the rain came down again last night and the window over my studio bench turned into a waterfall again at 6am
so I moved my bench back a metre and will turn the space into a Japanese string garden something like this
plan for a Japanese string garden
Posted: February 2, 2013 by Mo Crow in It's Crow TimeTags: inspiration
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It's Crow Time 
oh dear…can the leak be repaired?
ah well no the house is 130 years old, the rent is very cheap as the landlady doesn’t fix anything, there are no eaves, the old lead flashing has perished, the walls are brick but light comes through the cracks and the water is travelling down through the walls into the window by capillary action, this has been a problem since we moved in 4 years ago but we have had a very wet couple of years so the cracks have become bigger and hold more water. We love this old lady of a house & hope to get a few more good years here in Sydney, we just have to treat the studio and bedroom as if they were porch rooms & keep them well ventilated!
Nice–and how will you protect the floor, as I assume the leak is ceiling and wall?
the corner facing Northeast is two stories & on one side only single brick, the water is travelling through the wall by capillary action & ends up running down and out by gravity into the side passage which is cement but now that the water has found the window to run into a lot of the runoff can be collected in buckets and pans and with towels on the floor next to the walls. We had a good look inside the ceiling this morning and all the dampness is staying close to the walls in that one corner, the floors are still sound as are the ceilings so we just need to keep the windows open and keep the air moving through x fingers we’ll keep the old house going for a good long while yet!
Don’t we put up with a lot when we love our homes? We need to learn to live with buckets and cloths everywhere. My studio doesn’t leak, it’s just permanently damp, which is hardly good for paper, leather and tools but I wouldn’t swap it for anything. I have a dehumidifer which pulls a frightening amount of water from the air. The hanging plants look great, you’ll have to show more photos when you get going.
The dehumidifier is a really good idea Carol! We’re going out to the wholesale plant nurseries in Annangrove & Dural on Tuesday so I can get the Bonsai mix, sphagnum moss and will treat myself to some tiny Tillandsias, baby Bromeliads and mini bush orchids as they will all do well, there’s lots of ferns growing here in the garden already. The window faces northeast & with that old yellow glass everything will grow really well. I miss the hopeful lace and feathers but it’s doing a good job now camouflaging the stack of black indoor plant hire pots we keep stored in the lounge room. There’s always something just ’round the corner, just gotta roll with it ahe ?!
yes. and when life hands you lemons . . . !
it will be living lace!
Ai ….. all the best to you Mo ….