Lean-To (Project X)

Last year I constructed the lean-to on the shed from the remnants of the destroyed polytunnel. Sadly the materials were still not really up to the job so it's time to try again with better materials.

Yesterday I removed the old lean-to, cleared the area, found the new one was actually two feet larger rather than the one foot I had thought, produced a levelish base of sorts and started construction.

Today I finished the construction by adding more cross struts and finishing the roof and sank some ground anchors (it's a very windy site). I am reusing the door from the old one and the roof is finished from materials reclaimed from the old one as well.

Next, and probably the trickiest, is to work out how to get the polythene sheeting to fit the taller and wider tunnel than we had planned when we started. Still I'm always up for a challenge!

Project X

 Project X is my plan to build a full scale working model of a nuclear reactor...  But first I am building the lean-to greenhouse that will grow tomatoes (and stuff) from the waste heat (or from the sun if I never complete the full scope of Project X). I plan of testing the greenhouse part, extensively, by first running it a few seasons against the side of the shed on the allotment.

So today Dylan, my ever faithful helper, and I set about constructing it. Made entirely from reclaimed wood I had already sawn it into approximate lengths and regular widths and it was time to do the detail. Dylan watched on and consulted on Health and Safety and throughout the day I incurred not one single cut to my hands - that is almost a first so my thanks to Dylan for his help with that.

I Still found I was short of quite a few pieces as I modified the design as I felt the strengths and weaknesses of the design. I have a couple of pieces left to cut and then to paint the whole thing with wood preserver before labelling all the parts, dismantling and taking to the allotment for assembly in it's next location. I am planning of cutting polythene sheet to fit each side and use a further wooden strip over each edge to secure the polythene in place. I shall also be sinking bars into the ground at each of the corners and, using coachbolts, bolt the corners to the ground against wind - of which we get a lot!

Crazy Times

No matter how early I start the planting season it seems that I am always behind! I suppose it's because so many things need planting at the same time so everything has to happen together which clearly they can't. But now the season has started in earnest regardless.

Wednesday 8th March 2012
   Planted some rhubarb that was donated to us on Freecycle and started digging for potatoes. Also planted some kale.

Saturday 10th March 2012
   Planted Swift first early potatoes, kale that had been started earlier in the greenhouse, broad beans from pots that were sprouting nicely and a row of carrot seed. Also carried on digging for peas, parsnips and the next batch of potatoes. I came to get the next batches of potatoes for chitting and found that keeping them in the dark was a big mistake - the chits were bolting looking for the light. They now need delicate handling and planting deeper!

Sunday 11th March 2012
    Carried on digging for potatoes - perhaps we are giving over too much ground to potatoes (100 tubers in all) but we will see. This is the first year we have ever grown them. I also planted out Feltham First peas started in trays and parsnip seed and a few more kale. I also started some boltardy beetroot and alderman peas. I suspect we have too much kale though.

Monday 12th March 2012
   Didn't get to the allotment today, instead I reduced the mountain ash in front of the house gathering long lengths of wood for bean poles and quite a few more pea sticks. I plan on trying a new way of supporting the beans this year which will hopefully be more robust than last year on our windy spot. I also found the polytunnel I put up in a hurry last spring was not doing so well, but I already have started to construct a replacement.

The old ones...

Saturday.. Horse riding in the afternoon so we decide to go see the in-laws for a brief visit in the morning to make sure that they are OK, it having been very cold. I phoned Friday night to see if they had got out shopping and they hadn't, not because of the weather but because the nurse had phoned from the surgery and she was coming round for blood samples. I told Granddad that we were going to seen them and if there was anything they needed then to give us a call before we set out. "What time are you coming?" "Elevenish" "OK, we'll call before then". Saturday morning and the phone goes. It's Grandma. "Are you coming over?". Well Granddad is NOT senile in anyway at all so what was this about? "What are you coming over for?". I explained and was there anything they needed. "No".

I relayed this rather weird phone call to Wifey... "They want us to take them shopping, I'll bet"

We arrive and Wifey asks them "Do you want us to take you shopping?". Coats and boots appear as if by magic and leaving Dylan and Second Only Child minding the house we go. They are cunning and knew exactly what we had suggested but didn't like to ask.

Grandma, whose mobility is very limited, grabs a shopping trolley and is off like a rabbit from the traps. Both are over 90 now and although their mobility is limited they refuse to use wheelchairs or motorised scooters of any sort, in fact at the hospital recently the surgeon asked Granddad if he wanted a wheelchair and he said "Not for a good few years yet!".

Their weekly shopping trip is the only time they actually leave the house and garden and so they hadn't seen the snow outside - and in fact they didn't realise that they were about the only ones with any left! Second Only Child had insisted we keep Dylan in the car while she first footed the lawns. I'm not sure which is the bigger kid because Dylan immediately set about 'getting' everywhere she had missed! (It's not just people then?)

I was surprised how quickly they shopped but there was still tension about being 'late' for lunch before riding.

Technology Rant!

I have been married for nearly 34 years and really feel like my mother and father in-law are true family. Problem is though that they are 91 and 92 years old. OK, a good age and family and I don't really resent going and fixing a broken door lock, a sticking tap, repairing a broken bird table, cleaning a washing machine filter, fixing the outdoor security lights and updating my list of jobs to do next time I go over for them all in one day. They are nice people and have been good to us and our children over the years.

Granddad, as we call him, is very much playing with a full deck of cards and does Sudoku puzzles every week, while Grandma can retreat into her own world for a while but, if bullied, also can play with a full deck.  Problem is that while their mental capacity is still there their bodies are starting to let them  down. Hearing starts to fail, strength goes down hill, eyesight deteriorates and co-ordination fails too.

So what has this to do with technology? Well tonight I drove 15 miles, pressed 1 button twice and then returned home! And why?

They have recently upgraded their TV to a 38inch digital set because (a) digital is now a must and (b) because at 38inches Granddad can once again see and enjoy his television. These new TV's are all singing all dancing and designed by the younger adults in society taking into consideration what they see as 'workable' and 'convenient'. Problem is we have an ageing population and while 90+ is the top end of that population there will be more of them over the years.

"It says 'no signal' " I was told. I couldn't believe that the transmitter was out so went expecting it to be a usage problem. I wasn't wrong - he had caught a button that had switched the TV to AVC1 and off the aerial. So why couldn't he fix it himself? Well... you call up the menu and it stays for a relatively short time - not enough to move your focus to the handset, search for a button, move your focus back to the screen find where you are supposed to be and start doing it. Not when you are 90+!

This happened before and I tried to talk him through it on the phone and then went to do it for him. I got there and he was reduced to tears that he couldn't do it himself!

It would be so easy to:-

After power off ALWAYS bring the set back to the aerial

Or

Leave the menus on the screen permanently until turned off again

Or

Put more buttons on the handset so the switch to the aerial source is one button to press

Or

All of the above

Instead our elder generation is reduced to losing their dignity because no-one considers them at the design stage.

Thanks LG I love you a lot! But don't expect a Christmas card.

Porch's Progress

In bits and pieces the porch has advanced. It starts to look complete but is anything but!

In spring the outside will need rendering - no thoughts yet on the actual finish it will get though. I have never done rendering before so the actual finish may not be what I had planned on doing anyway!

Painting of the woodwork is needed - both inside and out, but because I am using recycled windows there is putty to replace, paint to scrape and primer to apply, so it won't be a quick and easy job.

But window catches and latches would be nice! at the moment they are all fixed shut. The next job I need to do though is to plasterboard the inside to start to add a nicer finish inside. Then, of course, window sills need to be made. Both of these I have been given the materials for already so Thank You Freegle!

At last - A Window Sill!

Progress this week has been a couple of smallish steps but ones that feel like giant leaps.

The first was the addition of the roof. It was very cold when I came to do it and I had to keep re-attaching my fingers as they fell off. Not really good to be applying bitumen products at that temperature but got out the trusty heat gun and in just a couple of seconds the flashing tape was soft and sticky. I has rained a few times since it went on and so far not signs of any leaks so I am hopeful I have done a reasonable job.

The other step completed this week was the addition of window sills. Again cut from reclaimed timber and cut and shaped on the saw table I was pleased that at the end the job was better than I expected, although not as good as I dreamed it would be. They stand proud from the wall to make space for rendering but they really make the woodwork start to feel like window frames instead of a wooden roof support.

Next step is to start to add the windows, but not today as it was just a mite too wet.