The cold, dark days of living in Northern Germany are approaching fast. What sunshine hours we still get are spent in the garden. I haven’t started any of my dark-day projects. The apartment is essentially on hold.
Time is running out on the roof. I need to finish it before temperatures fall, before school starts, before the rain returns. Two lovely friends had helped me finish the wood, but now I was back to two hands. Two hands, and a whole lot of motivation.
I’ve missed a deadline for the roof. One side of the roof has been closed for a while now. But there was still the second side. There, I hadn’t even taken off the old roofing material. And the wood was only the first of three layers.
Friends were coming to help with the second layer. But I didn’t finish in time.
It’s time to make some progress. The start of the semester is approaching fast. I long decided that the garden isn’t allowed to add stress to my life. Still, some things need to get done. Other things just help to clear the head.
I was almost done with the first half of the roof. When I put it in, I realized the hut was a lot more off kilter than I’d thought. I’d have to do it all again.
The terrace in my abandoned garden is falling apart everywhere. As I needed a flat surface for a workbench to continue the roof repair, it was time to tear it up and build a temporary new one.
When I adopted this abandoned piece of land, I knew the roof would be a major project. Some days, I think this roof will be the end of me.
The blackberries are ripe! I had to harvest them but my land was so overgrown that an afternoon of harvesting turned into a fight with the brambles. Three days of cutting and trimming, and I finally had a harvest–but the blackberries are far from finished.
A few weeks ago, I adopted a neglected piece of land. There is endless work here but also endless potential. My hands are itching to get into the soil, build beds, and start the actual garden. Before I can do any of that, I have to fix the garden hut roof.
The previous owner left a lot of trash in the garden hut that needed to be dealt with. Eager to work outside but with rain always on the horizon, I spent an afternoon cleaning it all out. Progress!