Today I shall be Mainly...

[Sue]

Its 6 degrees outside, it was chilly yesterday evening too, so Bob thought he would put the heating on. The pump won’t work. Of course it hasn’t been switched on in 18 months . He is busy trying to sort it

[Sue]

Eerie mist has appeared

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[Big Kev]

Its 6 degrees outside, it was chilly yesterday evening too, so Bob thought he would put the heating on. The pump won’t work. Of course it hasn’t been switched on in 18 months . He is busy trying to sort it

A good clump with a wooden mallet usually does the job. Not the recommended method, obviously, but it is usually the quickest

[Stanley]

I was going to say the same thing Sue, a 'frozen' impeller due to lack of use. I suspect Bob may know this.



Here is knocking off this morning. The bed and the base are married and ready for the pedestal bearings.... A nice morning, really enjoyed it....

[Sue]

Bob tried the mallet . He took it apart and spun it by hand and reassembled. That did the trick . We have heating and now glorious sunshine. Bob says yes Stanley, that was it

[Stanley]

My boiler has a clever little routine in it's programming, it spins the water pump once in a while if the boiler hasn't fired for CH.
I shall be in the shed for an hour but then early doors shopping at the Co-op. Susan and I cancelled our trip to Keighley for a ride on the train to Haworth today and looking at the weather it was a good choice! We have heavy cold rain, in short, November weather come early. You escaped at just the right time Sue.
Susan has to come to Barlick for her flu jab and is calling in. But mainly I shall be trying to avoid being cold and wet!
Later at 06:30. The shed has gone by the board as I have spent half an hour wrestling with British Gas' website which refuses to take an electricity meter reading. They start work at 9AM when no doubt I shall be in a queue.... Deep Joy!

[Sue]

Morning

Its a dark dull start to the day with 100% chance of rain forecast for the next few days. I hope it arrives. Our soil here is a sandy clay. Beautiful when wet but solid and unworkable like clay when dry, which it is. Most of the plots we have cultivated are now easy to dig and tun over as we have added compost, lime, manure, etc but our second veggie plot remains stubbornly unmanageable despite the tons of organic additives. Yesterday I managed to pull off the B&Q groundsheet that has covered the plot for nearly 2 years which at least has prevented it going back to field. Blackthorns and grass had taken root through it , however, so it was like peeling back a very stubborn sticking plaster, some bits gave others didn’t and had to be pulled off gently with sharp tugs . Despite care the ground sheet ripped to pieces and had to go in the bin. Once removed the soil under neath was rock hard. It was largely devoid of growth as hoped but what was there cannot be dug out till the soil is thoroughly wet . Then we shall re-cover a wide strip with weed suppressant membrane and move the raspberry canes into it.

Yves came round for a chat and a coffee about 11.00 a d did not leave till mid day. We thus had a long natural break in our toils. However he said one of the neighbours had mentioned we have a dip in our roof on the road side of the house. Bob went into the loft and had a look and it certainly looks like an expensive repair is needed. Our builder friend, Paul, is now retired but said he will have a look when they come for a meal on Saturday. He has given Bob the contact number of a couple of roofers.

After lunch we went to the supermarket and bought the ingredients for a couple of days food and cooking activities . Bob is going to make a curry when Paul and Joanne come on Saturday so today I shall have a bash at simosas and naan bread. If it fails we have alternatives which we bought and put in the freezer. I also want to try making some quince jam over the next few days. We bought a couple of bags of dried manure and in the afternoon I spread that around the rhubarb. That is now ready to transplant the rest of my strawberries. Bob pruned another three shrubs and I cut back the golden rod plants, and pulled out creeping roots which were spreading to cover two small shrubs we had planted in a rather poor section of the garden. Even daffodils had failed there. I should have just planted golden rod! They have been very successful, even managing to grow through the wood pile on the opposite side of the fence

I put a pork and cider casserole in the over at about 5.00 pm and made a compote of fruit from the freezer to have with fromage blanc for dessert and whilst it cooked we popped round to chat to Laetitia. Their youngest just has a cold, his PCR test was negative so social contact can be resumed

So today cooking , and whatever crops up. Have a good day. Its not raining yet. Bob says its due at 11.00 am

[Sue]

Forgot to say the electricity technicians came 10.00 till 11.00 and we now have lime green smart meter , good job it is hidden behind a removable panel

[Wendyf]

2 bags of logs delivered yesterday. Guess what I'll be doing today!

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[Big Kev]

2 bags of logs delivered yesterday. Guess what I'll be doing today!

Looks like a couple of hours of hard graft, be gentle on yourself.

[Stanley]

Sue, when I was at Harrods Farm in Warwickshire we were on very heavy clay. The standard tool for digging the clay to break it up so that the weather could get into it was a very heavy two tine fork. I'll bet if you search you'll find something like that over there. If you do, grab it, it makes the job a lot easier.
I've done my shopping and now I'm waiting for 09:00 when I will try to call British Gas. Deep Joy....

[Wendyf]

2 bags of logs delivered yesterday. Guess what I'll be doing today!

Looks like a couple of hours of hard graft, be gentle on yourself.

I just take it steadily Kev, there is no hurry so I could spread the job over a couple of days. Yesterday I moved a load of logs left from last winter so they could be used first. There is so much space in the barn now that I don't need to stock up with feed and bedding for the ponies.

[Sue]

Sue, whaen I was at Harrods Farm in Warwickshire we were on very heavy clay. The standard tool for digging the clay to break it up so that the weather could get into it was a very heavy two tine fork. I'll bet if you search you'll find something like that over there. If you do, grab it, it makes the job a lot easier.
I've done my shopping and now I'm waiting for 09:00 when I will try to call British Gas. Deep Joy....

We have a french version of that. It doesn’t touch it when dry, in fact we have broken two. We have several , now two pronged, British forks also . I think its called alluvial clay that we have. Very sand like when wet, not like the clay in our garden at home which is like pottery clay when wet. Its weird stuff. Yesterday when trying to dig out a clump of grass I just got a light dusting of sand came off and the surface was unbroken. This is land that has had the contents of three goats stables on it, 2 sacks of lime, three huge compost heaps. One year I dug troughs in it and we put our kitchen waste into that. Covered it, left it over winter and rotivated. Over the years it has had several crops of potatoes in it in different places but still little change. Some patches have responded well but in the main field not so . Hence converting it largely to a raspberry plot! Even I am giving up on this one.

[Stanley]

I might have guessed you would have got there before me! Drill holes and insert small explosive charges?
Yesterday energy matters blew away the shed but in the end after an hour on the phone I got to the bottom of the problem and have been promised a resolution by October 14th. We'll see......
Tomorrow I shall be in the shed as usual for a couple of hours and veggie shopping later if the weather allows. We are promised another cold wet day Sue, only just in double figures and a strong wind. You got out just in time!

[Sue]

Morning

Now there is an idea Stanley, drilling holes is now Bob has planed some willow tree whips where we wanted to make a living tunnel for the railway. However very few have taken. It rained on and off all day yesterday, the sun coming out for an hour about 5.00 pm. I went to investigate said soil plot and noted it had made little effect. It is raining hard at the moment and due to continue all day, so perhaps progress will be made.

I filled the day yesterday with cooking and some art. I missed u3a art yesterday but knew the topic so did a pen and wash picture, whilst waiting for various things to cook. I plodded on with our jig saw too. That is making more progress than the soil

Today we need to pop out to the shop for a cucumber for our meal tonight with Joanne and Paul, we will go at lunchtime when it is quiet. Bob keeps going up into the loft to see wether our damaged roof is leaking, so far so good and we have to hope it will hold till a roofer can attend to it . Bob phoned one of the contacts Paul gave us but he was out and has not responded to our message yet. Its a bit worrying.

So today a touch of shopping and entertaining Joanne and Paul this evening. Bob is cooking. I have done my bit ie making the samosas and the naan bread dough. It was a first time making both and I was pleased with the bread. I cooked some of it for lunch yesterday to go with the leek and fennel soup I made .

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Have a good day all, stay dry if you can

[Sue]

Its torrential out there, the garden should be soaking this up,

[Stanley]

Renaissance Woman! I've had a couple of hours in the shed but can't compete with that. Just a thought, When I was planting parsnip seeds intended for showing I always used a crowbar to make a hole, filled that with proprietary compost and planted the seeds on top. The same technique would work with whips and it's very quick.
I shall go and post on Shed Matters and return later....
08:30.



We are into bearings and need to make the con rod and crosshead before I settle on the final position for the bearings. Nice morning. No cock-ups!

[Sue]

We always put our plants into compost Stanley, it is the left overs I have planted my strawberries in. However the compost here is rubbish !

[Stanley]

Bob will have to set up an earth closet and then you can be sure of good quality compost!
I shall be quietly chasing my 10H engine. Con rod and crosshead today so that I can get the position of the bearings dead accurate.
Looks like a wet walk later and no bookie watch!

[Sue]

Morning

What a day yesterday. Our sad news arrived at breakfast to say Dave had gone into hospital, by the time we had sent messages and texts of phone numbers to my brother, sister , and cousin the situation had changed . My brother phoned to say Dave had died very quickly. Very sad but not a surprise. My sister and brother are both up set because they had not managed to see him. Jane if you remember had been ill when Trish and I went two weeks ago, and I had suggested to my brother Bob he went to see him a later. He was going next week.

On top of that it was torrential rain for nearly 15 hours, and dark most of the day. We busied ourselves cooking curries for a meal with friends. I washed a wall for Bob to put up some wallpaper today and we did our lengthy jigsaw. On a plus side, the soil is now soft . Today is due to be dry with cloud and sun after 9.00 am so I may get some very wet gardening done. I will chat to Briony on whats app this morning and Eve this evening. She is swimming in a gala all weekend. She phoned last night to say she had three medals.

So today may be gardening and I shall take it as it comes. It will be nice to get outside after two days of rain. Have a good day.

[Sue]

Oh yes, when Paul , our builder friend , came for a meal last night he went in the loft and looked at the roof. He says it is not as bad as we thought. It is leaking though and we need some tiles replaced and new flashing round the chimney but luckily no major works. Now to try and find someone to do it !

[Stanley]

Good luck with the search for a tradesman Sue, it can be a problem here, never mind in another country....
I've just had my shed time and will post later. No cock-ups and steady progress on tiny things!

[Stanley]

This morning was fiddly, making the crosshead, fitting the clevis and adjusting the big end of the con rod to fit the throat of the crankshaft. Nice careful progress with no mistakes thus far! That makes it a good morning.

[Stanley]

In the shed for a couple of hours chasing my con rod! We may have a dry morning so a short bookie watch could be on the cards if it's dry enough to sit on the bench!

[Sue]

Morning

It was a lovely day yesterday and I even managed to dry my washing outside. The soil as expected was as soft as melted butter after the previous days rain so I managed to get my veggie plot cleared of lumps of grass and weeds and the half I am retaining for vegetables I re -covered for the winter. The other half will be covered with weed suppressant membrane so that we can plant the raspberry canes through it , that we are moving . Hopefully I will get it covered today though showers of rain are forecast. Having transplanted all my strawberries I starting levelling the strawberry patch and removing large weeds like docks and buttercups taking advantage of the soft soil. It is now nearly ready for reseeding. It won’t need much as the natural tendency is to grow grass.

What I really want to do today , whilst the soil is damp soft and manageable is to weed my asparagus plot, and move a rose plant and shrub into new positions. The latter two are all part of my broader plan of reducing the overall gardening needed in future years , though ww will probably sell in about 5 years time.

Bob wallpapered the wall on the mezzanine landing with wallpaper that looks like book shelves. We bought it for our study at home last year, but decided it was too dark. It looks good here. We shall rearrange the furniture so that we will have a chair and a table of books in front of it. Its a nice sunny spot and will make a tranquil reading space.

Thats about it for today, a bit of furniture shuffling and plant shuffling. Have a good day all