Slowly But Surely

This is the reason for my kitchen roof being torn apart in the first place! New readers please get more information here.

Have you noticed I have changed something in my blog profile?

The roof work seems to be going on for ever and the plants are struggling to survive the dense shade under the scaffolding.

Things are progressing though, and the end is in sight now. The new roof windows will provide more light in the kitchen.

This is what it looked like before the windows were put in. I am working through the photos in reverse order. Workmen's equipment can make a good study, I think.

The light and shade of the building materials can catch the eye with the sun suddenly shining on it and there are little shafts of light where you least expect to see any.

I was up the ladder at every opportunity with my camera keeping track of what was going on.

The birds have been scared away from their favourite tree where they used to spend time sheltering inside the dense branches. I am so looking forward to hearing them chatter again after this is over.

Since the work started, I have had things from the kitchen packed in boxes on the floor and there is all sorts of clutter to keep stepping over. I am at present in agony with my back problem. It seems one thing gets cleared up only for another problem to set in.

The picture below shows how things looked when the first lot of scaffolders had left.

I will be glad to get my garden back and get rid of it. Maybe in a week or so...........

No Smoke Without Fire

Orange Blossom from a neighbour's garden. It has a lovely perfume.

This is the time of the year when we really need to make the most of our gardens. The winter seemed long and now the days are opening up it is pleasant to be able to sit out there with a cup of tea and to hang the washing out. There's nothing more lovely than the smell of freshly laundered washing that has been dried outside.

Just before I set off for work the other day, I put out a whole rotary full of washing, thinking that it would be dry when I got back!

I looked out of the window and to my horror, saw thick acrid smoke belching everywhere. The smell was even seeping into the house.

I ran upstairs and looked through the back bedroom window, just after I had taken all my washing in.

What a cheek! The workmen from two doors away had lit a huge bonfire. My pet hate!

Just before Christmas our elderly neighbour died and his house has just been sold to a builder, who is gutting it and the garden.

Now I can get feisty when I need to, so off I rushed to the offending builder up the road.

"Excuse me," I said. "Do you know this is a smokeless zone? The people round here will not be pleased with that bonfire and several of us have just put clean washing on the line and some people like to sit out in their own gardens for a bit of lunch and you have spoilt that option now."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was a smokeless zone. What a silly idea that is."

I was by then quite verbal, so I explained that I thought it was a very good idea to have a smokeless zone in a city where the gardens are so small and the environment is not always as fresh as it could be and I went on to say, "and what's more there are birds nesting!"

That's when he lost his nerve with me, thinking I was either a raving lunatic or too overbearing to cope with.

He said he would ask his boss to put it out.

Later that day, I noticed that the men had a small lorry in the back lane and they were putting the rubbish in it, probably having to pay at the City tip when they could have burnt it for free.

I was saying to Sam, my son that I was going to blog about it.

"How can I illustrate that post?" I asked him and he suggested that I set fire to some rubbish in a plant pot and take photos.

At first that sounded like a good idea and then I realized that it meant making my own mini bonfire! Did I really want to be seen to be making one, however small just so I could illustrate my post?

Bonfires are my pet hate, don't forget!

So I started experimenting with smoke from incense sticks!

A bit pathetic and not very effective, is it?! Still, I did save the environment from another bonfire!

Recovering Garden

I am pleased to say that my little garden is slowly recovering from the shock of the recent underpinning work under the kitchen, that left trampled plants and flowers and mud and cement everywhere as well as all the litter and things that builders leave around.

I spent a very pleasant afternoon tidying up rubbish and washing cement from surfaces. I expect I will ache all over tomorrow but it is worth it to get my little garden in some kind of semblance again. Do you like the pulmonaria? It is one of my favourites.

Can you see the wheelbarrow leaning against the back gate? I wish I knew what to do with it. I asked Harry this afternoon and he said, "Put it on top of the shed!" Now that would look good, wouldn't it? Unfortunately there is no room inside the shed. It was bought to do the underpinning and has become a much loved piece of equipment. Not by me!

Would You Let A Rat Get The Better Of You?

I'd like to take you through my back garden gate and give you a little tour of the way the garden is at present. You will not be pleased with what you see.

I recently posted about my kitchen problems and the fact that my son and husband were about to start excavating the foundations of the kitchen. There was slight subsidence and of course we have had an on going problem with rats getting into a small roof space above our kitchen where we cannot get to them.

An expert suggested underpinning. He thought there was a good chance of discovering a rat run. The expense was tremendous and my husband and son (both in the construction industry) suggested that they could do the work themselves at a fraction of the price. Do you remember that I was worried that they might kill each other, working together?

Well, so far they have both worked side by side really well. No arguments and peace throughout the whole property. I am very impressed. They have worked really hard.

So far they have almost finished underpinning the end of the kitchen. They have discovered the reason for the slight subsidence ( that has nothing to do with rodents) and have put that right.

However, I am disappointed that we haven't found an obvious point of entry yet for the pesky rats..... but there might be something just around the corner.....

I am definitely in the mood to get this thing sorted out. If it takes a new roof and digging up the kitchen floor, so be it.

Would you let a rat get the better of you?

This was a picture of the same little corner before the digging started. Sigh........