Bits and Bobs

Continuing on with home improvements, I had asked John for some months for a loft ladder to be put in. He was dubious - I guess he was the one who went up there, and not very often, so he couldn't see the benefit. But, I thought it would be better not to drag the ladder into the house and past the fragile glass feature panels whenever I wanted to go and check the mouse traps. So, he bought me a ladder and then it sat in the garage for months as it wasn't straight forward to adjust the loft hatch from an open in to an open out, but it is finally fitted and it's spectacular! Never thought I'd be so excited about a ladder, but it's so nice to have a safe, secure and sturdy step to use.

Over the last month or two I've been slowly going through all John's things in the garage. I don't know what half of it is even for, and so I enlisted the help of my dad, who knows about all things garage. The number of oils, lubricants, cleaning solutions, paints and unlabelled jars of things are truly terrifying. We trawled through everything in there, worked out if it will be useful in the future, labelled it up and then discarded the rest. I had a good sweep out of all the sawdust and mess and it now looks amazing, and hopefully I will now be able to find what I'm looking for in there!

Michal also suggested he could tart up the patio a bit. He power washed the slabs and removed all the moss, treated it with a moss inhibitor and then filled all the gaps with a special grout. This stabalized the loose slabs and made sure that no weeds will grow in the gaps anymore. They're not the prettiest slabs but they are what came with the house and they match the rest of the paths and the overall feel and age of the property. We liked the slightly worn and rustic look when we moved in and so I'm happy to give them a new lease of life.

The compost area in the garden was mounting up as stumps and branches were removed from around the garden to tidy up and get access to the perimeter to erect the new fence. So, a little bonfire was had, but also the compost heap storage was enlarged with another pallet construction. The old compost heap from the bottom corner of the garden, which was held together with corrugated metal sheets and brambles, was also shifted so that that corner can now be considered for future planting potential.

Finally, a new fence was put in by Rudi Stock. The old one was past its best, rotten and broken in places and desperately needed to be replaced. Thanks to the cows (see previous post) two of the posts along the side were snapped, and the wire also had holes in and was a bit bodged, making it very hard to strim round the edges as the grass was all matted through the wire mesh. The new work looks absolutely fabulous and really makes the garden look smart whilst still keeping the sheep at bay!