Sail Away

We always knew the day would come, but the need for shade has overtaken the desire to do anything else. The sun and brightness at the Boot Up! garden is relentless. The clear cloudless days are hot and bright and, depite being beautiful, are uncomfortable in the mid-day sun.

In fact we can’t find any activity that we can do at mid day as working in the polytunnels in near impossible with stifling temperatures, the digging and planting up at Tall Trees Allotment is so exposed that we get sunburnt, watering the seeds in the nursery polytunnel means the water just evaporates……..all we can do is sit in the sun with straw hats on and read books! Not a bad life eh?

Back to work though… we decide to create some shade by installing an awning on the front of the build. Luckily I have an old canvas sail in my studio (lucky or what!) that I use for parties and shelter workshops. A quick visit to my studio and the chandlers to buy some eyelets and carabinas and we are away….

We use the trunk of a Leylandii that had been felled and with a bit of discussion and clever engineering – Hey presto – a makeshift awning! I rather like it, it softens the edges of the build and gives the place a more friendly lived- in feel. I think that is a major achievement.