Renovation project - Pointing garden walls

Renovation project - Pointing garden walls

The summer has been a great one this year and the sun is till shining in October, this is so much better than 2012, when we first moved here and thought the rain would never stop, now it's a case of how much longer can this go on, it is fantastic.

It also means we can do so much more on the garden and work that was needed outside.
Edith and Amelie (our 2 resident sheep) have now left us, not permanently. They will be back in the new year but there are many large gardens in this area, so they are going to work their magic on another place, so that our garden can grow enough to see them over winter and the next summer.

It feels strange not having them greet us as we go into the garden, We really had got quite used to them being there, but as II said it's not for long.

First job that needs doing is the pointing, we had kept the old barn as a workshop, but when the roof fell in, we also kept the gable ends, these now need to be pointed to ensure that they survive, they also give a fantastic windbreak for the patio.

This takes a few days to complete but they look so much better.

I do have a problem with the stone wall by the back door though, this had been painted white at some point and this will not come off. The pointing had also been painted on!

John tries all sorts and it is not moving, we then think that if it is all painted white it will make it much brighter.

But here is one of the many dilemma's, we love old stone walls and to paint it all would be a crime, but to leave it looks bad.

John says he can paint the worst bits and leave the rest exposed, I am a little unsure but hey, that's how we are about so many things, the paint goes on and some extra stones are left uncovered, I really don't like this (and neither does John!) but it is far easier to cover stones than it is to uncover them, so the odd exposed stones are covered.

It really does brighten the passageway up, so we have the best of both worlds, we have also used whitewash (lime) to paint the wall not normal paint, you must always ensure that you use the correct materials on a job like this or you could end up doing it more than once!