He stirred the damp black ashes of the study floor with his foot.
With difficulty, he found the remains of a campfire and sifted through its cold, damp ashes.
He collected a fresh armful of Songs of Praise and threw them down amongst the damp ashes.
He smelled damp ashes on the wind that whipped through the ventilators, recalled the reported trouble with telephone lines.
Someone had managed to light a fire there at some time, though, because there were still a few damp ashes.
An oil portrait of Stalin hung over the fireplace, which reeked of damp ashes.
Now, less than six months after it was sold, a new disco has risen from the damp ashes of the Swamp.
Mrs Gogol kept on staring at the damp ashes.
Even the air smelled like damp ashes.
Robes and a cowl the color of damp ashes were all that could be seen of it.