Splitting wedge

I had to go to the hardware store the other day for a replacement cap for the spool on my strimmer.  Any excuse to go to the hardware store, you might think, but the neatness of my garden depends on this piece of bright orange  blow-moulded plastic.  Ridiculous, isn’t it?

I located the item I needed, but still had to look around the entire store to find a compelling reason to come back again. That was successful. I spotted the perfect fork to turn my vegetable beds. I shall be back!

I saw something else I needed: a splitting wedge.  It was the last one on the shelf.  The picture below includes a one euro coin for scale. To save you from guessing, let me tell you that it weighs about one kilogram, and measures 20 x 4 x 3 cm (the latter measurement being at its fatter end). It is just the right tool to help me remove nails from pallets. I have been collecting discarded pallets to use in a couple of gardening projects. I also purchased a saw, something I have lived without for eight years, but now need as a matter of urgency.

When I went to pay, the woman behind the counter exclaimed the Portuguese equivalent of “Oh, that is a good tool!” I grinned in polite agreement. Meanwhile, in my head, I can see myself doing a Catherine Tate impersonation, saying, “Yeah, I know. It’s why I’m buying it, innit?”

Now I need a decent 4-pound hammer. The wedge works. I have five four-inch nails to prove it. I extracted them from the nearest pallet within ten minutes of arriving home.

Sorry about using metric and imperial measurements in the same blog. Congratulations to you if you noticed.

©2017 Allison Wright