Day: June 27, 2026

I don’t have a workshop so I have to do any major job outside. But yet again today the thermometer has hit 40 degrees C so it’s far too hot to do that. And especially so since the wind destroyed my large 4m x 3m parasol that offered some useful shade over my terrace area. And it’s because of that event that I’ve had to look for a new way to get shade back again because due to the shape of my house the terrace is a sun trap and the 3m x 3m parasol that I’m left with just isn’t up to the job.

So I had to find a much better solution which I think I have done in the form of what is called over here a ‘store-banne’, something resembling an old-fashioned extending shop awning. I say ‘I think I have done’ because any ‘store-banne’ would ideally need to fit under the light over the door leading onto the terrace. I think the one I’ve bought will do, but I won’t know for sure until I come to fix it to the wall, although I think it just will.

But getting back to the original point, like everything that you buy on line these days, when it arrived today it came in a big box and needed to be assembled. So where was the only place I could do that? On my living room floor, of course. As you can see, my living room looks more and more like a workshop because as well as there being three fans whirring away trying to move the hot air around there are tools and boxes of fittings in every direction.

So that’s how I got around the heatwave and assembled the ‘store-banne’ ready to be fixed on the wall. Given its price I’m surprised by the quality of its construction. It’s 4m x 3m so should nicely cover my terrace table and chairs and the main reason I chose this model is because it also has two full-length roller-blind curtains along its front which will be especially useful when the hot sun rises from the east. Formerly I had to tilt my old parasol but the curtains will make it much easier to create shade early on.

Anyway, below are pics that I shot after I’d finished the basic assembly. All that’s left are the front curtains and I’ll show those in a later post when I’ve got the thing up on the wall. Ideally you need two people for that but I’ve never shied away from a challenge and I’ll work out how to do it 😉

A short time ago I purchased a nail gun from a supplier on Aliexpress in readiness for when I (eventually) start building my garden tool store/workshop. I’ve not yet had a chance to use it properly – I’ve just fired 10 or 15 nails by way of practice – so when the trestles I was using for painting my shutters collapsed a couple of days ago because their joints had never been fixed I was pleased to get an opportunity to put it into service.

I decided to use staples rather than nails but unfortunately after the first half dozen or so one jammed in the nose of the gun and when I tried to get it out it broke off at both ends rendering what is in effect a brand new gun unusable. So I contacted the supplier asking for advice on what I needed to do to extract the broken piece of staple.
They said they would check with their engineer and came back the next day with a proposal to send me a replacement part which I could fit myself. I replied saying I’d need instructions in advance on how to do so and they helpfully sent me a video showing how the gun had to be disassembled.

I could possibly do it but the person in the video was a skilled assembly worker, so I expressed my reservations and asked if there was any alternative, thinking that my gun could be returned to their German warehouse. They came back with an immediate response saying no worries, they will send me a brand new replacement gun.

I expressed my gratitude for what I considered a very generous gesture and proposed that if they sent me a return label I would return my gun. They replied saying that they don’t have a return label and that I could keep the original machine.

I admit to having had some dodgy experiences with Chinese suppliers but this one has proven to be exceptionally outstanding. And who are they? They are the Onevan Global Store who can be found on Aliexpress. I recommend them.