Roof support

          The shed I chose was delivered in panels, perfectly ready to be put up immediately.

          However, nothing in my head is ever that simple and once the shed arrìved, I set about turning it into the support for a roof garden.

          The base already had supports a foot apart so I completed the outside frame to help take the weight along the front and back. The gaps underneath would usually be used to allow any water which got in below the shed to flow back out again, but drainage had already been built into the paved base .

          The side panels all had uprights two feet apart, this would be more than enough to hold the normal roof on top, but of course, my shed was to have no normal roof.

          I added an extra full length of support, between each upright, from top to bottom on the inside, and nailed them through to each width of t&g board from the outside.

          While I had the back panels out, I attached the extensions to the top to make them taller, and painted some extra protection to enable them to be fixed tightly to the fence.

          We stacked the shed pieces underneath the weather protected panels to wait comfortably while it rained for the next two days.

          The weather, however, had other ideas .

          When the sun finally came out again, the smaller panels had their extra support added to the inside, and, helped by my assistant, they were nailed tightly onto the boards from the outside.

          Over the next week or so, I added extra support to the rest of the panels and fixed smaller panels to bigger panels to create the back and side to be ready for their final protective coating.

          I painted the door panel and added the door furniture so that I wouldnt have to paint around hinges later.

          And with my last day before the “shed raising” I completed the last of the joins to make the back and side, then I laid them out flat and sprayed the two pieces with a silicone sealant spray.

          Shed raising day arrived, and so did my helpers … Hubby, Eldest, Middle, and Youngest Daughters, Mum-in-law, and of course, the Little man.

          The jigsaw pieces were gradually laid down, and built up until eventually they showed the promise of a shed.

          We raced against time to put the roof on and cover it in felt, and although it seemed a lot later, it was only about half past four that we were beaten by the light and the shed waited for another day.

          Another day came the next day and I added the trims to the joins and roof, as well as some sealant around the windows.

          A couple of coats of paint made the shed look like it belonged in the garden, I rearanged the plant pot to fit tight into the corner and bought an orange Pyracantha to start my roof garden.

          This is so obviously not the end, but for now, I’m happy.

          More from before : goings on in the “Little Garden“.

Pre shed

          Im not sure what this sorry little shed was held together with when we found it at the end of our garden in “The Little House“, but it definitely wasnt “spit and polish”.

          You can see a pair of old curtain poles laid out on the floor in roughly the right position for a new, 10×4 shed. The jury was still out at that time as to the exact positioning and size of the shed, bit I could definately fit a 10×4, and possibly extend later. The two things which were already glaringly obvious were both the old shed and the tree stump next to it would have to go.

          I’m really not sure who enjoyed the dissapearing of the old shed most, Hubby, swinging my sledge hammer, the Little man, watching on as “Grandad did it !”, or me watching both through the eye of my camera.

          With the little shed gone, I touched up the fence behind it with my choice of fence coloured paint for preservation, and enlisted Hubby’s strength again to jiggle my aquired pavingstones into position to mark out the area for “tree stump clearing“.

          I moved the end of the slate path over to the left, and this is where everything was to stay until the next summer …

          The dangerous decking, however, had other ideas. We called in help to replace the decking, and decided to have the base to the shed done at the same time ….

          When the hardcore was pressed down into a framed patio area, an enormous amount of the same stuff was pummeled into the ground where the tree had been taken out and eventually it was firm enough to lay the 10×6 foot area of paving slabs to support the shed.

          The rest of the garden continued and eventually I had my shed space empty of the old wood I was recycling into plant pots and upgrading the gate.

          The new gate hardly resembles the old one at all now, and with some new fixtures and fittings on it, were ready for the shed.

          And for anyone who cant quite see the pictures in my head … when its all in, and settled, it should resemble something like this …

          More from before : goings on in the “Little Garden“.

Lampshades

          When we moved from our seaside to be back with our girls, we had to downsize from our quite large two bedroom house to our little one bedroom house. This meant we had to do a lot of decluttering, and my supply of crafting treasures took quite a battering.

          My stash of lampshade rings became very much depleted, I kept strange shapes, and double rings as they were quite hard to come by, but I passed on lots of standard, popular sized lampshade rings to another crafter with more room to treasure them.

          However, when I decided to make macramé lampshades for the landing and bedroom lights in the little house, I found I didnt have what I needed to make them, so I took to facebook market place to find supplies, and was once again to be found wandering the streets on more “Lampshade shenanigans“.

          Having still too much to do on the house to sit and play with string, I found a storage place to keep my lampshades safe until I was ready to use them. Much to Hubby’s dismay, I put them up on the ceilings.

          The fixing and furnishing continued and once I started on painting the stairs and landing, my thoughts turned to my supply of string for the shades.

          I use parcel string for my macrame. I like the small intricacy of the knots, and I like the small price too. My favourite parcel string is to be found in one of the more “pocket friendly” supermarkets. Unfortunately we dont have a store of that brand near enough to us now for me to just pop out and get a couple of balls when I need them.

          Not to worry, I have a kallax box all prepared to store my macrame crafting supplies, so I’ve bought a few extra balls of parcel string to be going on with.

          My very first lampshade was made for our bedroom in the seaside house. Unfortunately, I didnt take into account the size of the rings, or how much light the knotting would shade from the rest of the room and the lampshade prooved unsuitable for our bedroom.

          However, I enjoyed creating it and eventually someone else liked it as much as I did, and bought it for a table lamp.

          I made another, this time with a lot less string, but I added a few wooden beads to decorate the design.

          It wasn’t perfect. The tension could have been better, but I loved the way it made patterns on the ceiling.

          When we moved back home. Mum-in-Law asked me to make her one the same. I knew making a repeat pattern was just not going to happen soon, so I gave her my lampshade and left the way clear for my fingers to play freely when I was ready to make another.

          The latest lampshade took on a few different twists and turns until I was happy with it. At one point I just took a pair of scissors to one particular piece which was making me frown and started it again until it raised a smile.

          Eventually I had all the top panels knotted onto the lower ring, and I added some beads and a tassel fringe to the bottom.

          And again … I loved the patterns it made on the ceiling.

          More from before: A little peek further into the world that I’ve “Created“.