What have you been doing today?

[Harry Bloomfield]

We've been cracking on with the rebuilt garden picnic table. We got the two end A-frames completed yesterday, plus the table top and seat timbers, first coat painted. This morning, they received the second coat, and were fixed into place with brass #12 screws. There are just some 1" bolts, to drill, and fix into the ends of the legs, to help lift the feet out of moisture, plus four more screws under the middle of the top, to support and pull those all down to the same level.

Then, I will just be waiting for the promised warm weather, to wax oil the rear arms on the car.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

An easy day, yesterday, just finishing that off. Today's task, will be to clean up, and put all the tools away - something I've been struggling with for a few weeks. Much of my workshop storage was disturbed and lost, in making space to store my mobility scooter. Much of that displaced stuff, is still out and looking for a permanent home.

 

[Mottie]

Having a cuppa. Final stages of decorating the small bedroom. Making good with the cutting in of the coving and skirting. Started with the coving. Delicate surface frog tape on the painted walls, toshed the coving several times, removed the tape, pulled patches of wall paint off, got a smaller pointed bristle paint brush and touched the walls in. A reasonable job. Started on the skirting, taped a small section of wall, painted the skirting, removed tape and yep, that will need touching up in places so did the rest freehand. Again, a reasonable job but will still have to do a bit of touching up of the walls. Getting pìssed off with it now, glad it’s nearly finished. I start decorating all keen and with the best of intentions and then it’s a case of not if, but when I hit the boredom wall. I've just hit it with some architrave and a cupboard still to do. It’s suddenly become a chore.

 

[Mottie]

Finally finished! I invited mrs Mottie to do some snagging and of course she found a few bits that needed touching up, one area was underneath a bloody plug socket - she could see what I had missed when she was looking up, through the bannisters when coming up the stairs with the bedroom door open. FFS!

While the paint was drying I popped over the allotment to chuck some water about and harvested yet more asparagus. Some went in tonight’s stir-fry and the rest will be for my breakfast tomorrow. Getting a bit fed up with asparagus now.

Came back and had a minor drama refitting the rad onto the brackets - I hadn’t drained it when removing it so as to not dilute the inhibitor - I just whipped it off and quickly upended it. Of course when we were refitting it, her thumb wasn’t big enough to cover the hole completely plus she is as weak as a kitten so once we had finally mounted it onto the brackets we had to swap ends quickly once I had fitted my pipe on. Other than that, plain sailing! Going to clear up tomorrow and put the dressing table on our local Facebook group as a free item as she has seen a bigger unit in IKEA that she can use for her dressmaking and WFH. Going to board the floor out with 6mm ply on Monday then move all the stuff back in which will free up the other two bedrooms! Won’t be carpeted until the other two bedrooms are done as she wants the same carpet on the stairs, landing and all bedrooms in one go. Feck knows where all the furniture is going to go when that’s being done - just clearing out one small bedroom has filled up the other two and the landing!

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I've had a decent sliding mitre saw, for a few years, accurate, and has just worked fine, but heavy and cumbersome to get out to use. I also had a much older, none sliding mitre saw, a real cheapy, hopelessly inaccurate, in both directions, and no built-in way to recalibrate it apart from restamping the pointer/marker. I've just spent an hour, tweaking it, to cut square. The horizontal mark was just over 1 degree out, and the vertical almost two degrees out.

 

[Mottie]

Been over the allotment, 'kin melting! Dug a bed over and de-weeded it but no matter how deep I dug, it was as dry as a bone. I gave it a thorough soaking before planting my butternut squash's. Same again with my climbing French beans. I can’t remember the last time we had a drop of rain over there. I’m watering it every day, roughly 40 gallons of water every time. Luckily, my plot is almost next to the water trough so not too far to carry it. Hosepipes are banned on the allotment.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

My weather station recorded 3.5mm, on the 5th May, then 2.1mm on the 21st April, but nowt really much, for the past two months, and my barrel of rain water at the rear, is almost dry.

 

[Munroast]

My weather station recorded 3.5mm, on the 5th May, then 2.1mm on the 21st April, but nowt really much, for the past two months, and my barrel of rain water at the rear, is almost dry.

I have kept such records for the past 25 years and we now have our driest 6 month period - 156mm - and the unusualness of that has to be this 6 month periond includes the winter
we also have our lowest 12 week period of just 29mm (just over an inch in 3 months)

And it also follows on from our wettest ever 12 months that ended last September that was 36.5" (or 927mm)

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I have kept such records for the past 25 years and we now have our driest 6 month period - 156mm - and the unusualness of that has to be this 6 month periond includes the winter
we also have our lowest 12 week period of just 29mm (just over an inch in 3 months)

I read, that our current dry spell, has not been equalled at this time of year, since 1976 - which was followed by that very hot summer, and water shortages.

 

[Highway Man]

Had a horse riding lesson today, I quite fancy entering dressage as I look great and feel it is the perfect sport for me to enter.

 

[MNW67]

Had a horse riding lesson today, I quite fancy entering dressage as I look great and feel it is the perfect sport for me to enter.

Was it your first lesson?

 

[Highway Man]

Was it your first lesson?

I have had a few now, I have gone from simple trotting to show jumping and fancy doing dressage now. There was a horse with white shoes on and shaved down its neck, looked fantastic and just thought. That is so me.

 

[MNW67]

I have had a few now, I have gone from simple trotting to show jumping and fancy doing dressage now. There was a horse with white shoes on and shaved down its neck, looked fantastic and just thought. That is so me.

Horses and boats are probably expensive hobbies.

 

[Highway Man]

Horses and boats are probably expensive hobbies.

Probably right, however the horse was staring at me and I looked back at it. Our eyes locked together and we both just sort of knew how it was going to end.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I have gone from simple trotting to show jumping and fancy doing dressage now.

I could never work out, how to rise to the trot. I was like a sack of spuds.

Horses and boats are probably expensive hobbies.

Horrendously expensive, and not an expense you can switch on and off, as it suits you.