Now that I'm almost done painting the house—the List of the Un-Done: four pieces of porch trim, three lengths of gutter, two side windows and one last clapboard (sung to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas")—I'm thinking about what to do next. Six months or so ago I thought I'd tear down the ugly shed behind the house, tear down the carport in the alley, put up a new shed where the carport used to be, and then rip the rest of the shingles off the back of the house. Those plans have changed a little...
I'm still going to tear the shed down, but in a less violent manner than I'd originally planned. Think disassembly rather than destruction. The reason for this is that my son and daughter-in-law uncovered a concrete pad in their big back yard underneath 20 years of brush and overgrowth and mentioned that they would really like a shed there. Serendipity: they need a shed; I need to get rid of a shed. I'll even buy the Rustoleum so they can repaint it as a thank-you to Dylan for hauling the thing away.
Then WTB and I had a conversation about the carport while sitting on the back porch roof of the house (which gave us a really good look at the carport roof) and I decided that what I really need to do is replace the carport roof instead of consigning the whole thing to the trash heap. The structure of the carport is still in good shape (although it needs painting) but the top is more holes than roof. I'm thinking corrugated fiberglass roof panels, since the roof is almost flat. I think that will work better than the asphalt shingles it was originally roofed with, which fly off the roof in big pieces and land all over the alley (and sometimes on my neighbor's car) every time we have a storm.
And then, while I was dragging the fourth bag of trash from the shed to the trashcan in the alley, my neighbor Floyd asked me what I was doing. So I explained to him about the old shed, and the carport roof, and the new shed. He thought for a moment, then said, "But do you really need a shed? You don't have a lawnmower or any big tools or a bunch of chemicals that can't be stored in the house, and if you don't buy a new shed you'll only have the expense of the carport roof." Brilliant! I can store my rakes and shovel and other gardening tools in the big closet in my laundry room.
Now about those shingles on the back of the house...I really, really want to get rid of them. WTB and my bestie Sharon say I'll run out of time before winter. In my little heart of hearts, I think they might just possibly be right. Oh, I'd have those shingles off in no time...but then I'd have to scrape and caulk and fill thousands of nail holes. But the paint can label does say it can be used down to 35 degrees... I guess I said that last part out loud, because Sharon laughed and WTB gave us the fish eye.
So the shed goes to Dylan's instead of the trash, the carport stays, the shed won't be replaced and the shingles on the back of the house...sigh...stay there 'til Spring. Definitely. Well, maybe.