Tuesday 24 April 2012

an oasis of calm

This is a small oasis amid rooftop chaos. The cabbages are a little stunted from lack of space and the kale has been snipped back as I only use a few sprigs at a time but I like my little patch of garden. Somehow, I'm hoping beetroot (a challenge!), peas and butternut squash will also make an appearance later in the year.
However, this is the only acceptable view of my roof right now.
Narrowboatworld readers would be shocked and appalled by the quantity of tat up there. There's a huge amount of wood under and on top of my rainwater-harvesting roof (which means I can't harvest rainwater, just when it's belting down). The wood mountain extends along the length of the boat, albeit in more flattened form to be able to use my middle rope. It's mostly bulkhead and bed, though there's also a lot of gathered pieces I keep meaning to cut up for firewood. Then there's a massive bag of sawdust. It's from a reclamation yard and is great for my compost loo but there's no-where to keep it except for the roof. Added to these are flower-pots, solar-panels, boat poles. The wheelbarrow doesn't officially count as roof tat, I reckon, as it's on the gas-locker. As another boater remarked at a water-point, it looks very lived-in :-)
A big clear-up is planned, honest!

Sunday 22 April 2012

Workshop

Here's how my former back bedroom looks now, looking more like the workshop I wanted. I re-used some of the bulkhead that divided the bedroom from the engine room to make a new engine cover. It still needs some sanding and tidying up but I do like using it as a seat with the back doors open and the sun's shining in.. The supporting structure for the workbench is made from rough but strong lengths found on the site of a demolished pub. I need to treat the bench surface to protect it from spills and organise all the stowed stuff underneath, properly. I'm really happy with the space though!
I used the drawers that had been under the bed in two rows to make a vertical stack, They open and close but the woodwork doesn't bear scrutiny :-)