www.turning-earth.co.ukfrom
a small Yorkshire garden
Health warnings and other notes
I'll just conclude with a few disclaimers and other essential notes:
1) Make sure you don't do anything like this without thinking about it
first. You need to know whether you'll be putting yourself in danger of
having part of a building fall on you.
2) Make sure any key pieces of wood that appear to be holding anything
up haven't gone rotten.
3) If you wake up in the night with shooting pains in your arms you need
to lay off the cement mixing and wall bashing for a while. If the pain
seems to originate in your shoulders, whirling your arms around like a
helicopter can help. (You need to get out of bed first, particularly if
you're sharing it with someone.)
4) I have to thank for much of my inspiration Jeff Howell, whose weekly
column in the Independent on Sunday (he now
writes for the Sunday
Telegraph) made me realise that we really should understand more about
the buildings we live in. He demystified bricks and mortar so much I was
able to approach both of these materials with at least some measure of
confidence. He is also the only person I've come across who can make the
subject of damp walls interesting.
Jeff Howell's book - The "Sunday Telegraph" Guide to Looking After Your Property: Everything You Need to Know About Maintaining Your Home - is highly recommended.
