There is a gravel path in the garden, studded with large round stepping stones, and flanked with brick borders. I'm sure it was a thing of beauty when it was first built, but over the years, top soil from the adjoining borders has washed into the gravel, making it an ideal home for weeds, grass and cat shit. Every so often I will take a trowel to the cat shit and a hoe to the weeds, but it never looks good. The weeds got so bad after the rainy July that the quickest and best option was to strim them. Suddenly the answer presents itself. Forget the half-hearted attempts at weeding. Get rid of the gravel and grass it over.
A day devoted to digging up the path, and sifting its contents in a big metal garden sieve. Three piles - gravel, weeds and soil. Cinderella meets 'Time Team'. This is about as close as I'll ever get to an archaeological dig. I'm hoping (and expecting) to discover a Roman horde (it's St Albans - totally feasible) but the closest I get is part of an old clay pipe (still pretty exciting). It starts to rain heavily, but still I sieve. For hours (it's strangely compulsive).
The shower I have at the end of my labours is epic. The water runs dark brown for several minutes, which is surprisingly satisfying. Outside the path is clear of gravel, and ready for grass seed.
One short day. That's all it took to change things. (And a lot of digging and sieving.)
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