Druidic exploits of a various nature!!

[v8druid]

27-3-2020


Crisis situation here this morning .......
just finished the LAST jar of Pam's plum jam on me toast earlier
... she made 36 last year and somehow they all seem to have evaporated


WTF am I going to have for brekky tomorrow ?????




crisis averted ........ I looked meself this evening and found a few more jars hiding behind some tins so tha's brekky sorted for a few more weeks


pushed a slam post in with the 'Drema today, for the gate ... beats thumping it in ... pity the banks-woman ain't got much of an eye for upright ... should've gotten me self squarer on to it, so I could see for meself ... at 2+ ft in the deck it'll have to do





screwed a rest/support block on to assist in maintaining some semblance of shape to it ... look better when it's had a coat of brown ... when we can get some more


Whilst I was out on the drive, we pushed another five fence stakes in to replace some rotted off ones ... not my fence line, but it's our drive the damned sheep escape on to, if the fence isn't up to scratch ... didn't take long with the 'Drema doing the shoving in








they're actually more upright than they look there those gate posts have a hell of a lean on


new throttle control works a treat and doesn't seem to be presenting any issues to any of her systems .... warning lamp/bulb seems to have failed in the dash for the blade ... although the actual control function of the button still works and turns the solenoid valve on/off ... little investigating required .. hopefully the lamps are replaceable
a fully variable throttle is a novel treat


not seen this pair in ten days ... Vicki'd run out of GF bread .... and none to be found anywhere, so some of Pam's stocks had to be robbed from the freezer.




Clara was very good ... had obviously had it drummed in to not come to us ... stayed a good 20 ft away, love her .... not seen her on her little balance bike before and can't she go on it .... her bicycles are going to be a POP after .. really has the hang of her balance





great to see them ....... at a distance at least .... can you tell it was brrrr .. sly ol' NE wind this morning ... even with the sun, was 'kin cool


only invited visitors are coming past this .......





other-wise this is as close as they get





'nother day or so and that ground's gonna be Dane ready for some grass massacre-ing ...... better avoid the daffs though ... be in trubble otherwise

29-3-2020


spent some of yesterday 'in the tish' ... well forking it anyway ..





Pam had me turning her veggie boxes over ... so she could do for the weeds that grow like crazy ... ready for said tish ...





pity I can't get the Micron at these ... got a rake/fork made for that, for turning this sort of stuff over ... anyway ... three done, one is a strawberry bed and there's summat in no. 5 tha's staying ... apparently


the 'dead' fence posts got a seeing to .....





whilst I had this out,



making good a half a pallet, that I'd used the rest of, to create a half/special pallet to go under me fuel tank, I acquired a while back.


Also got this little fella going .... again





after a bloody good strip/clean ... my fave little saw for a quick job revving like a good un


then I see the posty arrive and deposit summat in't letter box, far end of the drive
so.... suitably equipped with some gloves ... and the key to the box, I went to see if it was some belts I was waiting for ..


so ... key in box .. open front ... a letter .... from the local health authority ... glove time ... get it out, open it up four pages, two in Welsh ... envelope and the Welsh bits get screwed into a ball in me left hand ... letter in right ... no glasses so can't read the damned thing ....
now ... I can't (in theory) shut the box with a gloved hand .. or touch the key ..... dunno WTF has been handling said letter .... the balled up rubbish is gonna get enclosed in the gloves as they come off, inside out, but I still have this damned letter to hold
anyway took it back to the house and gave it some disinfecting....'least Pam did while I hung on to it outside, then the gloves went in the burning bin, which was lit already and we could get a look at ........ hell of a quandry though, about how to handle this sort of thing, especially in view of this one's source, too, ..... or anything that arrives TBH ??


Anyway ..... said letter was a bit of a surprise



twelve weeks FFS ..and as for all the other 'separation stuff' .... They'm a bit late with the advice ... and .......
Pam sticks needles in me every Monday .. gonna be bloody difficult at three paces



I can't wait to get tested for anti-bodies .. see if some of us had it in January ....


TWELVE ****ing weeks FFS!!


apparently so, Pam was reading somewhere this morning we can now sign up for the food parcel scheme!! ..... think there are more folk, in more need/more deserving TBH ....


Aside from being genetic, my Gaucher's doesn't really fit any of the criteria .. although my immunity is 'supposed' to be depleted/lower than usual, I've always been pretty damned good at not getting sh*t or fighting it off/recovering if i do ... and bear in mind that I was born with this ... 't ain't something new, just recently identified/diagnosed


Plus as I keep saying .... I'm pretty convinced that January's 'un-wellness' was this bloody virus ..... it all fitted the symptoms


It's the 12 'kin weeks that bothers me most ..... 's a long time .... wish I'd had a bit of sense and gotten some sand and cement in ...... might've developed enough enthusiasm to have a go at some stone work
would've been nice if me planings delivery'd arrived too ..... Russel could always have sneaked his crane in here some time ... that'd all have given me plenty to do

[v8druid]

2-4-2020


well I've not been further than the end of me drive in over three weeks .... I don't go out a great deal anyway ... but that WAS my choice ... it's a bit odd when it's not so much through my own choosing !!


I'm very lucky that i have space to at least get outside and do summat ...


had a few punctures sat about, that have needed attention for a while ... this is the road wheel off me Manor/Flaming Micron ... not been used in a long time, but it kept me occupied for a bit, along with four 4.00 x 8s I had sat ...





bet yer's not seen one o' them bars in a while ... for those who can remember what they look like ... beat tyre levers ... hands down


bearing got a good dose of fresh grease while it was on the bench ..





hauled Mr K's old trailer out of it's hiding place in the corner and put it somewhere a bit more accessible to finish off welding up the draw bar alterations, I started ages ago ...





better position for setting about it with the MIG ... anyone who uses their infrequently ... when you get it out to use it .. always check this lil' sod on the Euro-connector or you'll never get a decent shield ..




tiny little O ring ...





but they're such a tight fit that they snap for a past time .. and can cause all sorts of issues if you don't realise it's buggered ... new one fitted and torch installed ... half an hour with some 0.8mm and t'ain't coming off ...





picked it up, onto its arse end to get at the underside ... too bloody awkward there ..then slapped some of Firwoods best fast drying on it ... that wheel wedge frame's gonna have to go though !!


lifted it back down onto the deck this afternoon and picked the body up to get at the chassis for some shiny tish ... after a good wire brushing ... was remarkably clean-ish TBH





propped and left on't 'Drema's hook for the duration ... was intending to whip the body off out the way, to make it an even easier task ... but the one tip hinge pin is going to take some getting out .. all the rest're fine ... just that one lil' bar steward ... so charged on as was ...




dropped it down and left it there for tonight ...





going to have a crack at that one pin tomorrow, with a hyd pack .... would like to lift the body off anyway, to flip it over to clean & paint the underside ... bloody hard work as is ...... be easier to do for that wedge frame too, with the body out o' the way


progress would've been faster today if it hadn't been for all the interruptions ... " can you just come and .... undo this/ lift this down/hold the steps for me/get me a ladder/go up the ladder - I don't like it - too high - and... /paint that up there /reach that down/etc./etc. " been one of those afternoons


anyone remember this .... got sent it this morning ....
judging by the level, stood up there, I'd guess 'daddy' has just gotten around to hanging it properly







3-4-2020


"going to have a crack at that one pin tomorrow, with a hyd pack ...."


well that didn't happen ....
request from Vicki, via Pam for some 'veggie boxes' , summat like Pam's, but smaller ... she's got the gardening bug, by the look of it and it'll keep Clara amused a bit too ..... " what've yer got to make some with Gra? " Not got a lot in the way of 'spare' timber sat about, other than stickers and cribbing ... apart from some off cuts from the black shed build, which i'd had cwtched, to make Pam some planters .. sometime.


Having been searching me patch, she'd come across 'em and said ... " they'd do, wouldn't they? " so had to admit to the reason for having 'em cwtched aside ........ so that was the end of my plans for the day and fetched me 'chippy's hat' to get started, to silence the whining noise that'd suddenly started !! had no excuse readily to hand and no dimensions from Vicki so .............


one truck full of off cuts ......





much thought later and I had a plan formulated ... next was to extract some lengths of 38 x 90 CLS I'd also had stashed, from the shed build, in the roof of said shed, which unfortunately had a rolled up carpet sat on top of 'em ...... that took some re-homing, up in the roof


having worked out a cutting list/regime to maximise the available materials 'twas time to get to it ... 90mm CLS was overkill for the framing so decided to rip it down, which worked out well





couldn't be arsed to drag a saw bench out for the limited requirements, so just ripped it after I'd lengthed it




then set about getting it all together ..





the 300 x 20 sawn was not the greatest of stuff dimensionally to be working with and had a few issues getting it cut to length square, but got there ... 'least well enough for the job in hand ... trouble with being used to steel and everything being properly sized and true .....
anyway ... worked with one true, decent end as a face end and got it together alright, with the aid of a nice flat, straight, solid bench .. always helps





one down ..... two to go


as usual ... certain people couldn't wait to see what it looked like 'in situ'





back to it for #2 ...







which got finished off after tea had been scoffed ....





and dropped down with its mate ... then 'twas time to have a square up, 'fore it got dark
Last one to put together tomorrow ....... and then ....... I have now had some dimensions from Vicki, so got her's to dream up tomorrow too

[v8druid]

on the plus side ..... I have one very happy Pam, especially as I've also got a load of top soil organised, to fill hers and Vicki's too, so should buy me some peace and quiet, to 'potter on' with my bits an' bobs for a while .... it'd better stay dry

4-4-2020


now that I had some dimensions from Vicki, had her's to dream up too


So ... spent a fair bit of the morning looking like a snowman ... been bloody windy here today and the sawdust's been everywhere


that was after completing #3 for Pam ...





lopped up a pile of short off cuts for starters, which worked in really well with the dimensions given .... then I had to drag another four 5 metre lengths out from under a box .... which proved exciting and bloody awkward, due to stuff being in the way .. like a dumper and a jake ... wasn't moving them and managed to thread 'em under the both of 'em then stuck 'em through the trellis fence where i could get at 'em ..




and lugged 'em up to me bench ...





to get 'em lopped up ...





then chopped some CLS and ripped them down for the framing, before spending the rest of the day assembling 'em all ...





between Pam's 'interuptions' for lifts and stuff


eventually got this one ready to assemble, just before tea interrupted play .... so went together this evening ...







followed by yet another hour's clear up .... bloody typical this afternoon ... sun came out just as it was going 'round from where it'd have shone on me ... been damned cold with the wind today, even though it's been a southerly, 'tweren't as warm as it was 'sposed to be


locked up just as the light was disappearing .....
this is 5ft x 2ft 6" .... Vicki usually gives me my 'instructions' in 'old money' , although happy working in either .... whichever dimension's the closest to what I'm after ...... worked out well for the materials
Box #2 is the morning's job, but only 2 ft 6" square so a lot less screwing .... just got to cut the CLS framing and rip it, before i can set about assembling it . .... forecast is warmer in the morning .... but still bloody windy from the South ... so doubt it's gonna feel much warmer


Squeak's found himself a new place to kip this morning ...... we decorated my little office a couple of weeks ago .... which was also a major juggle about of furniture ... two full filing cabs take some shuffling about to paint behind!!


To tidy up a lot of the stuff that seems to get parked in here we bought a shelving unit to rationalise it all .... and squeak discovered the top of it this morning








have to say, for an Ikea jobbie it went together very well and is good and solid ... there're a lot of lever archs and books on the shelves you can't see ... a fair bit of weight ... finding decent sized book cases proved to be quite a challenge when we were searching for a unit


5-4-2020


so ...... one down .... little un to do ....





three sides sorted ... no 4 on't bench




on its way together ...





and assembled





then I get ,..... " what have you got that'll support some netting to keep the birds and cats out? "


so ..... quick think, cup o' coffee and I've an idea ..... hauled out a new toy ... that apparently I didn't need, when it arrived ... . had a bigger version in work for years, by a company called Goliath .. sold unfortunately .. first time I've tried this ... and worked OK ...





was cheap enough too

instant netting cradles ..



made the centre one higher, as it was how the materials 'panned out' and no point in wasting any





drilled into the top frame ..... tha's me 10 mil bar stock cleaned out as well as most of me spare timber rapidly running out o' stuff to use for people's wish lists


Vicki should be well chuffed with these ..... I hope


these got a damned good coat of Cuprinol satin varnish yesterday afternoon and really brought the colours out in the timber ...





Pam's like my old man used to be with a paint brush ... seems to use the handle more than the bristles .... bloody covered in it ... and her hands!!


should've seen the black brush after she'd done this, this afternoon





done a nice job on it though ..... couple of chairs to go with it on the to do list tomorrow ... and that'll probably wipe out me tin of black metal gloss
good job I don't use black very often!!


there is going to be some sort of shopping list, after all this shit subsides .... WHEN it does ... could be a lot more to go on't list before then though


anyone wants to eyeball any more pix .... there're always loads more in me Photobucket folders, which I keep updated ... so for the masochists amongst us LOL ...... https://s1275.photobucket.com/user/v.../library/scans 2?sort=3&page=1

[v8druid]

6-4-2020


usual Monday morning .... Hamster juice top up time ... went looking for me coffee mug, first thing, that I'd left outside last night ... 8 mm of rain in it bit of a shock to see it come down last night ... considering the skies were clear when i hit me pit.


forecast for next Monday / Tuesday is 40+mm of rain ..... but at a week away ... might not materialise ........... hopefully


Just had a real heavy shower - as in LASHING down ....... 'sposed to be a blue sky day ... so tha's burgered Pam's chair painting for the day


well it did clear up and turned into a decent afternoon ....... we got a grub delivery from Vicki later in the day, bless 'em .... no Clara though ... she can't hack not being able to get near us apparently, so not likely to see her any time soon, other than on the 'puter vid. calls


with an empty car to go home with ... these had to 'fall' in the back .....








fitted in well and'd give Vicki summat to get enthused and occupied with ......








Pam reckoned she's had too much of me 'rub off ' on her ..... she'd got the level out to set 'em up with today




looks like we're gonna be having plenty of plum jam this year .... assuming we can get some jam making sugar that is .. and plenty of it





both our plum trees are well in blossom


'the boss' has kept me busy half the day ... with little can you just,s ... that all added up to several hours ...
Delbouy gave me some bird boxes when i was down in Plymoth last ... this un went up today ...





hadn't been up ten minutes and there were loads of little birds examining the new 'real estate' ... think a pair had moved in in an hour !!


all the grass got massacred after lunch ... lawn growing like crazy, but beside the drive wasn't so bad, so not a huge amount lying about, after the Dane had had a charge around it





the tree pollen is now dropping in earnest and my nose and eyes have really been suffering the last two days, even with me 10mgs of Cetirizine daily, I've had to resort to tissue balls, stuffed up me nose to try and filter it out a bit ... does help, but looks ridiculous ... do I care when it works


dragged a few bits together before tea, for a little summat I have in mind, hopefully tomorrow ...
she can't have much left to need my attention





fingers crossed of course ..... there are two more bird boxes left to go up ... but no locations sussed as yet


got some me time today and this went up in the air again ..





to let me get at that rack on the tow bar .. it had to go ...





some cold laps made removal a bit easier










and there it was ..... gone


looks better without it in the way ..





how to make the most of a disc





then it was time to crack on with a few bits ..... saw time




after the Ajax had contributed ...





pile of bits ready to go together











any guesses ??

[v8druid]

having to make do with what I have to hand ATM ....








here's an inkling coming up




then ran out of daylight .... so it had to come back down for today .....





certainly looks better without yon rack on there





and in these uncertain times of fk knows when we can go shopping again ?? ..... this'll get hacked into bits ... yer never know what'll come in handy


the tissue ball filters for me nose have worked real well all day ....... oak pollen is the worst thing going apparently ... and I'm surrounded by oaks here, 'specially on me patch ... nose and eyes have been almost normal today ... but have been walking round all day with two white balls stuck up me nostrils ... as I said, if it works, do I care .... and has made a massive difference to me today


took them out for half an hour earlier and nose and eyes went ballistic : ..... so new balls please


more to do tomorrow ...........


9-4-2020


just got started this morning and we got a.n.other delivery we've been waiting for ... 'least our fish have ... new grub supplies for 'em ... local source hasn't had any for weeks and we were just about out, so ordered some on line and got 'em delivered to Vicki ... been sat a couple of days 'isolating', so they got brought up this morning .. with a surprise ...





Clara'd rather see us at a distance for a while than not at all ... and she got a run around ..





dress was one of Vicki's 'old stock' bridesmaid's dresses ... Clara loves it
fish food's quarantined in a shed for now

so after they'd had a run around, some distant Granny time and had left, I got back to it ... picked up the trailer bed again and got the new cross member in place ....





sadly, too breezy again for the MIG, so stick it was .... having got that on I turned my attention to a couple of lift eyes for the front chassis rails ... M20 x 3t eye nuts ... with a stud threaded into the end plates, then welded to the plates and the eyes, screwed on and then welded too ... they ain't coming off the plates





and the plates ain't coming off the chassis rails after I'd squared 'em up and gotten 'em clean and tidy for welding .. had to grind the welds back in places to avoid the lower chassis guide plates, but believe me ... penetration was full depth... and put an extra gusset plate in the toes too.
coat of shiny sh1t before tea ...





and a good square up after, before dropping it back down for the night ...





which has high-lighted another issue ....

[v8druid]

10-4-2020


next creation ....






one 71mm sq. internal socket





for a 70mm stub post ...... for this










now you can see where this is going





Lil' bar steward took some welding on ... lower channel is 4mm narrower than the upper ... giving a 4mm gap to fill ... vertically and overhead ...... but got it on there ..... needed the practice

Lil' bar steward took some welding on ... lower channel is 4mm narrower than the upper ... giving a 4mm gap to fill ... vertically and overhead ...... but got it on there ..... needed the practice








can either get parked thus .... or slung in the back ...... or I might make it another socket, for elsewhere ... or wait 'til I can pick up a few inches of 80 sq x 4mm SHS ... a storage socket doesn't need to be such a condom fit





might look at the wiring next ... or try and wrestle the body off ... that one pin is gonna be a bar**ard .... but paint and leccies'd be a POP with the body inverted on the floor


and if you think I took my time with that today ....... 'twas in between interruptions from YKW ....... have broken up and filled five of these today





she wanted some 40ish mm lumps ... but not my clean 40 ... it had to be from the pallets of rocks quietly crumbling on the patch ... with the nice browns and greens and greys ... you get the idea .... so been 'on the chain gang' for a fair portion of me day ... stuff was bloody harder than you'd think, looking at it




Kept Pam happy though ..... an' I got her home made chilli an' chips for tea ... yummy!!


11-4-2020


everything always looks better / more finished ..... with a coat of shiny tish





Plan A .......





Plan B...





B worked better than A did










the remnants'll take some dealing with ..... get drilled out probably










here's what else occurred ....


before I got started, this and the side of the drive got massacred .... could NOT believe how much it'd grown






Nice level lift, even if I do say so myself ... different leg lengths and heavier front end ... couldn't fault it
so sat it on the deck, re-slung it and .......





carefully avoiding 'killing' the lighting board and beacon, which were still attached ...





bungee-ed the board to the underside ....







and laid it over - re-slung it again and picked it to where I wanted it, to work on ...





not in bad nick underneath ..... but that grey paint came off in sheets with a scraper !! spent an hour or two cleaning it off with said scraper and wire brush, 'fore starting on some Ali primer, but ran out of light last night





Ol' fabricators friend gets it on there


12-4-2020


looked ok in the daylight today and got it finished off ...





After I'd taken this pic !!

[v8druid]

having checked the pivot holes with the vernier, they were all pretty much on the 32mm mark .... 'cept for the middle bits of the pins themselves, which appeared to have taken all the wear ... miraculously - so found some 32 mm bar ... of which I had very little ... this was a ring rolling mandrel I used to use in me lathe for rolling a length of rings from a length of bar ... but was me only piece so it had to have it ..





drive tag came off and it became a 'length of 32 mm again ..... for some new pins ... after I'd gotten the remnants of the one lil' sod out of course
flushed the one end off with a 9" thin disc ....





but still wouldn't have it with me one hand-er and drift .....





.......might've with someone holding the drift, but wasn't happening so ...... split the lugs with the 9"




and out they came, with a bit of slogging ...





the offending item's constituent parts





note the worn centre portion


ran a weld across the top of the slits ... only need to stop 'em opening up ... lopped up some new pins and made a couple of retainers ... stop 'em going round in't holes ... summat a little more substantial'd 've been good, but sod all to hand they'll do for now





couple of grease nipples tapped into the moving parts ......










and hopefully they'll be good for a few more years
also sorted the wiring out this morning and got that all secured and re-routed


... and have been pratting about with some mod.s to that for an hour or so before tea and had a bit of a go at the brake linkages and compensator ... which wasn't co-operating at all, so soaking in WD for the night ... day just seemed to evaporate ... but've made decent progress and the body's about ready to get stuck back on .... the ali primer makes a decent top coat too ... lasts for years on everything I've ever used it on - like me trailers ... only ever had two coats .....


13-4-2020


slow start this morning ... hamster juice day, so didn't get out there 'til almost lunchtime ...


brake compensator, even after a night's WD soak still took some persuading apart ..





managed to split the one yoke off, but had to cut the rod on t'other, but got it eventually ... stripped cleaned, greased, re-assembled and back in spot ...




brake rods came out of the actuators in the hubs ... to my amazement ... straightened them out, copper slipped and back in for a length suss ...





bit of a break for a late lunch in the sun, which'd eventually showed its face... cold old NE wind today though ....





trees have come on leaps and bounds this last week ... no leaves at all last weekend !!


Anyway .....then made up some new yoke ends ....





new clevises and it was pulling sweet ... had a nice hand brake lever sat in me box ... old SD1 rover assembly, like new and had been pondering HTF to get it to pull the 'triangle' arrangement on the side of the draw bar, which needed a nigh on vertical pull to make it work ... that'd been do-able, but in the way for other things ... so thought sod it .. no mechanical advantage gained in the 'triangle' so take it out the equation and just use a straight pull
















brakes pull on nicely now ... however ... whilst sussing that, discovered a very wobbly LH wheel ... hopefully taper rollers in need of adjusting .. tomorrow's job ... and have a suss of the brake drum internals whilst I'm at it ....


the little fiddlies take for-ever

[v8druid]

14-4-2020


well this was a bit of a surprise this morning ....



fields all around were white too


first thing on the agenda was suss that wheel bearing ..... taper roller .. tightened up nicely





and came up with a novel hub cap, 'til I can find a replacement ...





cut down Pineapple ring tin ... perfect fit and tapped on sweet, full of grease
didn't bother exploring the hub internals as the brakes're working just fine
got t'other side to nip a little, but can't get at it easily where it's sat so'll do it once I've moved it out a little ... left me grease tub out to remind me


next up was flip the body back over and drop it back on ...





got it a bit closer to me 'fore slinging the end and turning it back over .. then 'twere up and over to the chassis




assisted by my apprentice, lining up the front end ... it went back on .... sweet as





Jus' look at that blue sky been like it all day here .. just not quite as warm as it looks



anyway ... pins in and a lynch in that ram pin so's I can drop it out if I want to lift the body with the 'Drema at a later date, without upsetting the hyd.s

so on to the next bit ...




took bloody ages to juggle that lot into these ..





Left to right ... trailer lighting board on't tail gate, beacon, anything that might end up behind this ... has a set of holes for a.n.other coupling in the back chassis X member ...... plan ahead


all the feeds are now in the chassis to the rear, so now't dangling out of the body front and can tip unimpeded by leccy spaghetti


was gonna put a third socket on the front end ....... but damned if I could find one in me stores ... so some new ones ordered ... they've trebled in price since the last time i bought those two I put on the back .. was a while ago though ... used to keep them in work .. got through a lot


so cleaned the bed off ...... and took it down the galvanizers LOL ... it got a coat of Firwoods Ali primer ...





impressed the corner posts came out ........ without too much of a struggle







's good stuff ... I'll give it a second coat tomorrow evening .. give it 24 hrs to go off properly, but dries in about 20 minutes
will last for ages then ...... makes a damned fine top coat


stunning sunset tonight











camera didn't really do it justice

15-4-2020


last couple of evenings, after tea, when I've gone back out, to finish off whatever tea had interupted, there's been a little Wren daring about the bags of stone, by me benches ... thought she'd nested in one .... but discovered where she's taken up residence this morning .....





she's back in me wheel chock on the 'Drema again .... discovered her there last year and didn't clear it out 'til early this year .... industrious lil' bugger ... she's filled the chock again, from completely empty doesn't seem bothered by me runnning it now and again

[v8druid]

been intending (putting it off) removing these bits of Ollie's breaker rack off the sideboard for a while ...





and damn did they take some getting off this morning





had to resort to the 9" with a thin disc for a lot of it




and the 36" Stillies ...





which left me with a lot of grinding





followed by another 9" session for the rest of the bits ... would've liked to have removed 'em completely, to give me a flat head board, but just not poss. with a disc








Startrite Meba coffee table got a bit of use again today ..





and the bed got another coat of Firwood's best ali .......





they must've changed the solvent in this, as it killed me Tiger roller's adhesive ... have used them for years on their paints and never had an issue with the roller coming apart .... couldn't put me hands on another one, but did find some foam ones .... lasted about 10 minutes before the solvents ate it, so had to hunt out me box of Tigers ..... fresh one stuck the pace fine





Don't know where the foam ones came from ... can't recall, but about as much use as "*its on a boar" ... ten minutes saw 'em off

don't quite know what happened to the day yesterday .... just vanished grass massacring took up a few hours, followed by a clean off and re-coat for the mower ramps down onto the lawn .....





before and after





and finished ..





been meaning to do 'em for a while .... they had two coats of Firwood's ali primer when I made them ... in 2010, so it hasn't done bad really .... if today's coat lasts another ten years i doubt I'll be painting 'em next time ...... certainly doubt I'll be lifting 'em onto the bench


then after the ramps, spent some time getting round this ...





that blue is a bitch to cover... even with the HBZP oxide

did this wednesday evening after tea ..... white next





but today has pissed down all day ..... so not a lot did
'sposed to be nice for the rest of the week/next 7 days, once it dries up in the morning
been spoiled with the weather the last couple of weeks ... bloody good job too ... wold be climbing the walls with 12 weeks lock down, other wise ...
'nother 8 weeks to go and I've not been beyond the end of the drive in five

[v8druid]

well the last couple of days it has lashed down here most of the days ... was 'sposed to dry up in the morning yesterday...
for a week .... but did it ****


one interesting snippet, talking to Rory from CEF yesterday afternoon ...
his fitter friend/mate who's 'isolating' in his workshop ...


he used to come into my workshop many years ago and knows me ...
couldn't place the name, and was an unusual one, but sure to recall his face, if i saw it.
I rarely forget a face, but my memory for names is not great ....
and I must've met a LOT of people in 30 odd years of meeting and greeting LOL


so asked him for a pic of Chris ..


so .......the lad PM-ed me some pix of Chris early evening yesterday .....
one of him hiding behind a radial drill,
one of the back of his head,
one of the top of his head and
one of his bobble hat .....
surprisingly I didn't recognise him ........ yet



I did get this done Friday afternoon and another coat yesterday morning ... lugged it into me box 'fore it got pee-ed on, early Friday ..





bloody paint has reacted in one spot ...
will scrape it off and re-do it when it's dried off properly


surprise visit earlier ........





with some milk ... we were about out - again .... couldn't get our usual six, 4 pinters last time she went shopping for us ...
that'd last us weeks


as you can see by the way they're wrapped up ... 'twere 'kin cool here this morning


Dunno if i can stick another eight weeks of this shite !!


as said ... has lashed down most of yesterday ....... but the sun is just starting to break through ATM ... cooler than of late ..
but a lot warmer than yesterday .. was back in winter clothes, last two days ....
after the previous few weeks of lovely weather was a shocking reminder it's only mid April still ......
just grateful for the previous few weeks of sunshine .... would've been grim shut indoors for the last five weeks

dry, sunny and ........... cold wind ... but no ****ing rain


got this finished off in the box ... and back in place ......





and a coat of HBZP oxide on the rest of it yesterday ..... dries as quick as you can get it on there ...





so got followed with a top coat ... well a few actually ...... been extolling Firwood's virtues to you all and damn me if the top coat isn't like coloured piss.
never had a can like it ... well pee-ed off with it .... their stuff is usually slap a coat on and admire the job .... not this time
I shall be having words with 'em tomorrow .. strong ones, if they're open
it's taken me three times plus, more time, to get to this ....





still haven't finished the side boards yet ... job for tomorrow ... hopefully last coat ....... not a happy bunny !!!!
combine that with the fact that this was supposed to be a lot closer to the Hydrema's colour and i'm even less happy


Only ever had one problem with them once before ... and was sorted instantly .... the mix man forgot to put the pigment in a 1000 litre batch of red oxide ... opened a bucket and ..... well it weren't red for sure ... three new buckets - next day - no quibble


very disappointed and annoyed at all this extra faff.


plugs and sockets arrived today ... sat on me bench in quarantine 'til tomorrow afternoon ... should be safe enough by then, apparently !!





roll on normal ... will we ever have a 'normal' again ?? all this sterile glove malarkey is wearing a bit thin .... but I have had my patience severely tried today .. bloody good job it's fast drying


only plus side of the last couple of day's rain was ... it's washed all the tree pollen down out the air (and the trees hopefully) ... no pollen effects and no nostrils full of tissue filters

summat a tad different first thing this morning ....... reckon we have a Roland taken up residence in one of me french drains ...








found this a couple of weeks ago and refilled what he'd removed ... damn me ... back again this morning


this connects to a sump in the black shed, which is lid-ed and sealed ...
that 'networks' to two more sealed deep sumps (4ft & 8ft deep)
and a very long 12" pipe run down the side of the drive,
to a.n.other open 3ft deep sump, grate-ed top, with two possible exits to atmosphere ....
he is gonna have to walk a bloody long way to find them ...
he's going to get greeted by some 1" sq weld-mesh here tomorrow... when I find a suitable piece ....
so'll be taking a considerable hike after that


glorious day here again, although the N Easterly is still keeping the air temp down considerably ... but nice enough to chill, lunchtime ...





Pam's 'cappuccino' cake .... one of my favorites ... even i asked if the slice was big enough, when presented with it this afternoon ....
went down well though ..... she bakes the most awesome gluten free cakes you've ever tasted ... most are dry as **** ...
Pam's are better than 'normal' sponge cakes ... she really has the drop on GF cooking and although i'm not caeliac, eat GF 95% of the time .


apart from a few 'touch ups' in a couple of places, it's about done .....




got the lighting socket on the front this afternoon ....





and t'other side board on with some serious persuasion later on ...








just needs a parking spigot/socket for the leg on top of the draw bar, nip up the O/S wheel bearing, repack it and it's a wrap ....
then let the paint harden off for a while ........ oh and a couple of return springs on the brake rods, when they arrive


now WTF am I going to do tomorrow???????

Knew there was a "can you just " coming when this was brekky .....





"Tha's not a slice of toast!! " and before anyone says it .... I can't eat eggs .. or too much at a time !! a little and often


" so what you doin' today then Gra? ..... you know that mirror we were talking about " ... " the one i've been pondering HTF to hold on the wall you mean .... I have an idea brewing " now usually I'd just go and buy some mirror brackets ... but !!

[v8druid]

these are lengths of vertical blind track that I'd gutted and burnt ... they were just sat under the bench as 'I knew' they'd cuminfa summat ......... and their time had come





the little bit in this pic was my trial sample to see how it'd fit/work ... well was the answer !!



so ..... had to take a flange off the one side ..... carefully




the short ones were easy ... the 1100 mm pieces were a bit more challenging





but got there and ended up with sufficient for the top and bottom of said mirror ....
now mounting this on a stone wall was not going to be easy ... especially after i'd sussed just where she wanted it

gave up on a direct mount ... just wasn't going to happen ....
without breaking a 5' x 2' x 8mm plate glass mirror ... so got me chippy head on and ......


didn't have a piece of ply big enough .... two strips that'd do but not in one piece


so make it a frame to keep it all in one piece .....
bearing in mind that Pam and Vicki have just about cleaned me out of 'sundry' timber with their planter boxes


so ripped a couple of pieces of 90 x 38 CLS in half .. again ... and gave it a bit of a rabbit (rebate to new heads)








if it'd been earlier n the day I'd have hauled me saw bench out ....
but had it ripped with a fence and some careful depth settings, by the time i'd have dragged the bench out
out with the chop saw, set to 45 ... and create







this'll be a damned sight easier to fix to / hang on a stone wall, with said mirror attached to it .......
job for Pam tomorrow .. waterproof it ... paint or varnish'll be the decision of the day tomorrow - not mine


have managed a few other odds an' sods through the day .. pix tomorrow .. and cut the grass, beside the drive, with the Dane
Pam insisted on mowing the lawn (for a change) ...
She'd been on the Countax 20 minutes, when it went quiet ... so trolled down to see why ......................... and she'd broken it







fortunately not a critical bit ... just the hand brake/brake lock ..... 'nother job for the list .... a new one ... not even I am gonna try welding that ..... although I could always re-drill the hole I suppose .... Hmmmmm !!

finishing touches to the mirror mount board this morning, 'fore I shifted this ..





and got me bag lifter out ready for some action ..... phone call to say me topsoil was 'en route' to fill Pam's planters, Vicki's veggie boxes and a few other odds an' sods ..




Alex steri-wiping said lifter after he'd been handling it ... fair play





nice to see a 'new' face ... first one in nigh on six weeks ...
half an hour's 'distant chat', a large slice of Pam's GF cappuccino cake and he was away ....
leaving me to get 'em shifted to where they were needed ....







left the old girl parked whilst they got emptied ... to take back anything we didn't use ..





which turned out to be half a bag ... and six-ish inches in the bottom of t'other, which got dropped into the half bagger, lock, stock and shovels for the return journey





patch looks a lot bigger without a gert duck sat in the middle of it ...





one happy Pam ... now these are full ..... all she needs now are a A LOT of plants ..........













and guess who ended up second coating this, this evening





third one in the morning ....... and that'll be the end of me half gallon tin of varnish .... more for the shopping list
Gonna be some re-stock ....... when we get let out !!

[AndrewMawson]

Good to see you posting again Grahame, I did wonder how you were getting on in this situation we are all suffering.

personally I’ve not left the farm now in nine weeks, but to be honest it’s no great problem, lots to do!

[v8druid]

Good to see you posting again Grahame, I did wonder how you were getting on in this situation we are all suffering.

personally Ive not left the farm now in nine weeks, but to be honest its no great problem, lots to do!

hi again boyo .... more comprehensive msg in the lounge ..... just taken me ten minutes to relocate this thread ... what's happened to the menu in the upgrade?

can't believe it's April 2020 since i was last in here (date on that last post is incorrect - was April not May ) .... was a loooooong year ... and now it's been a fairly long-ish winter .so far

latter half of last year is documented in a.n.other forum if anyone dares to try wade through it all ..... (3) Druidic Dabblings and General Twaddle !! | Page 107 | Plant Talk - Plant Machinery & Construction Equipment Forum -- sorry muz delete the link if it offends ...... only about 90 pages and looking back at some of it ...... was a bloody good job we had some decent weather for that first lockdown ... Mid march to end of Aug, was a looooong time to be confined to Chateau Druid, running out of materials and stuff to do.

two major events in that time ...... and remarkably both on the same day :-

13th July,
Reo, the guy we'd waited nigh on two years to face our wall, down the side of the drive way turned up, virtually out of the blue to make a start on the wall ....... that was a frantic morning .. for two reasons ...(a) all the bloody materials, bags of stone, etc. were 'buried' at the back of my sh1t on me patch after a reshuffle ..... and took some getting out in a hurry

and
(b) ...... we had an appointment at 16.00 in Usk to ............... get married (well civil partnership - but good as as far as we were concerned - met all the basic criteria we needed covering -- and ****ed the tax man )
had originally been planned for two days after lockdown occurred, and had been booked as soon as i'd felt able to, after my week in hospital in February with ultrasound scan induced pancreatitis

anyway .... it got sorted, took a weight off my mind and could pop off, safe in the knowledge that Pam'd not get screwed by HMRC if i did ..... not as i'd any plans to



Reo'd gotten all the skinning work done and half of it pointed, fore the weather went to sh1t 'fore crimbo and he's not been able to get much done since ... either too bloody wet or too cold to go pointing stone work and SWMBO is over the moon with it all


Pam and i were chatting a week or two ago about 2020 in general and she'd said to me the best thing about it had been getting the wall done and just how elated she is with it ....... "so what about the getting married bit then?" said I ..... " oh yeh - that too " she is not going to live that one down for a while

now ....... where the hell am i going to start with trying to catch up in here

[Muz]

Well hello stranger good to see you and congratulations

[v8druid]

Well hello stranger good to see you and congratulations

cheers Muz ....... after February's episode it had to be done .... wasn't sure I was coming home again, for a day or two ....... have talked about it for years and now the CP jobby is available to all, it seemed perfect .. we were the first heteros that the office had done