"I'm a gardener" - - "It'll be finished by the end of July"

These words were spoken to myself and Sally when our neighbour John moved into the cottage next door in 2010 I think it was.  Jason and Fran the previous neighbours had  laid down lots of gravel on the first terrace level and made a large decking area above that.  They never claimed to be "gardeners" but had a few pots dotted about with plants and things and it always looked spic and span.
John's idea was to make a "Courtyard" out of the bottom terrace by digging it out to level it off.  This looked to me to be an enormous task as we had completed a similar task in our patch.
The original decking area was going to be replaced by a "Greenhouse" and just behind that would be an area of "Raised Beds" mainly for vegetables we were told.  Over the last 2 years it became clear that the "plans" had changed a number of times and we would be regaled with sweeps of his arms and explanations of how it all would look, "By the end of July"
A conservatory appeared that he had taken down for a client, he's a carpenter, or is it a joiner?  the conservatory then was loaded onto a van and disappeared.  The conservatory "idea" moved from the bottom terrace right to the top of his garden where it would have sat under a dead eucalyptus tree.  Yes I said dead tree its in our old friend Sharon's (who works in Canada) garden and was her pride and joy.  John asked permission to cut off a huge bough that was overhanging his garden area where the "Conservatory" idea had moved to.  The bough was cut off in the really cold spell in winter and the tree promptly gave up the ghost.  Anyway I digress
 So here we are nearly 3 years later looking at Johns efforts and remembering with crystal clarity that early quote, "I'm a gardener - - It'll be finished by the end of July" by the way that was July 2011!  Only yesterday when i was telling him of his place in the blog he was waxing lyrical about mixing concrete for the base of his conservatory and building a back wall to lean it against!  Me-thinks this could be a regular feature of the Blog and we can all share his progress.
Finally then to the pics. This one is the "Courtyard" area which was to be dug out levelled and have a conservatory on it

 The depression at the front of the pic was where he started to dig it out and the intended level is at the base of the wall.  The rusty round thing i think was left by visiting aliens and i fancy it will turn into a rusty ford anglia!
This is the area for the "Greenhouse" which was originally a decked area

The thing sticking out of the jungle is a 6x4 foot greenhouse although it looks a little drunk and has no glass to give it the strength to stand up.
Next we have the area for "Raised beds"

If anyone ventures into this area I always promise to call the rescue party if they don't come out in half an hour!
And finally here we have the "Conservatory" area which give him credit it is presently getting all his attention!

The shadow on the left is from the "dead" Eucalyptus tree which i have promised our friend Sharon i will cut down soon.  Mmmmmmmm wonder if i could drop it on his conservatory?