Lean-to re-build, week 3

Well, things are definitely moving up, starting with a thin layer of damp proofing and the beginnings of the wooden frame...

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From Briar Crescent

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From Briar Crescent

Followed by the skeleton of the building (so exciting to get a feel for how big the finished room will be!)

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From Briar Crescent

From Briar Crescent

But, very sadly, things have stalled until the wood and windows arrive....(we knew the windows would take a while, but the wood should have shown up yesterday. Gar!)

The problem of dirt

So, we now have a dwarf wall (brilliant), but also a massive pile of dirt to get rid of (less brilliant).

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Some went back around the wall...

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From Briar Crescent

Some went here:

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Some went here:

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A little went here:

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Here:

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And a lot went here:

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And now, we're ready to build!

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Lean-to re-build: week 2

Last week was very productive. First, the cement arrived:

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(This is a stealth photo as I figured the builders wouldn't appreciate me following them around, happily snapping.)

Then, Paul-the-builder poured and leveled it.

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And then, of course, it rained and rained.

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Then, Paul very quickly built up the inner and outer walls.

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From Briar Crescent

And now, I'm hoping it'll rain again soon to free the poor passion fruit vine from its layer of builder block dust.

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DIY framing

A few months ago, I bought a lovely little woodblock print (off ebay, of course), but it seems to be an odd size, and I've really struggled to find a frame to fit it. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so I decided to stop looking and start making. A few odd bits of scrap wood, plus a dab of glue and some staples....

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...a generous couple of coats of spray paint and an odd bit of wood for the back.....

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And the print is now framed and hung for all to enjoy.

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From Briar Crescent

Lean-to re-build days 2-3: the digging

We were, I must say, a little shocked to discover that the extent of the old lean-to's foundations amounted to this:

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As we value the continued stability and longevity of our little project, the foundations Paul-the-builder has dug for us go a bit deeper. End of day 2:

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From Briar Crescent

End of day 3:

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We're really pleased with him so far and more than a little impressed that he's even constructed a makeshift bulwark for the soil he's dug out.

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On a related note, I've found a new TV addiction called 'Help my house is falling down', and, as luck would have it, the latest episode has been about a family whose extension (built on top of 6 metres of sludge) is sinking away from the rest of the house. So, as you can imagine, I was feeling both a little pleased with myself and a little nervous as I asked Paul about the composition of our soil. Fortunately, it seems we have a decently hard clay, so with any luck, we'll avoid being the subject of the next series.

Flowers and fouling

A quick trip to B&Q last week meant that I finally got some lovely flowers for my carefully prepared front bed.

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The selection was very limited, being so late in the season, but I'm really pleased with the result.

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Today, they've really started to come out.

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From Briar Crescent

But, unfortunately, the flowers have become GingerCat's new favourite bit of the garden, and not even our guard otter has been able to deter him.....

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Lean-to re-build, day 1: the destruction

The first day of the grand lean-to re-build got off to a painful start, when the lean-to decided to fight back by zapping poor L. as he attempted to tape off the [supposedly] dead socket wires. Fortunately, we have the super fuse box, so aside from some painful fingers, no lasting harm was done.

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Aside from some minor electrocution, the lean-to came apart fairly easily.

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And finally, a few fatal blows....

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...and we no longer have a lean-to.

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