The area for the potting shed was dug out at one end and filled with the soil at the other to make a reasonably level surface. It was very stony even by the standards of our garden, looking as if builder’s rubble had been buried here. The lump of concrete visible under the hawthorn is an example.

This was the easy bit as far as we were concerned - the suppliers turned up and erected the shed in a morning. First task afterwards was to fit guttering to the back of the roof and put a rainwater butt connected to it on the far corner of the shed. Then the idea of a patio at the front with a nice bench came to us…

A raised bed was added to the plan to be able to plant bedding plants that the rabbits couldn’t reach. Hopefully. This was spring 2016 and we’d just bought the rotavator which eased the digging out of the patio area considerably. We discovered a concrete floor and some kind of water collection tank under the ground here, probably dating from the days when our house supplied the water for next door.

The patio slabs are laid on a 10cm bed of sand, which I managed to make very flat and level. I then discovered on laying the slabs that they are not of uniform thickness - different moulds I suppose for casting them. But the bench finishes it off nicely and gives a good view up towards the north Devon bank, and is sunny in late afternoon in summer.