garage doors

The garage doors are almost complete. I've been tinkering with them since Christmas, figuring them out as I go. They are made from 2" box steel with 2" flat insert all round to bolt the boards to. The door opening is 3 metres wide (just over 10 feet) so they would have been pricey to buy them in. I anticipated most of the problems apart from having to correct a bow inwards when I welded the middle box section.

doors set in place with hinges bolted to walls,
a bit of 'tweaking' was required to get them  reasonably square  all round

starting to attach the plastic boards,
easier than fitting them in before hanging the doors

Recylced plastic boards from Murrays in Mayo.
Very easy to work with, easy to cut & to shape and  plane.

Custom hinges made from trailer door hinges.
 I couldn't buy anything to allow the doors swing out 180 degrees.

The doors will be secured from inside, so outside is pretty much finished.
When I get the garage plastered I'll complete the jam all round.

mother of invention

Necessity (or laziness) is the mother of invention. Not quite dragons den stuff, but I modified an old bobcat shovel today to fit on the forklift. It'll make the job much easier... and was a nice change from seedlings and plugs.

lough boora parklands

Lough Boora Parklands is situated in County Offaly.

It is a large area of cut-away bog (ie peatland which has most of it's
commercial peat harvested and already used to generate electricity)

It is vast, flat and open to sun, wind and rain.

A section has been developed as an outdoor sculpture park.

Various artists have created outdoor works utilizing old industrial materials
from the industrial harvesting of peat over a fifty year period

Indigenous materials such as bog oak have also been used

for more; http://www.loughbooraparklands.com/