We went into the garden this afternoon, sorting out the shed because we have promised Number One Son some tools for his new house. It’s amazing what rubbish I have stored when I should really have binned it.
However, the first thing we noticed was that the guttering had come off the shed at one end. It’s been raining quite a lot and it has also ben quite blustery. The shed has started to rot a little in places and the screws at one end have pulled out. With no decent wood left to screw it into and, to be honest, no idea how to get a bracket off the gutter, I resorted to green garden wire and blue polypropylene string. It’s a very agricultural look, but it should hold it until the builders come to do the house gutters. If they ever come . . .
I have a hint for all homeowners. Move before 30 years in a property. We need a new back door and the gutter fixing (though other parts of the shed are showing their age too. The other shed, made out of wood that was less well prepared was taken down a few years ago.
As things stand, we will be taking a bag of hand tools with us, a bag of books, two household appliances and the last of his clothes. I reckon if we move this much each week it will only take us three or four years to clear the the house. It’s just a shame that we want to be out in less that 18 months, and that the shed will probably disintegrate before then, now it has started.
The photograph is part of my Sweetheart Brooch Collection – at the end of the war (1917 according to Wikipedia) the Army stated to issue overseas service chevrons – red for service in 1914 and blue for other years. The maximum that could be awarded was six – one red and five blue. This would involve someone fighting through from 1914 to the end of the war in Russia in 1919 and I’m not sure how many people managed that. I’ve never seen a set of six, and never seen a set of five blue ones either. However, I digress.
These badges were meant for men to wear (the crescent fittings were meant to go through the buttonhole on a man’s jacket, and is a hybrid Sweetheart/Regimental Brooch. It’s a subject area of its own and I have started a post on Sweethearts, as well as mentioning them before, so I may make sure I get down to finishing the half-complete post.
In the meantime, note how the two pieces seem to screw together, though I’m not quite sure how they manged it when you see how they fit. It was clearly a case of buying a badge and specifying the number of chevrons – a cunning marketing ploy. The Patent Date appears to be 1918 and the maker was TLM – Thomas L Mott, who made a lot of fine Victorian sweetheart brooches too. He also did loads of other jewellery, often using butterfly wing, as a quick search of his name will prove. Yes, butterfly wing – I shudder at the thought.
Wiltshire Regiment (Reverse)
Wiltshire Regiment (Front)
