We received our mail-ordered present for Matthew’s birthday during the December lockdown and consequently were unable to give it to him until this morning. It was a professional electric drill kit.
While waiting for the equipment to charge up, our son sat on the decking working on a puzzle book.
He decided to try out the drill on the decking boards. He tells us that most people who fit this facility assume that the ridged sides should be uppermost because they think that the crevices are to provide a grip, when in fact they become slippery.
When the power was operative he set about lifting a section of the existing boards
and turning them over.
Here is the completed job. Note that the step has received the treatment.
Jackie in the meantime, having completed her work on the West Bed clearance,
carried on pruning beneath the Cryptomeria and elsewhere. I transferred some clippings to the compost bins.
After recording others’ work in progress, I scanned the next five of Charles Keeping’s faithfully detailed illustrations to ‘Our Mutual Friend’.
‘Mr Boffin closely tracked and observed by a man of genteel appearance’ gives the artist the opportunity to pack a street scene with detailed perspective.
A double page spread offers adequate room for ‘Mrs Boffin’s equipage’
‘Mr and Mrs Lammle walked in a moody humour’ uses the wind to indicate the cooling of their ardour.
‘ ‘Alfred, my love, here is my friend Georgiana’ ‘, displays Charles Keeping’s mastery of expression.
‘An ill-looking visitor with a squinting leer’
This afternoon Becky and Ian joined us. We enjoyed more delayed birthday present giving and all dined this evening at Lal Quilla. My main meal choice was a hot, sweet, and sour Chicken Jaljala which was excellent; poppadoms, nans, onion bhajis, and rices were shared; Kingfisher, white wine, fizzy water, and Diet Coke were quaffed. Service, as always, was friendly and efficient.
As always, I have enjoyed Mr Keeping’s inimitable illustrations which display a full range of his masterful portrayal of characters, emotions, perspective, and detail.
I’m very pleased. Thanks a lot, Dolly.
The pleasure is mine, Derrick.
Those illustrations are stunning. The completed job looks fantastic.
Thank you. very much, Gary
Sounds delicious. Enjoy.
Thanks a lot, Pat
The turned decking looks great! It’s always so satisfying to finish a project like that around the house.
Thanks very much, Liz.
You’re welcome, Derrick.
Your green garden chair looks like a wonderful throne – what a perfect place to wait for the new drill to charge up!
That’s so interesting about the right way up to lay decking… thank you!
I do love learning from my grown up children. Even more so if they then correct my mistakes for me. That drill was a good investment! 🙂
Thank you so much, Emma. You will see from Antipodean readers that Matthew is right. His wife, Tess, from New Zealand, points out that hot, dry, countries have had decking much longer, and bare feet need a flat surface, which is less painful.
Happy Birthday to Matthew!!! 🙂 What a wonderful birthday gift for him! 🙂 He completed some great work! Beautiful! 🙂
You and Jackie did some great work, too, Derrick! Thanks for sharing the lovely photos of jobs well done! 🙂 I really enjoyed the photos of the west fence trellis and the climbing vines. Even spotted an owl-behind. 🙂
Always a joy and honor to see more work from Mr. Keeping! That first illustration of the street scene really captured me in! 🙂
(((HUGS))) 🙂
Thank you very much, Carolyn X
Oopy, I meant…Happy Belated Birthday to Matthew….it’s good to celebrate and receive gifts at any time! 😉 😀
Lovely to get together for belated birthday celebrating! The turned decking looks great.
As always, Keeping’s illustrations are so evocative.
Thank you so much, Merril
Your son obviously gets his good looks from his mother. 🙂 I absolutely love that single seat siting area. The decking makes it even more relaxing.
Thanks for that, Chrissy 🙂
🙂
He’s right those ridges are painful on bare feet too.
Thanks a lot, Lindsey
That was a very useful present indeed.
It was. I asked him if there were any more tools he wanted 🙂 Thanks a lot, Tootlepedal
Mmmm, there’s a lot of outdoor decking around us as you can imagine and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it installed ridged side up.
That is interesting and confirming of Mat, Gwen. Thanks very much.
There’s always something exciting happening in the garden! I love the photo of Jackie…such a beautiful smile.
Thank you so much, Jill
The old made new, a family reunion, sharing a meal together. What more can one want?
Nicely summed up, Rosaliene. Thank you so much
The angle of the photo with the chair on the raised deck makes it looks like a throne. I hope you each sit in it as such being the king or queen of the garden.
We do, JoAnna. Thanks very much
Matthew looks delighted for the gift that he has employed to excellent use. The illustration of the marketplace brings to life a Victorian Era marketplace. Keeping has paced his steps with Dickens’s mastery of the language.
Thank you so much, Uma
I love the work on the decking. The weather looks pretty decent too, has summer returned to the New Forest?
No better weather – it just didn’t rain, Sue. Thanks very much.
Matthew looks to have made a great improvement in the safety of those decking boards.
He has. Thanks very much, John
Your son did a great job on the decking, such a cozy spot.
Love the illustrations, sorry I don’t mention that more often.
No need, GP. Fully understood. Thanks very much
I always thought that you needed groove side up!
Didn’t we all? Bare feet would have told us. Thanks a lot, Andrew.
Matt has done a wonderful job! The drill was the kind of present I enjoy, too, tools and useful things.
Thanks very much, Lavinia
Matthew certainly made good use out of his birthday present! Such a lovely cozy spot and excellent job on the decking. Keeping’s illustrations are amazing with such intricate detail.
Thank you very much, Eugi.
Magical gardens Derrick 🌞💐👌 sending joy hedy 💫
Thank you very much, hedy.
Celebrate, celebrate! The deck looks great.
Thanks a lot, Laurie
What a fabulous birthday present. 😀 … and the deck is also fabulous. 😀
Thank you very much, Widders
Practical gifts are useful gifts.Re the decking: I tried to tell my husband that the crevices should be undermost not uppermost. He wasn’t convinced but did eventually see what I meant. I found the dust and dirt accumulated in them which made that situation worse. Interesting to note that they do become slippery even with the crevices.
Thanks a lot, Amanda. Matthew learned this in New Zealand.
Hah! Tips from the Antipodes!
Another help in the garden 😉 What a beautiful day and super delicious dinner 😋
Thanks you very much, Ribana
The completed job is beautiful. I love it when we give our kids a practical gift and they try it out on something we need first!. The step that received the treatment was mightily improved! Teally enjoyed your Keeping pictures today, {{{Derrick}}} – and Jackie doing her magic in the garden!! Congrats to the head gardener! <3
Thank you so much, Jan