Manchester Life 2017 | Page 69

• Lawn & Landscape casual endeavor. At some point in the property’s history the top soils were removed and sold, leaving a few measly inches of sod to cover a wasteland of infertile gravel. Mrs. Banks amended that soil bucket by bucket, using cow manure from a neighbor’s herd. Similarly, this describes the laborious way in which she watered. Once a kindly neighborhood plumber was so impressed with her efforts (and perhaps sympathetic to her presumably aching back) that he donated a water pump to her garden’s good use. Suffice it to say, Ellie Banks has not been known to rest on her laurels. According to her husband Jo, Banks was “best known from the rear,” so often bent at the waist in a position of weeding. • Design Installation & Maintenance • Stone Work • Caretaking & 24/7 Al