Chapter 23

I woke the following morning to see Sue heading out to the bathroom. I knew I had a hard-on and I really wanted to use it. Then I heard the shower running and I knew that there would be no fun and games this morning. I glanced at the clock it was six o’clock.

I got up, made the bed, and went down to the kitchen to make coffee. I took it back upstairs. Sue was getting dressed. She had her bra and knickers on. I slipped up behind her slipped my hands around her waist and kissed her neck.

“Oh, you are such a bad man!” she giggled and then wiggled out of my grasp.

She turned around and we kissed. She pushed me away and smiled.

“We have so much to do in the next few days, I am sorry!” she said and I knew she meant it.

“No worries,” I said and slipped my boxers off. Sue looked down at my erection and she bit her lip.

“Stop teasing me!” she giggled, “save that for this evening, I promise you some fun and games!”

I smiled and headed into the shower. By the time I was showered and dressed Sue was making more coffee and making breakfast. There was little in the cupboards so we had cereal and toast.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” I asked.

“Right, we will go and have a look at the stables, it’s one of the ones with a new roof,” Sue said as she poured us both more coffee, “Then we need to go and do some shopping, and to then drop some cheques into the bank,”

“Okay sounds like a plan,” I replied.

“I am sure we will need more paint, and brushes” Sue said and stood up. She put her dishes in the sink.

I did the same and started to wash up, we left the stuff in the drainer and got our boots on.

We walked over to the tool shed and I got the tape measure. Sue had her notebook.

The stable block looked great on the outside; the new roof looked good but inside it was a mess.

We needed to buy new glass for two of the windows, the lock was fucked and the stalls all needed some attention. Both floors were full of crap. It looked like the upper floor had been used by the pigeons while there had been no roof. Its boards were thickly layered with bird shit.

Sue made a list of the gear we would need.

“Sue, I think I should make a start here whilst you do the shopping!” I said. There was so much to do.

“Do you mind?” Sue said, “I feel bad leaving you to do all the hard work?”

“It’s cool, if this place is to be ready by the weekend we need to crack on,” I said.

We left the block and headed to the tool shed.

“Right, I will get the stuff for the Burdens and the stuff for this block and then do some food shopping, then go to the bank,” Sue said.

“Okay, I will see you later!” I said as I put tools into the barrow.

“Right two things, wear a mask when you are clearing the pigeon poo out, there is some sort of disease you can get from it, and is there anything you would like from the shops?” Sue asked. She had her notepad and a pen in her hand.

“Okay, do we have some masks?” I asked.

Sue pointed them out on a shelf above the workbench.

“And I need some deodorant and some shaving foam please,” I said, and she wrote it down.

“Right, I will call in the stock orders for the shop and then I will head into town,” Sue said and gave me a smile that made my knees turn to jelly.

So, Sue went back over to the farmhouse and I headed over to the stable block. I put a mask on and went up to the top floor. I swept the evil-smelling crap up, in some areas I had to use a shovel to scrape the floor.

I took two barrow loads of bird shit over to the compost heap. Then I went back to the stable block and started to move some of the old crates and feed sacks that seemed to deposited there over the years.

I used the barrow to move the crap to the fire pit, the pile was getting big so I went to the tool shed and got some matches and some paper. It took a few minutes to get the fire going but once it was made short work of the debris that had been piled up.

The stables were coming to life. Horses were being ridden; horses were being groomed. I could hear the chatter as the girls worked and in some of the blocks, I could hear music blaring from radios.

It took five more trips with the barrow to clear the ground floor. Then I put my mask back on went up the ladders and started to sweep the walls down ready for painting. I opened the window to let some of the dust out. The walls also had some evidence of bird shit, plus spiders and their webs.

Then I went downstairs and opened all the doors and windows before I started to sweep the walls and the floor. As I worked, I noticed that the stalls required some TLC. The vertical bars that strengthened the horizontal bars needed some work done in them.

I went back to the tool shed and got some tools and some lengths of wood. Once I was back at the stable block, I used the hammer to prise the old vertical bars off and then used them to measure the new lengths, I cut them and slotted them into place before screwing them into place.

Then I put some extra screws into the top bars and sidebars. They were a lot less wobbly now I thought to myself.

I heard Sue’s truck pulling up. I headed out to meet her. She had the gear that was needed for this block and the burdens block.

“Hey, you, how are you doing?” Sue asked as she opened the back doors.

“Yeah, good thanks!” I replied, “This block is ready for painting,”

“Wow, you have worked hard this morning!” Sue said and handed me two big bottles with handles on the top. They had some sort of spray gun attachment.

“What are these?” I asked.

“Oh, the lads in the hardware shop told me they will kill the spores that the pigeon crap leaves behind, it’s some sort of disinfectant stuff!” she said.

I unloaded all the stuff from the hardware shop and saw there were half a dozen bags of shopping. Sue had stocked up that was for sure.

“Did you want a hand with the shopping?” I asked.

“Yes please, plus I could kill a coffee!” Sue said.

I jumped in the four-by-four and Sue drove us around to the house, we unloaded the car and Sue put the shopping away as I made a pot of coffee. Sue had bought some doughnuts and we sat at the table and tucked in.

Then we headed out to the stables.

“The lads told me to read the instructions before we use the sprays!” Sue said.

There were girls and ladies all over the place, it was such a sunny day. The shop looked busy.

When we got to the stables, we read the instructions it said to wear masks, spray every inch of every surface and have a shower after using the spray. We then had to leave it for twelve hours.

“I think I should do the spraying Sue!” I said. To me, it was a man’s job.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yes. I am!” I said.

I put the mask on and took one of the spray bottles up the ladders and once I was there, I started to spray the liquid over the walls, I guessed if I did the walls and then the floor, I could back myself into a corner so to speak and them head down the stairs.

So, you had to use the handle on the top to build up pressure and then use the spray gun to spray the evil-smelling liquid over the walls, it took a good hour to the walls. It also used up a full bottle of disinfectant. I went down and got the other bottle and did the floors.

Sue was nowhere to be seen. Once I had done the floor, I put the empty bottles in the industrial-size rubbish bin and headed into the house for a shower. I took my boots off before I went into the house, I stripped down to my boxers and put my clothes in the washing machine.

Then I took a long hot shower, making sure I washed every inch of my body. then I got dressed in clean boxers, shorts, and a T-shirt. I put my boxers in the washing machine and set it going.

I went out and cleaned my boots under the bib tap that was in the garden. I was sure they would dry out as I walked around.

I found Sue in the shop, the Cold drinks supplier had dropped off the new stock and she was putting the drinks into the fridge.

“Hello love!” she said and tossed me a can of Dr Pepper, “All done?”

“Yes, all done!” I said as I popped the can open and took a long swig.

“Did I read that we have to leave it for twelve hours?” She asked.

“Yes, I have locked the block up, we will be able to go in in the morning,” I said.

“Okay, will we have time to do the Burdens shelves this afternoon?” Sue asked as she closed the fridge. #

“Yes, I am off there now!” I replied, I drained the can and crushed it before throwing it into the rubbish bin.

“Right, I will come over with you!” she said with a smile.

We walked across to the tool shed and I got the gear we needed, popped it all in the wheelbarrow and headed around to the stable block.

Sue chatted with a few of the ladies as we went so it took us nearly an hour to get there. We decided to do the work upstairs first. So, we lugged the gear up the ladders.

I measured up where I needed to drill and then plugged the electric drill in and made the holes. I soon had the brackets in place. We soon had the shelves up and then screwed them into place. I checked them twice with the spirit level before I was happy. I turned to see that Sue was leaning looking out of the window. She turned to me and smiled.