As you may have gathered here at Powis there are always jobs to be done, and a vast range of them too! This past week we have been on the top floor of the castle cleaning the windows and applying pesticides to them. The top floor is not open to the public and therefore is not often used. This means the top floor is the area with most pest activity in the castle and it has to be treated for this problem.
The view from the window of the ‘loo with a view’
The beautiful scenery!
This week’s task involved vacuuming the window spaces, washing the windows down with warm, soapy water and then spraying the window frames and sills with Constrain, a pesticide developed by Bob Child. Cleaning the windows means there is less fodder for pests to attract them inside the building. The Constrain ensures that if pests do get in through the gaps around the windows they are poisoned and will die, rather than cause damage or breed in the building. It is an important job to be done every few months, and it has fantastic views! I really can’t complain about this task while looking out at the beautiful castle gardens and surrounding scenery. It was also a nice job in that we were working as a team; one person vacuuming while the others took turns to wash and spray the windows, going up the ladder and doing the bottom ones in turn as well. I really enjoy it when our tasks give us the opportunity to work together as a team, we really get along well, have a good chat and a laugh, and the day seems to fly by!
Here are some photos I took from the roof of the castle today, accessible from the ‘loo with a view’ at the very top of the castle! (and it’s still a working toilet!)
The Courtyard from on top the roof
The ‘cold’ side of the garden
The maze on the Great Lawn
The roof of Powis Castle
View from my attic 