Look at this beautiful creature that I found in the garden yesterday. It's a rose chafer beetle. I was repotting some plants when I noticed it among the detritus from one of the pots, as shiny as a piece of jewelry. It was completely motionless, with all its legs tucked up, and I thought it was dead. I brought it inside to rinse off so I could take a picture of it, and soon after I doused it with cool water it came to life in my hand. A miracle!
I took my photos and put it back in the garden beneath one of the rose bushes. Sorry, Mr. Beetle. Go back to sleep.
This is what we woke to yesterday morning. That's the garden shed I've been talking about, and as you can see, the asphalt roof roll slid off entirely at some point during the previous night. Dave and I did hear a weird thump and wondered what it was, and this must have been it.
We managed to hoist it back onto the roof of the shed -- and let me tell you, that thing is heavy. It's also very scratchy and I have some skin wounds to prove it. We nailed it into place rather haphazardly just as a temporary fix.
We reported the situation to the landlords and to the management company, and we're hoping they'll send someone around to fix it properly. If not, we'll need a handyman to come and help me get it into place. Dave really can't be maneuvering a sheet of asphalt shingle, having recently had hernia surgery, and I can't do it myself.
Can you see that dark strip on the wall above the shed roof? That's where we used to have a piece of wood or flashing or something, which is now gone. I'm beginning to think it's been gone for years. Amazingly, considering how many pictures I take, I have almost none of the shed -- but I did find one here from 2016. It's hard to tell, but the flashing may have been missing even then, and the asphalt roof was already loose around the edges. Clearly this situation has been developing for ages.
OK, I'll stop talking about the shed now -- I promise!
As I said, I repotted some plants yesterday -- a hydrangea, a masterwort, a foxglove. We have a couple more foxgloves I'd like to get in the ground sometime this week, and a few more pot plants that need work. The pot above, for example, contains some thistles that need rejuvenation -- but I want to continue enjoying that tulip first.
Dave and I also took Olga to the cemetery for a walk. She gamely chased her ball and barked and carried on. I found a bright pink football that had come over the cemetery wall from the adjacent athletic fields. I threw it back because it was pristine, and if Olga had gotten hold of it, she'd have demolished it. She looked briefly betrayed but fortunately dogs have extremely short memories for things like that.
23 comments:
I think the tree surgeons did you a favour by finally dislodging the roofing felt.
That beetle is a stunner! Worth bringing in for a photo.
The beetle is beautiful and I’m sure grateful for the bath. The shed roof has seen better days; I don’t know when since they were clearly not much better in 2016 but I’m sure it has. And then Mr. and Mrs. Russia had to go and climb on it! ;-)
We call those Christmas Beetles here because of the colours looking like tree decorations. They are lawn beetles and lay eggs under your grass and when they hatch the larvae eat the grass roots and you get bare dead patches in your lawns.
I find it odd that the shed has a sheet of asphalt as a roof covering. Surely some tiles or a few sheets of galvanised iron would be better? Is it common to have the asphalt coverings?
Sheds may be called sheds because they sometimes shed their roofs. Please do not stop talking about the shed as it is far more interesting than the endless rescuing of orchids and the perpetual planting of foxgloves.
That beetle does look like a piece of jewelry.
And I'm enjoying the short story, The Mystery of the Shed Roof.
You're the second Brit reporting a rose chafer suddenly showing up yesterday. She was surprised at how early hers was around. And took a picture! They do look like jewels.
More shed coverage and this will become Tales from the Shed! I have a comic image of you and Dave hoisting that asphalt sheet back in place. Not much room there.
I appreciate the beauty of the rose chafer beetle, however, you put the rose eating bug back in the garden by your rose bush. Isn't that defeating the idea of having a lovely rose bush since said beetle will no doubt begins munching on the plant as soon as possible. That to me seems life moving dreaded tomato worms to the nearest tomato plant to facilitate their destroying the same plants.
You resurrected the Beetle! It was an Easter miracle! I think they should be called Easter Beetles. Pretty as a basket of colored eggs.
For whatever reason, that is NOT what I imagined the shed to look like. Perhaps the asphalt part just came loose with time.
We don't seem to notice the little things that change slowly over time.
Save the beetles and pink balls!!
I imagine you gave that beetle the shock of its life. when you wrote about the shed I figured it was just a stand alone up against the side of the house. so the brick wall was a surprise and that it was built intentionally as part of the house.
That shed roof is giving me nightmares - we lived in a townhouse once with that type of roof & there was a big wind/rain event that folded the roof over onto itself, and our bedroom got drenched. Landlord moved us into a different place while he fixed the roof, and then we moved to Ohio (I just mention that because it was awfully inconvenient to have to move our entire household a couple of months before moving out of state).
If that were my shed, I'd probably get a bundle of shingles and just put them on. But I have a garage full of tools that you don't so I understand your dilemma. Joining a roof line to brick isn't the easiest. To make a long later water tight joint, there needs to be a piece of "z" flashing that gets cut into a mortar line in the bricks and then run out over and on top of the roofing material.
I wonder what made that piece suddenly slide off. As you said, it's probably been slipping for ages.
Beautiful tulip! And, it looks like a pretty day for a walk in the cemetery.
If it were my house, I would demolish the shed just to gain a little more clearance down the walkway. Don't you have lots more garden space to put up a freestanding prefab shed to house everything from the shed? We readers are fixated on your shed drama! Don't stop.
I'm sure Olga won't take it out on you! Good grief, you've had a sheddy week. I hope the landlords get it taken care of. I'm glad the roof didn't break when it fell, but yes -- tell Dave "hands off!"
That beetle is beyond gorgeous! I'm glad you "resurrected it" -- n Easter story! Speaking of which, Happy Easter!
I need to have work done on my shed or have it completely rebuilt. Lots of work and $$. Although not a fan of beetles, that one does have pretty coloring!
That is one jeweled toned beetle. Hopefully, it will go back to sleep and re-emerge in warmer weather. It does seem your shed needs a new roof. New shingles or a metal roof would look lovely. Olga now wants a pink football. My neighbor's dog Cassie has a football and she loves it.
Maybe you just need new, lighter weight shingles for the shed. Didn't the old ones sometimes have asbestos in them?
I think beetles can be beautiful and interesting to watch, though I'm not too keen on touching them. My favorites are dung beetles!
Sorry, but I will not be engaging you as roofers.
The beetle is bee-you-ti-ful! Kudos to you for rescuing it, bathing it and restoring it to the arms of Mother Nature. Maybe it was he/she who tore the asphalt from atop your shed. But what I really want to know is: what happened to the fig tree?
Wow! That beetle is really pretty, there are so many varieties of them, but that one is really striking. I'll bet it appreciated the bath! :)
GZ: Probably, but I don't want to have to replace it!
Mitchell: Yeah, it makes me wonder when that shed last received any maintenance at all.
River: The roofing felt (as GZ called it above) is very common. I called it asphalt because it's the same material (I think) that asphalt shingles are made from, but maybe roofing felt is a better term. I don't mind if those beetles eat the lawn. Have at it!
YP: Is it, though? I'm not convinced.
Bob: Worthy of Sherlock Holmes!
Boud: Interesting! I think mine would have hibernated a bit longer if I hadn't disturbed it.
Ana: Ha! They may eat the roses but they're not devastating pests. I don't mind having slightly nibbled roses. I can share!
Ms Moon: Yeah, the word "shed" implies a free-standing structure, but I don't know what else to call it!
Red: Especially when we don't own them! If that were truly my shed I'd be more diligent about keeping it up.
Linda Sue: That's what I always say! LOL
Ellen: I think it was a later addition, but yes, it's part of the house now!
Bug: Ugh! That sounds like a nightmare! At least in this case it's only flowerpots and tools that will get damp.
Ed: Yeah, see, you're already beyond my area of expertise or knowledge. Hopefully the maintenance company will send someone to repair the roof. If they don't we'll probably hire a handyman.
Sharon: Yeah, I think it's been loosening for a while and the tree-trimmers finally pulled it loose without even realizing it.
Wilma: Ha! We have a freestanding shed in the back, but it holds the lawn mower and some other stuff. It IS a very tight squeeze past that shed wall and the fence.
Jeanie: It was a resurrection of sorts, though as Ellen said, I probably shocked the poor thing!
Margaret: I have a feeling that if we started working on this one we'd find many other things that need to be fixed.
Susan: The problem with Olga and footballs is, she likes to tear them apart, and I'm always afraid they'll wind up in her stomach.
Kelly: Well, I can see why you'd rather not touch a dung beetle! LOL! Some new shingles would be ideal but I want the landlord to pay for them.
Tasker: Yeah, I know, it's a terrible job! We could barely hold it in place and hammer at the same time.
Catalyst: The fig tree is in the back garden now and it's huge! Still no figs, though. Maybe the squirrels eat them.
Jim: Thank goodness I used cool water and not warm. That probably WOULD have been too much of a shock.
Post a Comment