We live in a rats’ nest as I’ve said before. Our efforts to tame it have largely gone unnoticed. No matter what we do or try to do, it’s still a rats’ nest. This week though, we’ve made a difference. We used to have a nasty smelly old oil tank just outside our back door. It flouted every oil regulation going. Not on the regulation solid base (instead it was perched on a few concrete blocks that had been mortared together), too close to an opening window, no access around it for maintenance etc etc.

Now it’s gone and it’s such a good thing. It had to be emptied – we’d been told it could have up to 100 litres of oil below the fuel line so when we started to syphon it off we were surprised to find it just kept going…and going…and going! In the end, 650 litres of the stuff came out of it. Then I manhandled it onto the lawn, cut it in half, cleaned it out (necessary for the tip to accept it). I then heaved half of it round the house, down the garden and into the car. Ooops. It won’t fit into the car. So DM and I cut it in half again to get it into the car and one half (or should I say two quarters) of the old tank made its way to the dump. By this time I was glad I’d spent an hour inside it cleaning it yesterday because even with that effort, it was still so smelly that we needed all four windows and the two sunroofs open to prevent being overcome by fumes. When we got back the other half was cut in half and dispatched in the same way. I don’t know a soul alive who spends so much time transporting stuff to the dump as I do. It’s not as if we have any money to buy anything. In fact, it pisses me off badly that most of the stuff I take to the dump is other people’s old crap. Still, at least I can take stuff to the dump for free - and that's a good thing.

DM took the sledgehammer to the piers and I scraped up all of the crud with a shovel. Then I hauled these pots of hostas into the space and voila. DM’s viewpoint is here. I know my shot isn’t great photography but am still amazed at how these few unassuming plants lift the look of the space, despite the wall being covered in flaking paint and nasty stuff. Tomorrow I am going to pressure wash all of the mould, slime and algae off the wall behind where the tank used to be, then I’ll see if I can scrape together the money for a can of paint to brighten it up. I’m in negotiation with DM over how far I can go to brighten it up because I want to paint a mural and he’s resisting. I’ve told him that if he hates it he can paint over it and I think that’s a good compromise but he’s still resisting. Will I ever persuade him? Who knows!