Category: character

Lego: Bosley’s Builders 13

13. Plans & Plants

Trish harvested lavender cabbages from her vegetable patch beside where Tim built a mysterious something. “I’d like to get on with planting the garage and bunkhouse walls,” she said. “And I’m pretty sure Nin Wizard would like to get going with his garden.”

“So what’s stopping you?” Tim said. He hammered a couple of steely runners on the underside of the thing he was working on. Whatever it was.

“I have no plants other than these and I’m not sacrificing them,” she said, gesturing over the vegetable garden on pallets that they’d planned to serve as their roof.

“And you shouldn’t have to,” Tim said. “We all enjoy the vegetables you grow.” 

“How long till we can move into our real place?” Trish grumbled. “And what is that thing?”

“It’s tricky. Canteen needs to be on the ground floor. Our cabin on that. I’m waiting for Bosley’s say-so to get going on the first.”

“Something I can do?” Trish said.

“Yeah. Take this sled for a run.”

“Sled? What for?”

“Hear Dan mention his cousin is coming back over today with a load of plants despite Ms Sander telling him they’re nowhere near ready for plants.”

“Oh, yeeesss!” Trish jumped for joy. She laughed nastily and made like she was Ms Sander. “Oh no, what’ll we do with these plants? We’re not ready. Take them away.”

She hugged Tim round his head and smacked a kiss on his face. “I’m gone.” She picked up the sled handles and danced away, pulling the empty sled behind.

She could smell the heavenly scent of flowers when she wasn’t even halfway over the ‘brudge’1— what they had christened the dam and sluice structure across the gap between their swamp and the deep channel. The word was a mix between bridge and trudge they all agreed on.

She parked the sled beside Gaz’s boat, hampering anyone else from approaching the cargo by design, and joined the altercation on the Hardware Store’s fore-deck.

As expected, Ms Sander was in full flight about Gaz’s stupidity thinking that she—Ms Sander—would take the plants when she had nowhere to put them. “As you can see, young man,” she gestured at the place reserved for the plant shop. “My builders are slow and they are never short of an excuse.”

Even Ms Bee rolled her eyes.

“I’ll take them,” Trish said. “Though I can’t pay, of course.”

“She’ll be doing you a favor,” Dan said at Gaz’s open mouth.

“Hang on, Cuz!” Gaz said, spluttering. “I need to eat!”

“We’ll pay you in-kind,” Dan said. “The minute we get the canteen up and running, you’ll eat at ours for free to the value of a boat-load of plants.”

“Have a chat with Drew,” Trish said. “He’ll work you a good deal.”

“You’re not taking our first customer, are you?” Bee said, half-joking. “Tradies always stay for a cuppa and sausage roll?”

“Never mind, Bee,” Ms Sander said. “Our real customers will have class.”

Even Trish rolled her eyes that time.

Dan helped Trish get the sled up and over the sluice. They discussed getting the rest of plants now or later. Trish said now. Dan said, have we got anywhere to put them?

“Let’s just get Gaz’s boat and tie it next to the garage,” Trish said. “Have you got somewhere he can stay overnight?” she said innocently. It wasn’t anywhere near even lunchtime.

“He won’t,” Dan predicted. “We’ll get all the plants out before he goes.”

Trish grinned.

  1. The word “brudge” and maybe concept too, comes from “The Trokeville Way” by Russell Hoban (1996) A truly mysterious read that after 28 years has not yet give up all its secrets. Read the book and let me know what you think it says?

Lego: Bosley’s Builders 12

12. Where’s My Workforce?

First person in Bosley’s face today was Dan, telling him he had a date. Huh? What was that about? Boz shifted materials around, clattering and clacking bricks together for over half an hour and no one else showed up?

Counting Wizard Nin, but not the two hardware store reps, there are six of us on site, he thought. Where are they all? He started to feel abandoned, and cranky. It’d be good if Dan was around to take his truck out of my face?

Speak of the devil, is that him I’m hearing joking and laughing? Boz looked up. Huh? It is. Who is he with? He put a couple of fingers in his mouth and blew a blast of air past them. Phee-eee-eew!

Dan had the grace to look up from his conversation with the man in a boat. But then he just waved? He didn’t look like he was coming.

First person arriving was Trish. “Hey Boss? What’s up?”

“I wondered where everybody is?” Bosley said.

Trish looked around. “Guess we’re all doing our own thing. Since it’s Sunday?”

“Hmph,” Bosley said. “Guess I forgot.”

Trish laughed. “When we all worked for the other fella, you insisted Sundays were for ourselves. What’s changed?”

Bosley laid another row of bricks. He so didn’t want to get into an argument. The more they all worked, the sooner they’d all have their own places. And he was totally sick of standing room only in his hut apart for the bunk.

Trish watched him. “Why don’t you take a break and come and check out the vegetable garden I’ve got going?”

“Might as well, I guess. Need Dan to move his truck and he’s busy.” Bosley indicated Dan and the man in the boat.

“His cousin,” Trish said. “They’re just catching up. What do you think? Can your shadoof-thingie haul this up to our cabin roof when we get that up?”

“Might need to go up in parts,” Bosley said. “I’ll let you know after we’ve built the bunkhouse.” He left Trish hoeing weeds, went back to his garage build.

Next, Nin Wizard came leaping and gesticulating over the walls. What is he trying to tell me? Bosley thought. Probably need Tim to interpret.

But, no. Nin beckoned him. Bosley followed Nin out to the back where a pile of driftwood and wrack lay foundered at the edge of the shore. Tim was out there too … very conveniently … with a hammer and jemmy bar tidying the various bits and pieces.

“This’ll be Nin’s cabin,” Tim said. “Got any ideas where to put it?”

“On the bunkhouse?” Boz said.

Tim looked where Bosley looked. “On the as yet unbuilt bunkhouse?”

 “On the as yet unbuilt bunkhouse on the garage in progress,” Bosley expanded.

“Why not on my place, when I get that built?” Tim said.

“And where will you have Trish’s vege garden that she just showed me?”

Nin leapt over them both, one at the time. Boing. Boing. Then he leapt to the highest point of the garage-build. Waved his wand.

Tim laughed. “Ha. Well. He’s decided. Guess he’ll help you. I warn you though, his magic is tied to his energy, which is patchy.”

Lego: Bosley’s Builders

11. The Stand Off

Jed was pretty happy with the floor they’d laid yesterday. At this rate they’d get the walls complete and happy faces when the hardware shop’s reps arrived later. And all it had needed was him jollying everyone else along.

Bosley is back today, he thought. Here’s hoping he thinks having a foreman—yours truly—a good addition to his crew. It’ll set me up. He made his way toward where Boz beckoned him for his site report.

“Hey, Boss,” Jed said. “We’ve made quite a bit of progress as you can see.” He waved at the hardware store’s floor and walls. “I was thinking we could start on the heavy vehicle garage next. Then by the end of the week, lift Jackie’s and my cabin on top of it.”

“I should be having this discussion with you and Ms Sander,” Bosley said.

Uh oh, Boz has quite the long face, Jed had time to think. “I’ve got nothing in common with her,” he said.

“Sez you,” Bosley said. “What do you see around yourself?”

Jed looked round. He didn’t see anything different, he said with a hand gesture and a shrug.

“What does he see beyond himself?” Tim said. He was repairing Wizard Nin’s shack right there where Bosley organized Jed for a chin-wag. Two against one, was that fair?

“What does he see other than himself,” Drew said, stepping into Jed’s face from the other direction.

Would’ve been funny except Jed started to feel like they were ganging up on him.

“Go at it, brother,” Bosley said cryptically.

“It’s a done deal in my mind,” Drew stated. “Jackie owns the crane and she’s given us the go-ahead. Jed owns the truck and he can leave when he wants.”

“You’ll take Jackie’s crane off my truck? No! No way!” Jed cried, suddenly seeing the plot. “What’s a truck by itself?”

“Jed! Cheer up,” Dan said. “You’ll have a ton of options.”

Jed groaned. “Not you too? You’re supposed to be my friend.”

“I am your friend,” Dan said. “You and me with a truck each? Salvaging. You and the hardware store? Power storage when we get you fitted with a power module and they have a windmill operating in the channel. You and the community? Say we need a performance stage? You and the herders? They need their cabin took to their pylons? No mid-size crane is going to manage that. It’ll need incremental lifting with … “

“No!” Jed said again. “I’m leaving! I knew it would come to this. We should never have come. You’re chasing me away!”

He stomped to his and Jackie’s cabin, and threw his things together. I don’t believe it! I’m back to camping?

The rest of them listened further and heard the truck door slam, and the truck engine tick over. Then Jed drove toward the track out.

“Okay. That’s the crane gone,” Bosley said. “Have we still got that shadoof thing?”

“I’m blank on what you’re talking about,” Tim said.

“That’ll be a ditto for me,” Dan agreed.

“I saw it yesterday,” Drew said. “We’ve got that and the conveyor belt still. We’ll manage.”

“You hear something?” Tim said to Dan.

“Yes. The hardware store’s runabout. Is it both of them?” Dan said.

“It is, but Ms Bee is tying up the boat.”

“I’m gone,” Dan said.

“Ditto,” Tim said. “I’m meeting Trish for a cuppa. You should come along. She said we should start planning the canteen, since this hillock,” he stamped his boot. “Will likely take two slabs. And the canteen will probably take at least two cabins.”

“Cowards,” Drew said. “Don’t plan too far ahead of the stair building. Or the materials for that matter.”

“I bet Trish will want more arches,” Dan said. “Do you recall where you got them?”

“What’s this about me and him?” Ms Sander said, pointing her chin at Jed ploughing across the mudflats. She looked thunderous.

Bosley didn’t wilt. “Both you and Jed have unrealistic expectations,” he said. “Had a look around recently?”

“Like lift your gaze to the world in general,” Drew said helpfully.

“My supply lines are intact,” flashed Ms Sander. “My customer base is growing. My second- floor hasn’t even been begun yet, but we all know the hold-up there!”

“I’ll say it again,” Drew said. “Had a look around recently?” He didn’t let her get a word in. He felt like something in him had snapped during the long lay-up. “Parts are what are missing! Our spreadsheet is like a mosaic of blanks!”

Bosley frowned Ms Sander into silence.

Drew continued. “Supply chains other than apparently yours are fragmented! These floods,” he indicated the swamp now surrounding them, “Are playing havoc with deliveries.”

“Making do with what we have is the name of the new game,” Bosley said at Ms Bee arriving belatedly. “In other words, when I come to do your stairs, you will gracefully accept whatever color scheme I can manage!”

Bee smiled winningly at him. “We will, Bosley,” she said. She arm-in-armed Ms Sander away with her. “Let’s think about our interiors, Sandy. We could book Julie & Juliette. I’m sure they’ll be able to come up with a scheme to complement Bosley’s.”

Drew laughed. “You were supposed to melt just then.”

Bosley flushed. “Yeah, right. Me and everybody else!”

Cat tales 19

My proper, Hand-of-God life, as backyard guardian, started when these frog eggs hatched. The next day, my human carefully emptied all three buckets into the bath in the backyard. A few hours later hundreds of tiny tadpoles wriggled up to get a breath of air, and down to the floor of the pond to get food. And repeated that all day. I studied them for hours.

Their first danger was the egret that came every day. It seemed to know when it was safe. If it came at dawn, I’d be stuck in the house because the pernickety old woman still lay in bed. In the daytime, I might be inside because the pernickety old woman had gone down the street for some shopping.

I stalked from left to right and left sweeping my tail angrily behind the glass doors, hoping Mr Egret would see me and feel threatened by my scary puffed-up black and white shape. But he didn’t appear to be able to see through glass. My human and I had learned from the TV that only intelligent—whatever that means—animals could see through glass or see themselves in mirrors. I have no trouble whatever with either of those types of glass though I confess that the TV sometimes tricks me.

When Mr Egret first arrived, he’d perch on the corner of the garden bed, and would stare for many minutes in every direction. If no movement anywhere—despite me at my performance— he’d half-open his wings and use a slight downward thrust to hop onto the corner of the pond-bath that was mine! He’d start with his scooping action, scooping up a few of the tadpoles at the time, many many times. Every time he’d been for a meal, I expected the crowd in the pond to have been quartered or even halved.

But it didn’t turn out too bad. The babies grew very fast and filled the empty spaces. And they ate everything suitable for them in a matter of three days. When my human and I started to see skinny tadpoles, we knew we had to do something. She researched food for tadpoles and took off down the street. That first day she brought back an oak-leaf lettuce, a tadpole delicacy, she said. I couldn’t see why, surely they’d need something more heartening? She floated the lettuce in the bath to see what would happen.

They loved it. Ate and ate until the remnants sank. My human had already fetched in another lettuce, a different look about the thing, which the little animals barely touched. Oh no! We were back at the beginning plus one. The plus one referring to their growth so far, of course.

“I couldn’t get an oak-leaf,” my human said. “How would they even know the difference?” There were a few things I could’ve said, but I knew she wouldn’t listen. “Maybe they’ll eat fish food,” she said. “If I leave you in the backyard will you still be here when I get back? The Pet Shop is just around the corner.

Humans have a saying for how I decided I would communicate my intention. I tried to remember how it went. Ah. I remember. I arranged my face, and even my body to say Butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth. Though I might be making a mistake about that saying. I’m not human, after all. It doesn’t sound all that applicable. What I meant to say, Yes I’ll be here. Yes, I’ll be good.

And so I was when my human returned with fish food flakes. They smelled so good I was tempted to jump into the water after them. But in fact, upon getting a good sniff of them herself, she realized their attraction for me and poured a little pile of them for me to lick from the corner of the pond.