Hi y'all
Its the start of a new year - new plans, goals, hopes and adventures.
This weeks temperature
As I'm sure you all know, we have sadly lost Lemmy and David Bowie so far this year - not a good start for musical heroes and influences!
Bex asked me what I had planned for the new year and my reply was 'much of the same', this was after a day working on the land/greenhouse/shed and eating home cooked food with no deadlines or times to work to.
It can be hard work and money (or lack thereof) is always a concern, but we have cut our outgoings to cover the very basics and there are more than enough tasks to complete to keep us *healthy and busy.
*more on that later!
This is what we have been up to thus far.........
Spring is here
And then the Winter came..........
Bex sorted through the rest of our boxes which are now stored in the roof.
and even tidied the craft room!
We now have a completed guest room!!
Bex has gone tidying mad and has sorted all the gardening tools in the pigeon shed
Set up my banker to work on 'Denzil.'
Denzil very cold, too cold for a dragon!
Denzil going in shed for winter!!
We cut some bottles for Callie our neighbour to use in stained glass mosaics, 'roundels' are very expensive to buy but come free with most bottles.
Note to self; - Test patterned glass first to see if it is toughened/tempered before cutting to avoid a 'shattering' experience! - always wear appropriate PPE!!
We have continued work on the allotment and Darma greenhouse, this is temporary as the centre roof timber has dropped aprox 150mm in the middle
We have a serious 'water ingress' situation in the greenhouse which means we will have to prop the roof beam up with 3 pillars and replace around 8 roof timbers as well as refitting and cleaning the skylights.
Note to Farmer/wood butcher that built it - overlap the roof panels with the join underneath the flow of water, that way it doesn't rain inside!!
I have fitted some 'drip nails' to keep the water away from the main beam to prevent further damage, a sneaky little trick that could save €100s in replacement timbers.
Cider production was well underway, with filtering started last week.
Filters totally blocked after 2 pints and a strange phenomenon of the Cider turning nearly black!
After a cry for help to my Cider buddies on Facebook, I think it is down to too ripe/rotten apples finding their way into the mix - many thanks to Wurzel and Neil Worley for the info.
As the weather is getting colder I decided to work on our table that needed a bit of TLC and a spruce up.
I started with a white 'distressed' look but sanded down further for a 'limed oak' finish.
I started on the top with a laminate insert and decided it needed a bit more of a pattern to it.
I have been working on a carving of a Balinese Chakra Wheel (Karma) for a while and decided to enlarge it to fit the top.
After many tests on spare bits of oak, I settled on the design to be 'dented' into the wood.
Many tools later I started to set it into the laminate with a 6mm marble point and my carving dummy.
Over 10,000 dents later..............
This was followed up with gilding paste (assisted by Mew), a lengthy fine sanding and a matt varnish.
Just the rest of the table, legs and chairs to go.............
We have been burning a lot more wood this week due to the temperature drop, Pine is very spitty and Bex managed to catch a few embers on the fleece the other day.
More crafting later... no holes - felt Cats!!
On the subject of *health.............
Always an advocate of using appropriate PPE for the task......
I took down some shelving from the Grotto to salvage the wood for the Darma greenhouse, no need for a hard hat, goggles or respirator as all I was using was a crowbar and a chisel.
I checked all the shelves and took the seed cartons off before commencing work - all went well until
I pulled down the top shelf..........
I didn't see that bit of oak coming!!!
I did feel it though!!
As the saying goes.....
Somerset Born 'n' Somerset Bred,
Strong in Arm 'n Thick in Head!!
Im sure it is a sign and that piece of oak wants to be made into something useful, more on that in the future - any ideas??
Time to go and wrap up warm,
till the next update,
mr Goth xx
