Demolition

Posted on 10/04/2020 by Andrew Reynolds

I have to say, I haven’t been all that inspired to blog lately.  I continue to settle into retired life and figure out what I want to be doing day to day.  At the moment demolition is what I’m spending a lot of outside time doing.  When we bought the house there was this dilapidated child’s play structure and a big dog pen area with dog house that need to be removed to make way for other projects.  Someday we’ll have a nice deck and if things go right, I might get a new building for my shop.

Much of what I’m ripping out will just have to go to trash.  I’ve filled the garbage can a couple of times and a neighbor let me add a bunch of stuff to their trailer last time they did a run to the dump.

We have been able to salvage a few things for the yard.  Heather used a bunch of the playhouse wood to make some planter boxes for the greenhouse (yes, we have a small greenhouse) and today I made a potting table out of bits from the old dog house.  I still hope to get a few sawhorses out of the remaining 2x4s and maybe a workbench using an old door we found in the shed.

There is something oddly satisfying about ripping things apart.  There is a feeling of renewal and cleansing that is just difficult to describe.  The only thing that could be better than knocking apart an unsafe play structure would be breaking up concrete with a sledgehammer.  Sadly, none of our concrete is slated for demolition … sigh.

As I slowly take apart what was, a plan of what can be starts to form and that builds anticipation for what could be.  Where the play structure was, I can see a nice shaded deck area for afternoon tea.  Where the dog pen was I count the square footage that could house my new workshop.

It will take time, but soon I hope that instead of pulling nails, my hammer will be driving the nails to build the vision that’s in my head.

About Andrew Reynolds

Born in California Did the school thing studying electronics, computers, release engineering and literary criticism. I worked in the high tech world doing software release engineering and am now retired. Then I got prostate cancer. Now I am a blogger and work in my wood shop doing scroll saw work and marquetry.
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12 Responses to Demolition

  1. ParentingIsFunny says:
    10/11/2020 at 10:11 am

    That does all sound rather fulfilling. I’m especially glad you can reuse some of the wood.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Diane Henders says:
    10/05/2020 at 8:58 pm

    What an exciting time for you! Everything is full of potential. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Baydreamer says:
    10/05/2020 at 5:36 pm

    You’ve been busy and you have a vision of what you want those areas to look like once they’re all completed and that’s wonderful. I can see how demolition can be rewarding. I think it also ties into spring or fall cleaning, just purging things in the house. 🙂 Have fun and blog when you can!

    Like

  4. Mama's Empty Nest says:
    10/05/2020 at 6:26 am

    No wonder you haven’t had inspiration to blog — you’ve been VERY busy and inspiring by other visions. How great that you can repurpose that demolition wood into something useful.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. robertawrites235681907 says:
    10/05/2020 at 3:32 am

    This sounds like a good use of your time and energy, Andrew. I look forward to seeing what you produce.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. willedare says:
    10/04/2020 at 8:27 pm

    Hurrah that you are able to salvage and re-use some of what you are demolishing!

    Liked by 1 person

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