However, emboldened by my success last weekend, using tarpaulins to create a comfortable work environment, I decided to press on.

I needed to fill gaps on the laundry wall and paint the PFC beam above the long garage wall.

I'd purchased a 9m x 6m tarpaulin from the hardware, and found a smaller tarpaulin laying around at home. The first thing I did was position these up on the roof and run rope through the eyelets and around roofing screws to secure the top edge.

Down on the ground I drove in lengths of steel and tied off to the eyelets there.

This gave me a nice dry environment to steel brush and rust convert the long PFC on the garage wall.

Needless to say, as soon as the first squalls hit, all the lower eyelets ripped out.

I took some 4 x 2 beams and scraps of weather tex and attached timbers to the lower edge.

At one point, when I only had a single timber attached, it was whipping up and down in the air by about 20 feet - quite dangerous. By the time I had a second timber attached it was reasonably well behaved. However, I managed to hit one of my fingers quite hard with the hammer and split the end of it - much swearing and a quick run to the first aid kit. The bandaid is getting in the way as I type this item and I'm too scared to have a close look at it.

I managed to fill all the gaps on the laundry wall (though some will need a second attempt) and also rust converted the long PFC.

After that, I thought I had enough time to run one row of sisalation along the long wall.

However, I was determined to batten it as I went along so that it would stay under control.

To this end, I cut a whole lot of 900 mm battens so that the next overlapping row of sisalation could be added without having to remove the battens.

At that point, a heavy downpour started. I was just moving the triton out of the elements when an intense squall ripped through. It blew sawdust in my face and ripped out all the top eyelets in the tarpaulin.

I didn't want to install sisalation while standing out in the elements - so I admitted defeat, packed up and went home.

Some days you just can't win :-(