I’ve been busy—but not in the office, though that is my reflection in the photo’s office window! The stuff on the lawn is a clue to what I’ve been up to for the past four days. Jane’s greenhouse was messy because I had no time to attend to it for her. So, earlier in the week, I decided it was time I sorted it out.
The greenhouse is 12 feet long and 8 feet wide, big by home greenhouse standards. The bigger glass panels on the roof are seven feet long and two feet wide. The roof had been leaking, so I had to take the panels off, one at a time. Each is very heavy and sealed with plastic strips (those lying on the lawn).
Because of its length, I had to support the glass panels on that ladder on a table to prevent the glass from cracking. Manoeuvring the glass back in place onto the roof was a test of my arm strength. It was hard work!
On Sunday, I power-washed the lower glass and the floor inside and around the greenhouse. This job took us all day to complete, including vacuuming the water up. The dirt stain on the lawn is where we emptied the vacuum and the dirty water probably hundreds of times!
By late Sunday afternoon, we’d completed the four days of renovation work. On Monday, we’re off to B&Q to get some kitchen base carcases and a four-metre worktop. I’ll be assembling the units and installing them on the left side of the greenhouse. This will give Jane some long-awaited storage space and a worktop for her propagators. I’ll also be putting some panels for hanging garden tools on the sanctuary wall. When all that is done (on Monday) Jane can start putting her stuff back. Some of it is stored in my workshop and in the Sanctuary temporarily, so it’ll be good to get my space back!
The power washer is staying out so that later in the week I can start blasting clean all her empty flower pots. These are going to be stored on a rack to be put in our back entrance path. In a couple of weeks, we have another smaller shed arriving which will be located somewhere near where the camera for the above photo was.
The downside of all the work this week has been that I’ve had no time whatsoever in the office. I have three new articles in draft, but they’re not ready for publishing yet. Once I complete the work on Monday, I’m taking a day off to get back to this website and prepare more content.
So this is retirement! I promised myself I’d spend more time doing some of the work I’ve neglected for a number of years of concentrating on Spirited Talk. We’ve come up with a great idea for how to celebrate each of the completed jobs. When on holiday, we always have a gin and tonic every night, outside in the guaranteed warm evenings. We’re going to dedicate a drink every night in memory of a specific job well done. So, one of our nights on the September holiday will be dedicated to the completion of the greenhouse renovation.
It has been a busy week and has resulted in me getting plenty of exercise and fresh air. Jane’s mum in spirit popped into the greenhouse twice during the work. She came, as she always does, as a butterfly. She let me lift her out and free her into the air. We know it was her, having a look at what we were doing. She loved our garden and whenever she visited when she was alive, she would love a look around to see what we’d been up to.
I do hope you’ve found some interest in this unusual update. At least you know I’m busy!