a four legged creature charges off the mud and into the house.

With the oil tank now consigned to the past and the concrete repaired, it’s still not ideal but it’s better than it was. While we were standing admiring our handiwork I had one of those moments – if we move the granite blocks that border the concrete, so they are about a metre further away from the house, dig a trench, fill it with more concrete then we have achieved much of what we wanted in a new patio but with no cost. The only downside is that it’ll look crap compared to a proper job with slabs or block.

We already have all of the materials and tools we need, all we have to do is graft. DM wasn’t overjoyed at the prospect of the graft so to be honest, I’ve taken on the lion’s share of the basic labouring and he’s helping with the things that need two pairs of hands – moving granite and “making tidy”. By making tidy I mean that I have a terrible way of chucking things together and don’t mind them looking rustic but he’s on the spectrum so he’s very precise. He insists on things like spirit levels and straight edges and to be honest that’s a good thing. Think Jack Spratt and you have a good picture of why we work well together. Today I’ve hauled a dozen barrow loads of turf, topsoil and other debris from the site. Two big lumps of granite kerb stone were taken out of their previous location with DMs help. I’ve abandoned it at this point because frankly I’m knackered. Hence the shameless cop-out photo…sorry folks.