The early morning shrill call of the peacock startled Inspector Dobby from his delicious slumber. He had just been chasing the egrets around the fountain in his dreams, when he was rudely awakened and jolted into action. Going about his morning chores, he suddenly realised that his favourite mud block wall (aka lamp post) was missing!!
Never one to shirk his duties, Dobby decided to investigate right away. He sniffed his way through clues, a broken block here, an uprooted tent there, a missing wheel barrow and most stunning of all…..the mud block making machine was ...gone!!
A sharp bark and his trusted lieutenant Flash Gordon was at his side, and they conferred quickly. Flash was sent off to the forest and lake, and Dobby decided to take the more treacherous path towards the Gazebo and the Ocimum garden. This was the hideout of his sworn enemies Pesky Pebbles and Terrifying Tawny. But Dobby, brave as ever, bashed on regardless. After all, he knew the mud block machine was crucial equipment to his humans.
Sniffing away, he passed the new Hopscotch installation, the Knights Table and the fascinating Sundial nearby. He ventured towards Lazy Lakshmi's shed, circled the tree stump rock seating, "watered" the stumps while he was there but… still no sign of the mud blocks or the machine! Wonder where it disappeared overnight, he thought?
Suddenly he saw a glimpse of blue. Ah!! That was the mud block shed's roof! He raced towards the new house and screeched to a halt. Right there, in front of him, the worker humans were busy fixing the poles to the ground and fixing the blue tarpaulin. And below the blue he spotted the Missing machine! Also the missing wheelbarrow and the cement bags! Whew. He thirstily drank from the bird bath and waited to discuss this development with Flash.
Flash arrived casually after a while and didn't so much as even glance at the "Found" machine. "What took you so long?" Dobby grunted. "I had to do everything on my own".
Flash grinned, "you're new out here, brat!" "I've been around a long time and know for sure that machine doesn't ever go missing"
"What do you mean? It was out there yesterday and now it's here! Isn't that probable cause for concern?" Dobby demanded.
"Nah. These humans are ingenious - they move the machine and all the equipment wherever they want to build the next house. It saves them time carting those heavy blocks all across the estate. I knew this already, but thought I'd let you discover this for yourself. There is so much to learn before you call yourself the new leader here!”
Dobby sighed. He would take some time to figure out these strange practices. But he had barely a moment to ponder this as some sheep had wandered into the gates and he had to run there to chase them off.
Ask for a demonstration of how we make our compressed earth blocks, an unique eco friendly building material, on your next visit to Arbor Rd. Estate. You can try your hand at pressing these large heavy blocks, largely made from mud and compressed to give them stability and then simply sun dried.
If you're lucky you may even get to help Inspector Dobby solve his next case!