Thursday 14 November 2013

D.I.Y.



Walking the dog on Monday, I couldn't help but notice that everyone was out in the fields either cutting back old growth, ploughing or  sowing seed. This made me feel doubly guilty as I came back to our garden to be faced with a raised bed that has been promised great things over the past year but has only had a watering system installed, which has made the weeds very happy but has done little to improve the garden.  So the computer was abandoned and I spent Tuesday digging over the heavy clay and Wednesday planting 11 small rose bushes.  (Why 11? because I bought 10 and was given an eleventh rose bush and a lavender plant on top).  I hope the liberal application of mature manure and lots of water will  produce the long anticipated rose bed.


After completely relining and retiling our leaking roof last week, lots of other little jobs are lingering but have been put on hold until we can visit the D.I.Y. store. My neighbours seem to manage very well without  throwing cash at problems.  If they need a gate, they build one with whatever is to hand.


Who says ladders have to be straight?


I was especially impressed with this impromptu scarecrow that went up on Monday to protect newly scattered spinach seeds. As the breeze gently lifts the skirt it does look like a ghostly farmer seeing off the wild boar.


17 comments:

  1. I've seen a lot of ladders like that around this village! I can't find the empty container for the waterproof stuff to paint on the roof, but I do remember that it is a kind of liquid silicone, so it should be easy enough to find in the DIY shops.

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    1. I will get round to going to the DIY store soon. The main leaks have been cured by the new tiles but still a few minor leaks around the sunlights.

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  2. Your neighbours are like my neighbours - masters of improvisation!

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  3. B to B, I love the ladder! One time when we went inspect something in the construction site next door, they looked at me and knew I'd never make it up to the roof. So there and then, they grabbed wood lying around on the job and put together a ladder in the same way, only your neighbor's looks stronger than the thin boards they used. But still, I was impressed.

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  4. All sounds like hard work, but the rose bed sounds as if it will be lovely, and worth the effort. I really do love those floral baggy pants, photo 1. Jx

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    1. I'm still aching - I should get some floral bloomers to do the gardening - good idea.

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  5. You're making me feel very lazy when i see how busy you've been. I do hope your roses flourish. Love the homegrown ladders and gates. As long as they can do the job, who cares what they look like....

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  6. We used a makeshift ladder to turn on and off the solar panels at the Bodrum house - all wonky planks and rusty nails. I took my life in my hands every time I climbed it. Liam wouldn't try it. He would just shout words of encouragement from the safety of the patio!

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    1. Not sure why you should have to climb up to the panels. I could have given you the name of a good electrician - yes they do exist.

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  7. I wonder how your rosses will do in the heat of the summer? We have just given up the battle in Assos and pulled the darn things out :( But I remember the rose bushes at the mausoleum - they were thriving so inshallah!

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    1. Roses bloom here nearly all the year excepting July and August - when they sit and sulk like the rest of us.

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  8. Did you manage to buy a lime tree? Hope we'll make it over with the Gin next year! x

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    1. Lime tree is ordered. i hope to collect it in 10 days and take it back to Bodrum to plant it in a sheltered spot. I will send photos

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  9. Our neighbour built a ladder like that last year when he very kindly filled in a hole in our wall (where a fan had been and was no more). Then he dismantled it. The ladder, I mean.
    Good luck with the roses. I miss mine, but not as much as I miss limes...

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