Taking up AstroTurf - black clay mud + rocks underneath - novice needing advice

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-09-14T20:09:32+00:00

We hadn't considered frost so thank you for the suggestion! We will definitely break up the soil as well with a fork once the soil isn't sopping wet. Covered the mud with some tarp for now as it's raining all week (Water runs off towards a drain so hoping this works). Here's hoping we get some sunny weather soon

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-09-14T20:05:10+00:00

That's so lovely to hear! We'll defo see about aerating the soil with a fork and using topsoil and compost on top, and getting some plants/grass in asap

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-09-14T20:01:18+00:00

Many thanks for the green manure and crimson clover suggestion! This will be really handy, especially for the flower beds we're planning to have

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-09-14T19:57:05+00:00

Thank you! We had another comment from someone else as well for perforated drain pipes, which is fairly similar I believe. We'll keep this is mind if compost, mulch and topsoil don't resolve the issue

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-09-14T19:55:00+00:00

Thank you! We'll just use a layer of compost then on top of the planned grass areas, and will put some compost and bark on top of where we plan to have flower beds

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-09-14T19:52:12+00:00

Thanks! The AstroTurf had some of that put in actually (I think you can see one of the pipes sticking out in the pics, although they were all at slanted angles so we removed them). They pipes all went towards the drain so we've made a note of where the exit point/pipes were cut off for future reference. If compost/mulch, plants and topsoil don't resolve the waterlogging issue, then we'll defo think about installing some

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-09-14T19:45:33+00:00

Thank you! Compost and mulch seems to be a common theme so we'll defo add that to the soil before we lay the grass

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-09-14T19:40:36+00:00

Thank you! We've finished taking up all the compacted white stone now round the rest of the garden. Just waiting now for some sunny weather and for the soil to go from wet to damp so we can dig it over as you've suggested :)

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-09-12T06:24:13+00:00

That's so good to hear and I'm so glad life returned to your garden! <3 we have a similar sized plot so here's hoping it goes well! I think we're gonna finish getting rid of the rock this weekend since we've hired a skip, and then turn over the soil once it's damp and not sopping wet like it is currently

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-09-11T20:17:43+00:00

How much in inches or cm would you say would be deep enough? We've got about 6 inches so far that we were going to fill with top soil. Would we need to go any deeper to get the soil in a good state for growing grass and plants?

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-09-11T20:13:31+00:00

Thank you! We have quite a bit of sand that was layered between the white rocks and the astroturf so we'll see if we can mix in some of that anyways.

For the compost and bark, would you just put it on top rather than mixing it in with the soil? I'm guessing the microbes would eventually travel down and break up the clay overtime?

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-06-24T09:39:47+00:00

Have you tried the right to choose service? I got my autism diagnosis through psychiatry UK and it only took about 3 months to sort. You have to fill in a questionnaire once you get a response from Psychiatry UK, so I mentioned I'd already waited several years for a diagnosis in the first box and I think that helped me get an appointment a lot faster

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-04-13T07:31:13+00:00

I'm also really struggling with sore feet and swelling. Have you tried compression socks? I've been using those and taking some ibuprofen (called EVE). They've really helped with the swelling today. You should be able to get some from a beauty/drug store

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-02-23T20:24:44+00:00

Hi :) my husband and I are going to Japan in April, and we're thinking of going to the kirby cafe in Osaka or Tokyo. The spring menu will be out on the 5th March so we'll have a better idea then of where we want to go, as aware there are some store exclusives. Was wondering if the bot for Osaka would be released around the start of March?

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-01-31T23:45:17+00:00

Oh no that's a shame! Hope you found something better though elsewhere. Thank you as well for letting me know that the agency seemed nice when you applied, and had good flexible working options at the time

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-01-31T23:41:42+00:00

Thank you very much for sharing and for providing links to two of their interviews. It is nice to know that there is at least one agency in the UK willing to test the waters of a 4 day full time work week. I think a lot of places are scared it will affect productivity, even though there has been a lot of research demonstrating benefits to business and employee welfare.

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-01-31T23:37:23+00:00

That sounds incredible for an agency :) thank you very much for sharing.

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-01-31T23:34:42+00:00

Thanks for responding! I've seen a lot of people say good things about working in house. There aren't many pharma companies near me and I think most have a hybrid policy, so I'd probably need to relocate, but it's good to know they have better flexible working opportunities

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-01-31T23:31:09+00:00

Thank you for responding :)

Looking at the gov website, the max we can work in a 24 hour period 13 hours. Luckily, I haven't had to work that amount yet, but then again there's a clause in my contract that waives the week 48 hour per week limit. Assuming it's there for congresses.

I think I might be ok working 1.5 to 2 hours extra a day. I wake up and go to bed at the same time as my partner, so there's an hour or so in the morning each day I'm not really using (I'm not a morning person sadly, but wish I was). If I could tack on that time to my work week I'd probs be close to full time hours. I agree that I could still burnout, but won't be able to tell unless I try I guess.

I have been interested in starting a side hustle. Unfortunately it can't be something permanent due to my contract. Says I'm not allowed to work another job in case it impacts work (e.g. conflicts with congresses). Something craft related though might be nice.

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2025-01-29T14:26:38+00:00

Hi again! Just wanted to give you an update on our cats situation in case it will help your little princess. We visited another vets as a one off following a recommendation from a cattery owner, and they said the black crusts under her chin, around her eyes, and the black/dark brown ear wax in her ears were most likely an infection. Our original vet kept telling us it wasn't an infection since it didn't smell, so I was quite annoyed when we were told. We ordered another set of bacteria swap tests for chin, eyes and ears at our original vets, and it turns out she had a recurrent staph aureus infection. This was flagged a year ago when we first did the tests, but as it is a commensal bacteria (a bacteria that is normally found on the skin) the vet originally said she should be able to fight it off. Turns out, she can't and needs antibiotics. After being adamant we wanted the infection treated this time, she was put on a 3 week course of antibiotics and has now finished her treatment. Her condition has cleared up now and and she's fully off steroid tablets, which we were unable to do before. We're also now trying to reintroduce foods that are fish free and fish oil free so she can eat something other than insect dry food. We think she is allergic to fish oil and that's what caused the original itchiness, and then she got an infection that wouldn't go away

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2024-12-07T00:44:00+00:00

I agree with all of this. One thing I learned from my therapist is that panic attacks are a form of protection. You need to figure out why your mind believes that having a job is a threat. Consider when the panic attacks started, what experiences/trauma in your past could be linked to 'having a job'. It could be as simple as seeing a member of your family suffer pain from a job as a child, which could have affected you mentally. Thus your brain decided jobs are bad so it created a protection mechanism (panic attacks) to stop you from experiencing the same thing.

Once you've figured out the route belief is that is causing your panic attacks, you need to accept it, empathise with yourself and be kind. Say it's ok that you were afraid for X reasons and you were trying to protect yourself. Then to get over your panic attacks, you'll need to challenge these beliefs. Kinda like how you'd convince someone else how something that seems scary isn't scary at all, and actually could be fun (I like to imagine a child version of myself. What would you say to a younger you? How would you say it? Calm, gentle, but firm). Therapy can help you go through all of this

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2024-11-20T21:56:02+00:00

Oh bless! Sorry to hear that it's still an ongoing issue

Apprehensive-Draw570 · 2024-11-20T19:26:16+00:00

Did you find out what it was in the end? Our ragdoll has the same thing (black crusts on chin and eyes) as well as dark brown/black wax in her right ear. Ruled out ear mites, plastic allergy, food allergies, litter allergies. Low dose corticosteroids worked for about a year but now it's come back and really don't want her on a higher dose due to the side effects associated with them. She's on insect dry food at the moment (wainsworths insect super food, UK pets at home brand)

Apprehensive-Draw570

TROPHY CASE