HOME/DiY: ‘Clent Wiston’ is Dirty Hairy, in Sleepers in March

Diggin’ in th’ doit, like a doity dawg!

Further work on the railway sleepers, raising them up out of the dirt on gravel. Which I should’ve done from the off. Making a rod to beat myself with there, eh!?

Wearing a mask due to the dust raised whilst doing the work. It’s hard heavy work. Back bent as I dig or rake the soil out of the way. Then raising the sleepers, then putting three bags of gravel down, and raking that lot that flat.

I actually quite the aesthetics of the speckled dirt on my skin, with the hair over it all! Am I weird!? In real life – at least as I perceive it – qin the sunshine and dappled shade, my skin is more bronzed and hair more golden than in these photos.

Anyway, all six sleepers are now an inch or two higher than before, with gravel underneath each of them. They’re still level (enough for my satisfaction, and hopefully enough for keeping the shed square?) in both directions.

Four sleepers done…

The whole lot seemed to move a couple of inches eastwards, towards the house. Actually that’s alright. As the final sleeper was a bit further apart than all the others. So having them shuffling along a bit has wound up with them all better spaced.

One annoying thing is that I’ve referenced a the sleepers off a splash-board on the neighbours (very dilapidated) fence. If this is misaligned, as it probably is, then all my sleepers are as well. I was actually aware of this from the start. But couldn’t be arsed trying to remedy it.

All six raised on gravel.

Just went and got more Facebook/Gumtree free gravel! Yesterday I went to Bourne (Lincs), twice, and got twenty bags. From a nice Latvian chap. And today I got two big plastic tubs full, plus one bag, from Upwell area, a little closer to home.

I decided to scoop aside the earth along the sides of the sleepers and infill more gravel, so they’re not just sat on gravel, but in gravel. Hoping this’ll better protect them form moisture, to some extent. Will it? I really don’t know!

Gravel along the sleeper edges. House end view.
And viewed from the far end.

Anyway, that’s enough work on that lot for today! Yesterday and today have been, for me at least, pretty hardcore, in terms of exhausting energy sapping hard physical labour. So, to end, one last ‘go ahead, make my day,’ Dirty Hairy moment…

A visible glove line!

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