"Gør det selv" - terrassen - The "Do it Yourself" patio

Nu vidste jeg, hvilke sten jeg skulle have, jeg vidste bare intet om, hvordan man lægger en terrasse. Gad vide om man på Sydbakken kendte nogen, som lagde terrasser? Jeg spurgte formanden, og han sagde, at "Det plejer vi selv at gøre”.

Jeg måtte selv igang. Først og fremmest kunne jeg måske få min nabo Torben til at køre ud for at hente mine sten. Måske kunne vi også have noget grus med. Men da jeg ringede til firmaet for at høre, om det mon kunne være i en varevogn sagde de nej. Det drejede sig tilsammen om flere ton. Det syntes jeg godt nok lød af meget, når nu jeg bare skulle have to små terrasser, og jeg begyndte at spørge lidt omkring på Sydbakken. Jeg spurgte en ældre dame, som havde en meget fin, lille terrasse, og hun sagde at, det ganske rigtigt krævede flere tons grus og sten, at hun i øvrigt havde ”lagt den selv”.

Senere på dagen, da jeg gik forbi en anden havenabo og kommenterede hendes smukke roser, faldt snakken på min kommende terrase. Jeg betroede hende, at jeg godt nok syntes, at det lød som hårdt arbejde, og at jeg overvejede at få nogen til at lave den for mig.

”Nå,” sagde hun.  ”Det plejer vi ellers selv at gøre herude”.

Jeg skulle ihvertfald ikke være den første, som ikke magtede at lægge min egen terrasse, og næste dag gik jeg igang med at måle arealet op, hentede en spade, og begyndte at grave ud. Det var hårdt. Men jeg var fast besluttet på at klare det. Dagen før havde jeg nemlig betroet mig til min søster og sagt, at jeg syntes godt nok det var et overvældende projekt at gå igang. ”Årh, det kan du da sagtens selv klare, du skal da bare måle op og grave ud!”

Jeg anede ikke, hvordan jeg skulle få bunden helt plan, så jeg kunne lægge gruset og derefter fliserne på, og jeg kunne heller ikke gennemskue, hvordan det hele til sidst skulle komme til at ligge lige. På tredjedagen kom stenene og gruset, og det blev hejst med en kran hen over hegnet og sænket ned på Sydbakken. Det VAR flere ton, og sækken med grus var på størrelse med en baby-elefant.

Jeg sad lettere nedslået og kiggede på mit halvtopgravede hul, da min havenabo Hanne kom forbi.

”Er du ved at grave et fiske bassin, fordi det er da godt nok dybt!”, sagde hun.

Det viste sig, at det VAR for dybt, og jeg begyndte næste dag at fylde lidt jord ned i hullet, men på nuværende tidspunkt havde jeg så ondt i skulderen, at jeg ikke længere kunne grave. På vej hjem så jeg et opslag: "Anlægsgartner tilbyder større og mindre opgaver i haven. Ring venligst." Og det gjorde jeg. 

    

                                          

I had decided on my paving stones, but I had no idea how to lay them. I wondered whether the Gardens had  a contractor, who helped to lay hard surfacing? I asked the Foreman, and he said, " we usually lay our own patios."

I had to get started. First of all , I could ask my neighbor Torben to pick up the paving stone in his car . Perhaps we could also pick up some of the gravel. But when I called the company, and asked if my order would fit into a large van, they said no . It weighed several tons. Several tons for two small patios?? I started asking around in the Gardens . I asked an elderly lady, who had a very nice little patio, and she said that it indeed required several tons of gravel and stones, and that she in fact had "laid it herself".

Later that day , as I walked past another gardenkeeper and commented on her beautiful roses, we talked about my upcoming patio-project . I confided in her, that I thought it was a daunting project, and that I was considering getting someone to do it for me.

" Well," she said. "We usually lay our own paths and patios ."

I was NOT going to be the first gardenkeeper, who had been unable to lay her own terrace, and the next day I began measuring up the area, fetched a spade and began to dig. It was hard. But I was determined to do it. The day before, I had told my sister, that it seemed like an overwhelming task. " Of course you can do it, it´s very straightforward: you measure it up and dig it out! "

I had no idea how I was going to get the bottom completely level , so I could apply the gravel and then the paving stones, and end up with everything straight and level. On the third day the stones and gravel arrived and was hoisted with a crane over the fence and lowered into the Gardens. It truly was several tons , and the bag of gravel was the size of a baby elephant.

I was fairly discouraged and was looking at my half-dug hole, when my garden neighbor Hanne came by.

" Are you about to dig a fish pond? It is really deep," she said.

It turned out that it WAS too deep, so the next day I started to fill some of the soil back INTO the hole, but at this point I had such pain in my shoulder, that I could no longer dig . On the way home I saw a notice : "Handyman offers major and minor tasks in the garden. Please call". And I did.