The far end of the verandah

My brother-in-law and his wife have, over their married life, built or rebuilt more houses than I can recall. Sometimes, before renting it out or selling it, they will live in a house for years, adding a bedroom with ensuite bathroom here, a deck there, or turning a roof space into a family room, until it has been quite transformed from the rundown old cottage it was when they bought it.

Household items that lose their immediate usefulness are not, however, always consigned to the scrapyard, but saved for the day when they might scrub up nicely to take their place in the ongoing development. That is why, here and there on the property - and the verandah is one such place - huddles of what the uneducated eye might view as junk can be seen sharing space with items still in everyday use, such as the bikes.