As
you might have guessed from the title, we have had a fair (or unfair) bit of
rain lately, which means I haven't got on as far as I would like with things
around the place. But that said, I haven't been altogether idle either.
On
June 20th, we had some warm and dry weather for a few days. So I set
to and repainted my front door. I forgot to take a ‘before’ picture that would
have showed why it needed doing. It is only two years since I last painted it,
but at some point before we came here, someone had blocked off the letterbox
with a rectangular piece of wood and attached it to the door with nails. The
nails had rusted and were showing through the paint. The rest just looked
tired; not to mention that when I did it last time, I hadn’t been able to find
the exact shade of green I wanted, so it had been painted darker than I really
liked. Now it looks fresh and welcoming – and is the shade of pale olive green
I really like.
The
next day I decided the door frame also needed a face lift. I started by washing
it, but the dirt was so ingrained, that didn’t make much difference – except there
was a bucket full of filthy water to show I had done something! So when it was
dry, I repainted that too, in a lovely shade of pale cream.
Above
the door is a kind of canopy to keep you dry when fumbling in the rain for your
key that you forgot to get out of your bag before you got out of the car!! It
hasn’t been painted since we got here and is really showing its age. And as it
is blue and white, it really doesn’t go any longer with the olive green and
cream door. But it has been a struggle to know quite how to paint it. I think I
have decided to paint the bit that holds the supports to the canopy in cream
and the matching bit of ‘cornice’ that runs along where the canopy meets the wall, plus the supports themselves.
The rest will be painted olive green and if it looks too much, then I can
repaint parts of it in cream, such as the four squares within the mouldings.
First
though, it needs stripping. Some of it has been done, but there is still some
way to go – if the rain ever lets up!
I
sanded the bits that have already been stripped and made quite a mess on the
top of the steps. To clear it up, I got the hoover out. No idea what the
neighbours would have thought if they had seen me hoovering the garden!
Meanwhile,
I weeded the front path and cleared the
moss from the rear path.
Then
I started on a brick paved area outside the old shed – that is, the place where
the old shed once stood. It is covered in weeds and – the bane of my life –
alchemilla mollis, or ladies’ mantle. It was planted by the former owners and
no doubt they thought it would make an attractive addition to the garden. But they
didn’t stay long enough to see it spread absolutely everywhere – and it’s a
real menace to get rid of too.
Anyway,
it is between the bricks on the path and the brick paved area. So far, I have
cleared the part in front of the gate into the back yard
that's another door needs a lick of paint.
ended
with a load of rubbish as well as stuff for the bonfire and compost heap
and
made a small start on the paved area itself
The
rest obviously is still to clear – some of those nettles are between 4 and 5
feet tall!
And
then the rain started and doesn’t seem in any hurry to stop. It’s been four
days now almost non-stop! Time for some sunshine, I hope J
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