Without the removal of the ugly, deterioting and downward sloping concrete slab in our backgarden, the dreams of the vegetable patch could not fruit. Jamie tried smashing it with a hammer - comical, and ineffectual. This was one of the rare times we were going to have to call in a contractor, getting a concrete cutter to slice and dice and remove the thing to the tune of 1500 AUD. Ouch. But then, it would be worth it - think of all those growing things.

Yet, once the first one was gone, there was another one underneath, like a concrete wedding cake. The contractors said 600 bucks. Sure, I said, why not. In for a penny, in for a pound. They got to cutting. And then they realised they were gonna need a bigger saw.

Not only that, it was going to cost $3500 for removal. Whoooooah Nelly. Mum was listening in and when I said no to the contractors, her mind starting feeding her generous nature. She'd pay for it, she said. You can't stop there. And I couldn't really - an odd shaped slab with chunks cut out was awful.

I wasn't pleased with the contractors though, because they should have estimated the size of the slab first then quoted me, rather than leaving it half cut. So I called another guy, who ended up being a legend, and kinda rolled his eyes when I told him who'd started it. He measured the slab at 300 mm. Concrete isn't cheap to dispose of, he said. It's not actually the cutting that is expensive. His quote was only $250 less, but I trusted him more and thought he'd do a neater job, which he did.

Meanwhile, waiting for him to have time to do it, I saw my grandson. Some of you might recall him staring at the cutting last week, fascinated in the way three year olds often are.

'Gwandma, how's your fab going?' he says.

'Fab?' I reply, puzzled. 'Can you use another word or say it louder?'

'FAB' he says.

It dawns on us he means slab. I proceed to update him. He's fascinated.

The saw needs to be waaaay bigger, I explain. In fact Mat tells me he only uses this one once a year. We discover the slab is actually 400 mm. Jesus. I mean, you could make a stone henge or a Parthenon out of these blocks. I video the digger for the grandmunchen, who wuvvvvvvvvvvvvs it. 'Tell Gwandma I will send her some pictures of when I was 2' he says generously.

No one knows wtf it's for. A small machinery shed? A mate who wanted to offload concrete? Cheap concrete in the 80's so why not? Overengineering? Base for a water tank?

HIding skeletons???

The plumber tells us he unearthed a dead dog, still furred and wrapped in a dog bed, when he was building a retaining wall last week. The skeleton of a missing toddler was found in Sydney recently. These things happen.

Please, please, let there be treasure.

Nope. But now I have a levelish bit of dirt to start planning what's next.

Watch this dust. It'll become a different kind of treasure.

With Love,

Join The Hive Garden Community! The HIVE GARDEN COMMUNITY supports gardening, homesteading, cannabis growers, permaculture and other garden related content. Delegations to the curation account, @gardenhive, are welcome! Find our community here!

Are you on HIVE yet? Earn for writing! Referral link for FREE account here!