Laid back

Well, the tiles have been laid. Of course, things didn't go entirely according to plan (if there ever was a plan): the "same" tiles are now somewhat darker than the original model from four years ago and are also about 1 mm. longer on all sides. 1 mm is very little, of course, until you lay ten tiles down edge to edge, when it becomes 1 cm and the joints are then noticeably out of line with those of the tiles that you are trying to match up with. Not a huge problem, but aesthetically inelegant. Colour variations are to be expected; same thing with wallpaper: two rolls of the same colour and pattern from two different baths also look subtly different. The biggest problem, however, had to do with a few square metres of tiles that we had put down two years ago in one of the corners at the back of the house. It was simply not possible to match up the joints with the new tiles we have now had laid from the drive-in, up the side of the house, that meet this two-year-old patch, and, furthermore, the tiles are laid at a very slightly different angle. The final result looks strange, but has a certain avant-garde something about it, like the yellow-brick road suddenly taking an unexpected turn to the left in order to avoid the Emerald City. Anyway, that's my excuse.

The layer has done a very good job, really, especially as the idea was to avoid steps, even though the area is not level, with a height difference both from back to front and from left to right. Despite this, Watsis, the chap who laid the tiles, has managed to create smooth, gently sloping surfaces. Well done, that man!

The tiling was finished on Tuesday. We let things rest yesterday and today started on the cleaning of the tiles and the replacing of the plants. First, however, we put some fencing below the new trellising; the Trachelospermum jasminoides plants are growing very well and I thought it would be better for them to have something to climb on lower down, too. The fencing can't be seen in the photo, but it's there and looks good. The cacti that can be seen in the photo have only been placed provisionally. Now that all the cleaning has been done, however, we shall see about placing them better tomorrow. Some new irrigation pipes will also be required and some old ones moved to different positions.