Thursday 18 September 2014

If you need a new table, make one.

That's better, totally refreshed after my day off. Now I'm back in the swing of things. The skip was taken away yesterday, I didn't expect it to still be here after I came back, but it was. Luckily I had a look in it before it went off on the back of a lorry. I found four bags of children's clothes and towels. They have all been washed today, and folded ready for giving away. The older tatty towels have gone to a friend who has dogs that like to jump in mucky ponds. The better towels will be given to a charity shop, and I have plans for the clothes. They will go with the toys to an organisation that provides women and children with a safe place to live, after a relationship breakdown.   
It's been a glorious day, all the washing dried beautifully. There seems to be a lot of spiders about, all busy spinning their webs. It seems pretty heartless to destroy all their hard work by walking past them, so I have been trying to walk around them. Isn't it amazing how perfect their webs are, it's fascinating to watch them. And how do they find places to hook them up to.

There is a web hanging from this guttering, coming down at an angle to a bush, just outside my back door. I have been ducking underneath it to avoid pulling it down. There must be a good six feet between the two anchorage points. How do they do that?
My garden work table was in need of a refurbishment. It's very handy to have this just outside the back door, for mucky jobs that can't be done in the kitchen, and to save my back by not having to bend down.

It's been here for six years and is showing signs of rotting. Oh dear.

I removed the top, and found some suitable pieces of wood from my stash and nailed the boards to two batons, then nailed it to the two sides. A couple of narrow pieces for each end, some extra nails at all the joins to strengthen it, and Bob's your Uncle. Job well done, a table that's good for another few years. 
After I had finished outside and put everything away, guess what I found in the kitchen. It appeared to be a spider suspended in mid air in the middle of the room. But no, on closer inspection I saw it had attached it's web to the ceiling, and across to the cupboard under the sink. Sorry spider, but I'm going to have to put you outside. There's no way I can be dodging round that one as I cook my dinner.

I'm off to Tesco now, I have a voucher for £3 off, might as well use it before it's out of date. Catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip.

13 comments:

  1. Like you Ilona I have a Beech hedge full of spiders cobwebs and so very pretty, As for the Skip contents, how can people not give to the charity shops , all those things you have got from the skip could have been sold but I know you will do good with the stuff for the cats rescue. I usually give the old towels to the Seal Sanctuary here in Scarborough as the baby sick seals need them apparently. You did a good job with the refurbishment of the work bench as you said, good for a few more years.
    Danneke

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  2. We have a spider called Jackson who lives in one of our wing mirrors and builds his webs between it and the door. Very clever really as he catches insects everywhere we go not just the garden :)

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  3. Glad you are rested! Loved the pictures of your travels!
    ugh I don't like spiders. I leave them alone outside, but they can not stay in my house. I think there was a brown recluse in my kitchen this week. :P

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  4. Slap some creosote substitute over that table and it will last for years m'dear. Love your blog btw. XXX

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  5. Ilona, I would probably have gotten the spider down, as I really don't like them. So excited for you for finding all the items that you can make useful and giving them to needy organizations. And good job on the table! I'm not too bad with a hammer myself.

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  6. im afraid i dont have a single charitable thought to spiders that venture into the house

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  7. Glad I'm not the only one cob web dodging. I have one across the patio doors so I duck every time I go out. I have found a fair few in the house that have been evicted. Glad you are finding a new home for your skip findings, I still can't believe what is being thrown away.

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  8. So glad we aren't the only one's that detour so as not to break the webs. A lick of paint and that garden table will last for years. good job.
    Briony
    x

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  9. Congratulations, Ilona - you derserve 'Recycler of the Year' award!

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  10. I've been painting our fences and I keep having to rescue spiders who scurry across the fences. I'm afraid I can't paint over them!
    xx

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  11. I am always amazed at the distance spiders manage to cover with their main anchor points. They must spin a thread and swing to the other side like children on a swing crossing a stream, amazing, and they such beautiful works of architectural art.

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  12. Like you I often stop and admire spiders and their webs in our garden and on our patio. I try not to break their art work, unless it is right in my path. Your table repair turned out great and how good the clothes will find a new home.

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  13. I have a clothes line in my back yard and the other morning I didn't see the web and walked right into it! Ugh! It was all over me. I felt bad that I broke the web though. I like looking at the webs outside but I wouldn't want one in my house. If I find a spider in the house, I get a rag or paper towel and take it outside. I found one on the floor in the kitchen and just got the broom and swept it out. I won't kill them. On the subject of your outdoor work table, you can also paint some polyurethane on the top and it will save the wood from rotting. I have an unpainted back door and that's what I do every year. It has preserved it so far and it's about 20 years old.

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