Seasonal Almanac

Today is the day the sleepers moved. The 20 railway sleepers plus 2 trapezoid packing crates have been sitting in the driveway for over a week. Redmond enlisted a couple of keen and strong colleagues from work to help.

At first, Jelle and Redmond tested the method of carrying one sleeper all the way from the driveway to the backyard. That proved too much. So next came the wheelbarrow idea. They put two 2 x 4 in parallel on top of the barrow to balance the long beam. They then rolled the sleeper on the driveway to a point that was as close to the wheelbarrow as possible, using lever action they picked it up and put it on the one-wheeled vehicle. The sleeper was positioned shorter towards the handle’s side. One man then lifted the handles and pushed the barrow while the other, walking backwards, guarded the heavy sleeper, ensuring that it stayed in place during transit.

In this way, Jelle, Brogan and Redmond transported the 19 sleepers to the backyard. After the crates were moved, the driveway was once again empty. When we sat down to have tea and cake, we chatted about gardening, commons, and various house building co-operative schemes. The men wondered whether they shouldn’t start a local garden/ heavy-work co-op to save them from further back injuries and hernia.