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Welcome to my blog, random stuff about me and where I live, plus some bits about my jewellery.

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Tuesday 27 May 2014

Shed Destruction

This weekend instead of having a lazy time and enjoying the sun on Monday I spent the time taking down an old shed.

As you can see this was not an easy job. This is the shed after I emptied all the stuff out. The back wall was completely rotted along with most of one half of the roof, the ivy was holding it up I think. In fact once I got inside I found a large ivy stem literally holding up one piece.

This shed was standing up when we bought the house but had a piece of felt missing from it's roof. There was a roll of felt inside it but somehow it never got fixed with the result you can see.

Inside of the shed, there's what's left of a trestle table leaning against the remains of the back wall.

Now in that state you'd think taking it down would be easy, yes?

Oh no!

Having dug out all the rusty old tools left by my ex in this wreck, a bowl of tiles, buried under a ton of muck and rotten vegetation. 4 bikes, a bike rack, lawnmower, two strimmers, a dehumidifier etc etc. Took me most of Sunday to empty it out, fighting the ivy tendrils for posession of the stuff. There was also a drafting table which, amazingly, is still ok! Will need some major woodworm treatment pretty soon to protect the house.

A previous owner must have been a plumber or something I think, as there is a lot of old copper piping, what appears to be welding rods and some kind of tool which looks like it might pass a current across the prongs at it's end.

This is the good side of the shed, but you can see at the corner where it's started to fall down, or so I thought............

Those three windows you see there,  I thought I could save the glass, good idea. Having chipped away cement hard putty from the outside, I went inside to prize them loose from the frames. Well, they are now a pile of fragments!

With a crowbar, a heavy hammer a saw and a rubber mallet I attacked the shed. It took all day to get the ivy off the roof, and remove the roof itself.

With a lot of effort I had prized the corner loose by about 1/4 inch and was standing looking hopeless when a neighbour came by and asked how I was getting on.

I told him it was hopeless and I had no idea what to do next.

Stand back says our hero and proceeded to kick it with his big gardening boots. No effect except a little gentle rocking.

Well after some judicious work with a large sledge hammer here's what's left of it:






Plus a wheelie bin full of felt, nackered tools, really rotten wood and a bag of dried cement etc.

These sorts of jobs make being alone so much harder. This could be actually fun if done with a partner and good humour, done alone it's depressing, miserable and utterly exhausting, plus I hate spiders!
There are a lot of homeless invertebrates in my garden now.
There were hundreds of empty snail shells, lots of them jammed in the gap between the two roof beams, if I could have got to the camera when I took the roof down the sunlight through these shells was lovely but I was stuck there and they fell out before I could get it.

I now have three bikes to get rid off, rusty and looking rough, with probably seized chains from being shoved in this damp relic for so long. Plus the carrier for a car and some roof bars.

One amazing thing; the box of ceramic floor tiles the ex foolishly trusted to a shelf on the wall of such a rotten building, had all survived their fall unbroken, this may have a lot to do with the levels of leaf litter and ivy that cushioned their fall!

Well all I have to do now is dispose of the remains, easier said than done without a car, still one thing at a time eh.

The antidote to all this filthy hard work, I've been working on this piece of jewellery. I haven't done much with netting stitches lately. Should be pretty hopefully.





Sunday 4 May 2014

Day in pictures

Went to the New Inn at Goodleigh for lunch with my local U3A, very nice lunch in a very pretty village.
Took this photo of a fuschia while waiting for my lift.

Lots of pictures for inspiration.

Tiny pink Fuschias and somefkind of wild flower, possibly related to garlic. 


After lunch wandered around St Gregory's Church, not sure how old it is but we found a gravestone dated in the 1780s


The Lytch Gate

Acorns and oak leaves on a column


gorgeous vaulted ceiling over the Chancel with a lovely window behind the altar.

The roof over the nave, with one of the angel carvings on each of the main beams.

A lovely old door, leading into the tower I think.

We stopped off at Marwood Gardens for tea on the way home, and to visit their plant sales place.

Took this picture while I waited for my friend to bring the car, bought too many plants!
Lovely copper leaves against that blue sky.

Then there was this beautiful Camellia.



Thanks to Helen for taking me and showing me Marwood Hill Gardens, somewhere I will definitely visit again once I'm mobile. Thanks to Fran for organising the lunch.

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