Operation Summer House - Part 2

It has been raining the last couple of says so the weeds have grown considerably. The minute my back is turned, they flourish!! They need stripping from the soil, so as the weather was greatly improved today, I set about de-turfing the area.

I was a little concerned about these little guys though:

If you can't quite see, it's a worker bee. From the sound, you would think there were hundreds, but using my eyes instead of my ears, I saw no more than half a dozen. It seems they have taken up residence in the soil behind where the playhouse stood. There are few enough bees these days, so I really don't want to disturb them, so I'm not sure what to do with them. Stripping the turf shouldn't be a problem as that doesn't dig down to where they seemed to have their front door. Just don't want to get stung. OH said worker bees can't sting; I have no idea if he is right, but I didn't want to put his theory to the test!

Stripping has commenced:

I lost count of the number of times we filled the wheelbarrow. The intention was to compost the turfs, but there were too many roots of nettles, ivy and buttercups (none of which I want to transfer to the vegetable garden), so they have gone instead onto the bonfire site. The resulting ash will go on the compost without fear of growing weeds where we don't want them.

 All the way back to the wall - well, one spade width anyway:

Just this bit left now:

Another spade width:

Or two:

Oh dear, what happened to the lovely blue skies?

Still, I got a bit further, before going inside for some lunch. The trouble with gardening is it makes you hungry and I really don't need the calories. How to balance a need for energy with not eating too many calories - hmm, I'll have to think about that one:

Like I said - too many calories:

But the sky behind is blue again:

OH took the previous photos - I don't have a selfie stick, let alone one that long!! 

He also cleared the last bit of the surface for me - it was riddled with ivy roots, making it very hard to skim off:

And then I started to lower the soil level. I had intended that this part would go on the vegetable plot, but the roots had run too deep to make that a safe or sensible option, so it went onto the bonfire pile. At least it will be sterilised before it gets onto the garden:

The plan is to make it a little lower than the concrete raft, then make the raft larger by concreting alongside the original raft; or maybe I will just put down some weed suppressing medium and cover with dolomite (a mixture of sand and gravel) and roll it flat. Not sure yet.

I stopped about here; don't want to do too much too soon:

I did have a bit of other 'help' too:

She seemed to have enjoyed herself, but she did get a bit mucky!! She's supposed to be white round her neck!