Saturday, September 12, 2009

The Barn Comes Down 9-11th Sept.

Gina in A Hard hat


Weather

It's been hot hot hot!! Summer's come at last, it's been a long wait but the last 3 days have been wonderful.

Builders and Extension and Barn

The builders have finally finished the guttering, soffits and downpipes and it looks super. We are just waiting for the walls and floors to dry out completely then the wooden floor can go in. Jim has to finish the bathroom tiling then the plumber can come and finish off. Phew!

Talking of plumbers and water (a bit tenuous), my washing machine flooded all over the floor on Wednesday! We managed to get it to empty very slowly then Jim and I manhandled it up into the car and Jim took it to a man we know in Ennis. He rang today and it is all fixed. The pump was completely full of rubbish. Tissues, sweet papers, nails, all sorts!! Oh dear. Anyway, all done with a new rubber in the door and a new emptying hose as the rats had chewed through that ages ago!

So yesterday the builders decided that they would start taking down the barn today. Jim and I spent the last few days emptying it, which was no mean task I can tell you. Barrow load after barrow load of 'stuff' had to be wheeled up to the newer barn. Plus 2 old cupboards and various shelving units. The top barn is very full. Still, all was done in time and today they took all of the corrugated iron sheets off half of the barn roof. It took much less time than they thought. They have also decided to come and work tomorrow - on a Saturday! So I will get to see it before I go off to the UK on Sunday early morning. I took some photos of today's proceedings.

This is rather a strange joiner of the barn, from the arboretum and the ex rockery on the left. Look at that sky!! Mediterranean blue.

Joe going past the barn window with the digger. It's a big beast!

This is the other side of the barn.

Martin starts taking of the first sheet of corrugated iron. Joe is standing below, but in the shadows.

Martin and Joe both removing the bolts holding the metal sheets.

This photo I took from the inside, just as Martin removed one of the sheets!

The barn looks so strange without a roof (or half of it).

Round the back of the barn, Joe dug a ditch in which to put some of the soon to be demolished barn:

The ivy covered wall is the end of the barn. Hopefully much of the stone and rubble will go in the pit Joe has dug, which will then level the ground between our previous back yard and the arboretum.

In the above photo you can see the new guttering and 2 downpipes at the side of the new extension. The rainwater from the downpipes runs down a piece of pipe which sticks out just to the left of centre of the photo, the orangey colour. The water then runs down the gully we have dug, down to where there is a pipe under the road and away it goes along the boreen (old track, no longer used).

Can you believe that our awful neighbours came up to Joe this morning and said that the pipe wouldn't do as the water would go all down to their house!! They also suspect it is grey water, not rainwater! They are paranoid about water from the previous occupants' antics, but we have done our best to make sure all the water goes under the road and away off the land. We may indeed have to deepen the gully a bit to make sure it doesn't run down the top of the road, but until it rains we can't see what it will do. In any event, it's our road!! Pete's parting shot was 'You'll be hearing from our solicitors'. Well, I only hope he does contact his poor solicitors and wastes his money for nothing.

This is the gully we have dug out and just below here is where it goes down the hole to the pipe and under the road. BlackJack came to see what I was doing!

Buster

Buster must be the softest dog out. If either of us goes out for a while he greets you like you've been away for a month! Jim had been shopping so Buster 'gave him some love'.

Then he decided to sleep on him! What a softy.

The Garden

We still have quite a few flowers out and some still coming out, especially with the sunshine we've been having. Here are some photos:
The Spring flowering Escallonia has decided to flower again.
The petunias are still flowering
A beautiful lilac cosmos.

Kafir lily in all its glory

This is where the biggest bunch of kafir lilies is.

Such a pretty pink and white fuchsia. It hasn't stopped flowering for weeks. It reminds me of ice cream.

A 'pink', rather late in flowering but it was hidden under another plant and I moved it to here.

The orange geum has had 2 sets of flowers. It's such a vibrant colour.

A coral colour dahlia. They, too, have flowered for weeks.

One of the cactus dahlia in the sunshine.
And a pretty little red one.

Jim has grown some annual scabiosa and they have just started to flower. They are in such pretty colours:

A stunning begonia is in with the tomatoes!
And this one

I had to hold this one up for the camera!

Jack in His Hard Hat

Jason took this rather splendid photo of Jack in his Bob the Builder hard hat. So not to be outdone, I got Jim to take these of me!!

Jason, you'll have to show him his Gran in her hard hat!

ATCs

I just received my 'P' from Lisa at artsyendeavours. P is for Platypus, beautifully painted in watercolours.


I have just done my 'T' for Texture. I am really pleased with this. It's the sort of thing we did on the textile course I attended in Worthing, UK.

I layered several different materials then heated them to see what would happen. I knew the cellophane on the top would melt and the red plastic with the 'T' on. Some of the net on the top right melted too. Such fun.

Barbecue

Tonight Jim and I had a little barbecue. It's the first this summer and probably the last! I took a few photos to mark the occasion. We had some lovely white wine, chicken and vegetable kebabs, sausages and bread and butter. Simple but delicious. We sat outside for quite some time. The sky was ablaze with stars too and we saw several satellites pass overhead.

What a super day we've had.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Gina! What an interesting post tonight and what a grand day you have had. I love the photo you took inside the barn looking up at the sky. Amazing how steep the roof was! Hard to believe how paranoid your neighbor is about water - he has a lot of nerve just showing up with threats before he knows IF there is a problem! Your flowers are so pretty and I love to see Buster being such a baby! The dinner you and Jim had looks lovely and like a great way to end a productive day. Jack is going to love to see you in your hard hat!

Bea said...

Love the hardhat photo of Jack. Oh, and of you too. :)
Beautiful, beautiful flowers. Between our very cool evenings and hot days, right now, my flowers are just about all done. Well, except for the purple Asters that are starting to bloom.
How exciting to see the house project ALMOST finished. And, the tearing down of the old barn. Is any of the stone worth using for another rock garden?
Well, Pete has issues doesn't he?
Not good for the heart. It's a shame that he doesn't understand that you two are lovely people that wouldn't send gray water down to his house. Nasty. sigh :)Bea

Jason said...

Jack said you look brilliant. :-)

Good day, bar the grotty neighbours. Sunshine hey, wehey. I hope it stays for you over here. Lovely this morning although I'm at work. The brbeq looks great fun.

Jack said he is looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

See you tomorrow. x

Rachel Green said...

How exciting, to have the barn coming down at last, and all that brick and stone will be useful for your paths.

Mim said...

wow, so much going on! I love that old barn, and while it's too bad it has to come down, I'm sure it will be worth it with the huge job you have undertaken on the house. Nice that you still have warm weather - we have switched to autumn with a bang, and it is cool every day now.

Heather said...

Things are really coming on apace now - your old barn looked quite picturesque with that glorious blue sky behind it. Hope all the water pipes behave themselves. Lovely pics of all your flowers and super ATCs. Buster is a one man dog by the look of it - he is such a softy and really loves Jim. Although we feel fairly rural here, we are surrounded by street lights so don't see many stars - it must be wonderful to be able to see so many.

steven said...

hello crafty gardener!! what a post. i feel like i've just read the newspaper i wish i was receiving instead of the inky dull poorly written recycling bin liner that arrives. the flowers are gorgeous but i especilly love the inside the barn shot with the roof off. good luck with your neighbours. it's fair to be concerned about runoff because it can be a major pain, but there are ways to talk to your neighbours and i guess your neighbour's still working on that feature of himself!!! have a lovely day. steven

BT said...

Thank you for all your lovely comments. I have replied to everyone individually. Just to say the barn stone is being recovere and recycled of course! Only the rubble, concrete and small stones will go in the hole, where they will make a 'road' surface so everything will be used up!! Even the wood. It's looking amazing today. I'll try and do a quick blog tonight but have to go to bed early.
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The Weaver of Grass said...

Lovely photographs of your garden and the barn - all looks to be going ahead smoothly. I have those kaffir lilies all over my garden - I love them as they are such a lovely clear red - but goodness me, turn your back and they have taken over.

Heckety said...

Busy day! What fun it is demolishing buildings! Well, if they have to be! Your flowers are lovely. And this weather is a real gift, isn't it? Absolutely glorious! My Mum always says 'who'd want to be anywhere but Ireland when the sun shines?' True too!

marianne said...

O my what a project again!
Still so many nice flowers!
My garden is a mess right now....
The pictures look great and so does the BBQ evening!

have a nice weekend!

Arija said...

Gina, things around yoour place are moving like track athletes! It all looks great, especially your wonderful plant collection.
Just when my garden is putting its best foot forward and is awash in blossom and spring bulbs, we too are off for armost 2 weeks to Sydney for our g-daughter's concert. A trip of some 850 miles which will take some 4 days to accomplish.
Hope you have a great time with your dear ones as well.

Bella Sinclair said...

Oh, Gina! What a day. Wooohoooooooo! The barn is finally down. It's been a long time coming. Congratulations!

Agree with everyone else about your hothead neighbor. Best to keep an eye on him.

And your beautiful pup. My heart just melted to see him laying his head on Jim's chest. Awwwww.

Your late night bbq looked fantastic. A great way to cap a day. And speaking of caps, how GREAT you look in a hardhat! Hahaha.

Have a great time in the UK!

Ces Adorio said...

ACK! You startled me. No not with the photo which is beautiful, gorgeous but saying goodbye. I thought you were closing your blog! Whew! A big sigh of relief.

Well the Deenery is coming along fine. You are gorgeous in that hard hat!

Are you going to see your daughter? Urge her to put up a new post! :)

BT said...

Thank you for all your lovely comments. I have so much catching up to do. AAAAH! Ces you are so funny and complimentary too. Thank you. Would I leave you all? Never!

Bella, thank you too, I'm so glad you liked my hard hat photo. I have so much catching up to do, I'll never manage it! I will do my best over the next few days though. Love and hugs to everyone,

BT
xxxx