Clearing out the Shed

Late this morning I ambled down to the allotment determined to make a start on clearing out the shed. It’s a once yearly job which I feel signifies the start of the growing season. The glorious weather had tempted out lots of people from their winter hibernation and I spent an hour happily chatting to different people who I haven’t seen much over the past few months. I wound my way over to Liz and Sarah’s plot to say hello. We chatted for a while before I headed back to the shed and began to lug out everything.

Once everything was out, I had a check of the carpet. The tiles were showing signs of mould where they had got damp and never dried. I removed them all and did a quick search online for some replacements. Luckily, there was someone selling 30 new tiles in a dark grey in Newcastle. I immediately messaged and arranged to collect them later in the afternoon. Grabbing the broom, I swept out the floor and removed most of cobwebs up by the ceiling, only disturbing one terrifying monster. I did manage not to scream which I thought was rather impressive! I bagged up all the soft furnishings and the chicken jumpers to take home and wash.

My husband appeared at about two o’clock, bringing down my EcoZoom stove. It’s an amazing multi-fuel stove which is incredibly efficient. I hollered to Liz and Sarah who came across to see how it worked. My other half dashed off to buy some milk whilst I started the stove and organised some mugs. As the milk warmed in the pan, we chatted about lockdown and how in some ways, it has improved life. Hot chocolate with marshmallows all round were enjoyed with the stove declared a success. I mentioned that we were going to take our old table to the tip and they offered to take it instead. It’s great to know it will be given a new lease of life!

We left everything outside the shed and jumped into the car to drop off the remaining bits at the tip. The queue was enormous so we decided to go and pick up the carpet tiles. Once these were loaded in the boot, we swing by B&M and picked up new paint for the shed. We were almost back home, when I remembered we hadn’t picked up the new cupboard for the shed. Diverting off to collect it, we just about managed to squeeze it into the car. With every part of the car now loaded up, we drove back to the allotment to drop it all off.

I ran down to the shed and began to put the stuff back in when I heard an urgent shout. Running to the source, I found my husband had fallen over whilst wheeling the cupboard down the path. He was limping and a large angry bruise was rapidly appearing on his leg. Making him sit down, I checked it before leaving him with firm instructions not to move. The next ten minutes flew past as I threw everything back into the shed and fed the chickens. Three eggs collected and the girls in the greenhouse back inside, we left for home to get him an ice pack.

Tomorrow’s plan is to paint the inside of the shed and put down the new carpet. Oh and fix the cupboard which has a large knee shaped hole in the back – evidence of the accident.