Friday, May 26, 2017

Webz

We wore ourselves out on Thursday morning. First, we emptied the garden shed. The lawnmower, rototiller, and wheel barrows were easy. Then came all the tools like rakes, shovels, hoes, and other long-handled things. The tomato stakes, both metal and wooden, and the collection of various and sundry poles and sticks. Hundreds of little seedling pots and trays in every condition. Odds and ends. And garden chemicals (way-too-old herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, etc., from the previous owner).

These outdoor spider webs are tame compared to what I cleaned out of the garden shed on Thursday.

When the shed was empty, I swept the floor and walls. Then I used the shop-vac to clean the walls, ceilings, and the floor of the hundreds of spider webs, spider eggs, spider bodies, and actual live spiders. Yuck. We boxed and bagged a lot of junk for the dump, including all those old chemicals. I originally kept them when we first moved here thinking they might come in handy, but I've never used them; they're just too old.

This is probably the third time I've emptied the shed in fourteen years. The first time, that first year, was the worst. The shed was an unorganized repository for stuff that hadn't been used in years and I could hardly get inside, it was so crammed with junk. And the rotted door was patched with plywood. After a few months we had a new, lockable, door installed. As with all storage space, it quickly got re-filled with junk and less and less organized, so periodic clean-outs are more than necessary.

Now we start the process of putting it back together. I'm going to the hardware store to look for those things that I can hang rakes and shovels and other long-handled tools on so they're no longer leaning up against the wall (and falling over every time I take a tool out). Of course, I have no photos of the process, but I'll try to remember to take some of the result.

6 comments:

  1. Way too much work for me! But, oh, the opportunity to organize (and shop at an organizer store)!!!

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  2. I always wondered who makes that Queen Anne's lace. Have fun with the cleaning chores. Make sure you have some cold ones on ice this afternoon.

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  3. Well done, Walt. That's a lot of work, but it's worth it!

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  4. Oh, dear. "rakes and shovels and other long-handled tools" This made me think of "rakes and shovels and implements of destruction," and now Arlo is singing Alice's Restaurant in my head.
    Good on you for such a thorough cleaning-out.
    Did Callie and Tasha help?

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  5. We have a shed like that, right down to the ancient bottles of mysterious nasty stuff. Ours has the occasional black widow spider too, so we tread carefully. You're an inspiration (but not this week)!

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  6. mitch, gotta do it while I still can. Cough, wheeze...

    stuart, rosé is in the 'fridge.

    jan, I like it best when it's done. ;)

    emm, haha! Yes, Tasha mostly. Callie's done it all before.

    chris, glad it's not just me...

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