Making progress...

Last week I left you with pictures of the shed before much had happened to it. As promised, we have some progress pictures. We did actually get 4 very sunny days - in fact we are still having the end of an indian summer now, although maybe not as warm as over last weekend. Boy, was that sun hot! and has been the major factor in me not being around to post. I worked so hard to get the outside sealed before the weather broke, that I exhausted myself and managed to give myself sunstroke - typical! So instead of a couple of days work, it was more sporadic when-I-can over the last 5 or 6 days. And, of course, I didn't want to post until I actually had some progress to show you:-))

But here we are! The outside walls were wire brushed to get rid of all the moss and muck and then painted a nice, clean bright white. We did find some traces of the shed being painted once before but it must have been a long time ago. The windows have already been primed with grey undercoat and awaiting some gloss.

The main pain in the butt has been this door. It had been sitting out so long that the paint was flaking away and the door was wet through. Easy, I thought, it will all peel off quickly. Nope. Of course not. Make life easy?! We have slogged over this door for days! Inside and out, it has been very stubborn. Wouldn't sand off easily so we ended up having to use knives to scrape it off. I know, not the best method and tends to gouge the wood when you hit a wet patch, never mind knacker your hands with cuts and scrapes. Maybe it is best not to dwell on how I felt 4 days later when someone suggested using a heat gun - DUH!! I have one, I've used it for jobs just like these, so why did it not occur to me now? And save me all the cut fingers, sunstroke and sheer effort I've poured into this door?!!! Sometimes I wonder where I left my brain - I think it went on vacation last week when the sun arrived:-))

Anyway, the door does have some redeeming features;-) Its had an old ornate handle at some point with this lovely plate. Its a shame I don't have the actual handle now but I do have the latches and bolts from the other side though and they may come up a treat with a bit of tlc.

So, we have cleaned and painted the outside walls, painted the windows white, scraped and sanded the door, and then primed all the wood with grey undercoat. You know, I was wanting a nice bright colour for the door like emerald green or pillar box red but I quite like the grey too. A little more subtle and understated. But don't worry, I'll get over that soon as I've already bought the red gloss paint and anyway, I have to make a bit of a statement and stamp some personality on it as it is going to be a dyeing workshop working with colour:-)

Today though is all about experiments for dyeing and maybe even catching up on some knitting. And my buttons have arrived for my green veyla mitts so I may even get them officially finished! Of course, this is all procrastination as I know I still have the inside of the shed to do! But I think a few days knitting will recharge the batteries a little and give the shed a further chance to dry out before more wire brushing and painting. Fingers crossed! - I may have to sneek out and paint the door red though:-))