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I blame it all on the Lilypons catalog. It had all these pictures of someone scooping out a hole, rolling out a rubber liner, edging the liner with rocks and filling the excavation with water -- instant pond! I figured that as long as we were calling in a backhoe to dig the greenhouse foundation, we may as well also have him dig a hole for the pond we wanted next to the gazebo. We could make that the first week of summer vacation, then move on to build the greenhouse.
By the time we had that fixed, it was time to go back to school. Meanwhile the greenhouse excavation sat there, a big, ugly scar at the back of the house. Which turned out to be a good thing, because as seed starting time rolled around the next spring and I rhapsodized about how much nicer it would be to start seeds in a greenhouse, my husband and I realized that we had a serious communication problem. No matter how often I explained about cool temperatures, misting systems and soil bins, a real, working greenhouse, he thought he was building a conservatory. I gulped and, since he was doing all the heavy labor, tried to look brave as I said, "Well, I guess I can keep using the cold frame." We were well into the next summer by the time he came up with the "split greenhouse" solution -- my cool greenhouse area at one end divided by sliding doors from his conservatory at the other. This, of course, necessitated calling in the backhoe again to enlarge the hole. Backhoe people are busy in the summer, and, as a result, can charge top dollar. While we waited and hunted for someone we wanted to afford, we decided to pave the back garden. The magazine pictures make it look like a breeze! Spread a bunch of sand, lay down the pavers, brush in more sand and voila! Instant paving. It sounded so easy we took time off from that to install an irrigation system and indirect lighting.
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