Stables. For The Manure, You See.

One of the first sheds to go up on the land has finally come down to make way for a more useful, less falling-down shed (or stables).

It was made from bits of Anthony’s old house that he tore down, plus the front and back of an old garden shed that had been on his land. It did its job for about 8 years and then the corner got a bit rotten and it began to lean a bit and anyway, it was blocking the view.

So Julian and I spent much of our easter weekend with lump hammer and crow bar, taking it down.

In its place  (figuratively, not spacially) we have put a long, low shed of bays to house things like bark chippings and manure and whatever else we need to keep around for gardening purposes.

It’s made from the reclaimed motorway sound-deadening panels Anthony gave me last year and the roof tiles from his old house. The bays are the right size for a bulk bag to sit in each one, filled with whatever gardening gubbins needs storing.

It looks a bit like a tiny stables for baby shetland ponies, which would be cute, but high maintenance.

I did manage to re-reclaim most of the siding from the old shed to put along the back of the new shed, and actually, most of the framing wood from the old shed is in pretty good nick, so that’ll go in a stack somewhere for whatever I build next. I’m thinking of a crow’s nest lookout in the corner of the plot…

The view is still riddled with all manner of junk, but it’s one large shed less junky than it was. Every little helps.

In other news, I grew a fig!! About the size of a fingernail, but still.

The camellia we’ve been nursing along is starting to just about pull its weight.

And the flowering currant cuttings from a few years back have come on very nicely.

And in food news, I absolutely nailed the hot cross buns this year. Nom.