When wood isn't wood

We will be away narrowboating next week, and I have been urged to a point that is now close to nagging. The activity, that I have been encouraged to perform, is clipping the dogs faces.*  So far I have managed to sort out Whiffler's face and toes, and Hobson is now looking gorgeous with his neatly clipped face too. ** This morning it was The Rat's  turn. After fifteen minutes I was able to report that she looks marginally less feral, and can now actually see where she is going. I really do need to clip back their bodies too, but I am unlikely to find time to do that before next Tuesday.

I then wandered outside and made a start on tidying up the carport and the grassy area that has recently been cleared of the tree trunk.  I raked up more of the sawdust, and schlepped it up to the compost bins in the orchard.

Next on my list was a spot of lawn mowing. I used the beast*** to tidy up the verges in front of the house.  These hadn't been cut for more than a month and were looking rather unkempt. Fortunately they had recovered from the activities of the tree surgeon and his crew, and this cut has made them look much better.

I then swapped the beast for the Mountfield, and spent the rest of the morning mowing the lawn at the front of the house. I know that it will be a few months before the grass in front of the garage recovers from the tree felling, but I am trying to convince myself that the gardens at the front are almost presentable ... Well, they will be, once I get the hedges cut.

In the afternoon we hitched the trailer to the car and took a load of the punky ash to the tip.  Our trip was on a weekday and we expected to breeze in, offload our rubbish, and be away within a few minutes. How wrong we were!  There was a queue of cars on the road to the tip, and it was over twenty minutes before we pulled up by the skips.

At that point we learnt that "Technically" our wood wasn't actually regarded as wood, and needed to be deposited in the green waste skip, rather than the wood skip.**** We also learnt that the chaos had been as a result of an operational hold-up while a full skip was swapped with an empty replacement.

I would like to say that our return from the tip was uneventful, but, a couple of miles from home, I heard a scraping sound. I stopped to investigate and found that our trailer's light board had become detached and was being dragged along the road. It seemed undamaged, so I lashed it to the back of the trailer and on we drove.

Our return journey included a minor detour to the local trading estate where we picked up another six pallets from the Removals and Storage firm that is based there. These will be used to construct another log storage bay in the carport.

We arrived home at about four o'clock and I really fancied just collapsing on the settee, but 30% had arranged for us to meet up with Rosie, Jim, Gizzy and Jules in Tewkesbury for a curry. After a shower, shave and haircut I felt marginally more human and we hit the road again.

We had a lovely evening at a rather good Indian Restaurant, and fortunately it was neither late nor boozy. We were home just after ten o'clock, and I was finally able to collapse on the sofa!

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* as a bare minimum

** I don't need to worry about Traitorous Bastard, as he has recently been clipped at the grooming school.

*** An old McCulloch mower that I use on the rougher ares of grass i.e. the orchard and verges

**** Apparently this is for things that are made from wood, rather than wood in its more natural state i.e. pieces of a tree!

out for a curry in Tewkesbury

Keeping busy

This morning was spent focussed on a three dimensional jigsaw, where none of the pieces fitted together properly.

Basically I found myself in the carport stacking logs in to my crude storage bay.  I was quite pleased with the results, and estimate that I now have more than two cubic metres of logs drying in the carport.* I now know that I won't need to touch these logs again until I take them in to the house and put them in the log burner.

Processing this ash tree has reinforced just how much effort is needed to turn a tree into firewood. There is the initial felling, followed by breaking the tree down in to manageable sections. The unusable brash needs to be chipped, and the branches then need to be sawn in to 10" lengths. These are then split in to logs, which then need to be stacked and dried for at least twelve months.  There is a huge amount of processing and handling involved, before you can burn the products of your labours.

I'll get a few more in there

Today also included my first business meeting in a very long time. I have been approached by a local lady, who is about to open an AirBnB business.  She is very keen to provide a breakfast basket for her customers, and wants to include small jars of our honey.  We discussed jar sizes, labelling and likely order quantities, and it all seems feasible. It won't make me a fortune, but, at a pound a jar,** there is a reasonable profit to be made.

After this business expansion, I returned to my groundskeeper duties and spent the rest of the afternoon mowing the lawns at the back of the house.

It is fair to say that I was very tired, by the time I wheeled the last of the grass clippings up to the compost heap.

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* There is a similar quantity stacked in Rose Cottage, and a larger pile nearby, that still needs to be put away. There is also a large pile of timber to the side of the garage, that still needs to be sawn and split.

** a 28g jar

A milestone

Sunday morning was spent in the carport, splitting logs. The log splitter is an absolute boon, but it is still hard, heavy work carrying the sections of tree trunk and hefting them up on to the splitter.

I was relieved when 30% called to let me know that lunch was ready.

In the afternoon I went back outside and was niggled by the sight of the two remaining sections of tree trunk.  I was determined to finish breaking up the trunk, so the chainsaw was deployed, and another hour was spent sawing wood.

I then returned to the carport and continued splitting. By the end of the day I had finally finished processing the tree trunk, and had produced a large pile of logs in the carport. I had raked up the sawdust, and had even made a start on stacking those logs in to my hastily assembled storage bay.

It is fair to say that I was very tired, but also encouraged by reaching the milestone of having finally finishing breaking up that bloody tree trunk!

A picture of something that isn't there

There is still a large pile of branches down the side of the garage, but, as they say, "out of sight, out of mind." I know it still needs to be sorted out, but at least I'm not constantly reminded of that fact, every time I look out of the window.

Work and play today

Today we had arranged to visit Pershore College's plant sale with Mummy Sheila, and Jane M. We first visited the college sale a couple of years ago, and I can report that things have certainly changed!

Back in 2024 we attended a sale of plants that had been propagated by the horticultural students at the college. This year was a much larger event and featured talks and exhibits from all of the college faculties ... arboriculture, through hair and beauty to animal care.  There were craft and food stalls and, of course, the nursery plant sale.

We had a splendid morning wandering around the college ground in the lovely sunshine, and we filled the boot of 30%'s car with plants.  We also had an interesting chat with the lady who was selling local apple juice.  It was all pressed and bottled on site, and the college will, for a fee, press one's apples and bottle and pasteurise the juice. The only proviso is that the minimum quantity is 100kg of apples. We are confident that the orchard can easily deliver that quantity of apples, so we may well be drinking our own apple juice in the Autumn.

In the afternoon I headed out to the carport, and attempted to reorganise the space.  I eventually cleared the left hand bay and then spent an hour constructing a log storage bay from pallets. I lad out two pallets on the floor, side by side. I then fixed pallets to the back and sides to make an open fronted bay.  It is very crude, but it will help to stabilise the logs that will be stacked in there.

It was getting late in the afternoon, by the time I had constructed the log storage bay, but I wanted to make a start on splitting the wood that I had sawn yesterday. I split a couple of small logs, and then started on bigger sections of tree trunk.

I definitely found my log splitting mojo, and it was close to eight o'clock before I unplugged the log splitter and retired indoors for dinner.

Getting there!

The weather was much improved in comparison to yesterday. So, this morning's first task was to concrete in the post, against which the gate will be secured, when open.  Actually the first job was to drain the water from the post hole. It held a surprising amount after yesterday's rain.

30% assisted with ensuring that the post was positioned correctly, and was perfectly upright. I'll be able to fit the latch and hook, once the concrete has set, as Phil the Postie delivered them this morning.

The rest of the day was spent breaking up the ash tree trunk in to manageable sections with the chainsaw. By the end of the day, I had dealt with all but two sections of tree trunk.

I am going to have a huge amount of log splitting to keep me busy tomorrow.

I really don't fancy going out in that

The weather forecast for today was appalling.  It was predicted to rain, intermittently, for most of the day, and the temperatures were to be well below the seasonal norm.

It was definitely going to be an indoors day.

Andrew, our gate installer, was of the same mind, and pinged us yesterday evening to see if it would be convenient to come and sweep the chimney.  He arrived just after nine o'clock and it was pissing down. It seems a morning sweeping chimneys was a far better occupation than laying slabs.*

While Andrew and Mark attended to the chimney, I grabbed the clippers and tidied up Whiffler and Hobson's faces.  I even managed to clip Whiffler's front paws, but he wasn't particularly cooperative, so I left it at that for today. I will need to finish his paws and tidy up around his bum at some point in the next few days. I also need to give Hobson a complete clip, and don't get me started on The Rat... She looks like something feral at the moment!

In the afternoon we took Whiffler in to see Kate, our dog sitter.  The reason for this visit is that we are off narrowboating the week after next, and the dogs will be staying with Kate. As Whiffler is most definitely geriatric now, we wanted her to be comfortable with having him for a stay.

Kate was more than happy with Whiffler, as she has a lot of experience with older dogs.  She said he seems to be doing well, considering his age. His twelfth birthday is only three weeks away.

We arrived home in the late afternoon and decided that a fire was a good idea. I braved the cold and drizzle and soon had a fire blazing in the log burner.

I really hope Summer arrives soon!

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* His original plan for today

Bits 'n pieces

Wednesday started with a drive over to Bromsgrove for a dental checkup. I arrived well before my appointment time, and was mildly irritated to find that the dentist was already running late. I eventually received a glowing report on the state of my gums, and headed home.

I spent what was left of the mooring in the tomato greenhouse,  where  I thinned out the plants, removed side shoots and tied the larger ones in to the bamboo canes.  

With the tomatoes now sorted, I retired for lunch and a short snooze on the sofa.

On waking I lit my smoker and headed up to the orchard to finish the reconfiguration of the hives. I removed the top supers from hives #1, #2 and #3, and these were placed on hives #4, #5 and #6. These have a reasonable amount of honey stored in them, and I am hoping that the queen-right hives will add to that in the coming weeks, although we are currently in the June gap.*

The work in the apiary didn't take more than a few minutes, and I found myself looking for a little job, that would occupy me for an hour, or so.  I grabbed a wheelbarrow and a graft,** and dug a hole for the post that will be used to retain the gate, when it is left open. 

I had applied a little forethought when siting the post hole, and I was hopeful that I would manage to avoid the roots of the nearby ash tree.  The first eight inches of soil came out easily, and then the graft hit a root that ran across the hole.  I muttered a few expletives and attempted to gauge the size of the root.  It wasn't some torso-sized monstrosity needed to support a century old ash tree, but it was difficult to judge. I hoped it was one from the hedge.

I grabbed a hammer and old chisel from the workshop and attempted to cut through the root.  Fortunately the Gods were smiling on me, and I soon had the root section excised.  An hour later I was putting away my tools, having excavated the hole to a depth of twenty inches ... more than sufficient for a two foot post.

I decided that digging the hole was more than enough for this afternoon, so I put off concreting in the post until later on in the week. With my work finished, I headed indoors to get myself tidied up for this week's Tai Chi class.

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* The June gap is a UK phenomenon, where there is a lack of nectar producing flora during this month. The Spring flowers have faded and the Summer blooms have yet to flower.

** A narrow bladed spade, used for digging post holes

Bikes and Bees

I needed to be up early today, as the BMW was booked in for its annual service at Motorrad, Cheltenham.

I had set an alarm for six o'clock this morning, but that was redundant, as I was wide awake just before five! I hauled my arse out of bed, breakfasted, completed my ablutions and early morning chores, before wheeling the R1250 R out of the garage.

I was on the road by quarter to eight and took the most direct route down the M5. I managed to hit rush hour traffic in both Worcester and Cheltenham, which gave me a chance to practice my filtering skills.

I arrived in Cheltenham just before quarter to nine, and soon had my bike booked in. I then settled in a comfy armchair, after helping myself to a large coffee and a couple of free biscuits.  I had booked a waiting appointment, so I spent the morning with my head in a paperback.  The bike was ready just before eleven o'clock, and I was back home well before midday.

I arrived home absolutely shattered and I was bloody freezing. 30% served a warming bowl of homemade oxtail soup for lunch, and I then lit a fire and slept in front of  it for the next hour.

I woke sufficiently thawed and sufficiently refreshed to head up to the orchard to check on the bees. 

I have decided that the hives with laying workers (#2 & #3) are lost causes and I will let those colonies dwindle and expire over the next few weeks.

There is still hope for hive #1. I introduced a frame of eggs and brood last week, and this week's inspection showed that the workers have produced a number of capped queen cells.  I will now leave this colony for at least a month to see if they manage to successfully raise a new queen ... fingers crossed.

The queen-right hives (#4, #5 & #6) are all doing well. A super was added to hive #6, so all three colonies now comprise a brood box and a single super.

I plan to give each of these colonies more space by moving a honey filled super over from hives #1, #2 and #3.  I made preparations for this reconfiguration, by adding clearer boards to these hives. Hopefully the bees will move down from the super overnight, and I will be able to move them tomorrow.

So that just about completes today's Journal entry. I will add that I did check the traps in the store room this morning, and I had caught yet another rodent.

Something's died in here

For the past few days, whenever I have wandered in to the store room, it hasn't smelt quite right. I couldn't identify the smell, but it really wasn't very pleasant.

It was still there this morning, when I wandered in to get a bucket of honey and some clean jars. It is starting to smell like something has died in there!

I spent most of the morning bottling honey, and I had picked the perfect day.  The morning was showery, and there was no way I could have attended to any of the outside projects that need my attention.

After clearing up the honey bottling paraphernalia, I returned the bucket of honey to the store room and decided to investigate. I grabbed a torch and started to peer under the shelving racks.  There were plenty of items of crud, as one might expect in an outside store room, but nothing that would create a nasty sniff, and then my eyes fell upon the culprit.

At this point I should explain that I am normally very good at checking the mouse traps in the store room, but had neglected this task for the past few days. In that time I had managed to trap a young rat, and decay had set in.  Needless to say, I got rid of the damned thing and ensured that all of the other traps were still set.

That was pretty much it for Monday. I did swap the saddle on the BMW to see how it affected comfort and riding position. We also nipped down the road to a local trading estate to collect half a dozen wooden pallets ... We definitely have enough to start stacking the ash in the carport now.

I also left the store room door open, to let it air for a while.

Apparently this was a lazy day too

Choosing to live in a three hundred year old cottage means that there is always something to do.  This can range from a half a day* spent rotorvating the vegetable patch to weeks of work sawing, splitting and stacking logs. With this in mind, I am coming to the conclusion that I really do need to make sure that I build some leisure time in to my week.

I have realised that I am constantly exposed to jobs that need to be done, and I have a tendency to get on with them, rather than, occasionally, stepping away and doing something else.  This became apparent this weekend. We normally take it easy over the weekend, but this one seemed as busy as the week that preceded it.

This morning started with a trip to Screwfix to pick up a bag of Postfix and a length of drainage pipe.  These are needed for a couple of jobs that have come to light over the past few days.**

Once we were home I spent a few minutes admiring  'Chelle's new car, and catching up one her news, before retiring to the workshop. There, I spent a happy hour planing the grime from the hardwood post, that I unearthed in the carport yesterday.  At the completion of my efforts, it looked rather good, and will certainly compliment our new gates, once installed.

The workshop was vacuumed free of sawdust, before I headed out to the carport and quickly daubed a coat of Danish Oil on the post. All I need now is get it concreted in to the ground, a cabin hook screwed to it, and the gate won't swing shut.

The afternoon started with a brief spell of tidying in the carport. On reflection, I felt that I actually put more things in there than I actually managed to throw out.  I am well aware that I need to have a proper clear out, as space is desperately needed for a huge pile of ash logs.

I then grabbed a spade, broom and shovel and continued grubbing out the grass and weeds from the brick edging in front of the garage.  It was bloody hard work, but I am now able to sweep up the sawdust that had become lodged between the many tufts of grass.

Once I had recovered from the exertions of weeding, I broke out the mower and gave the front lawn a long-overdue cut.

That was it for the day. We were both exhausted, but 30% had sagely suggested that this evening's dinner was courtesy of China Twon.

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* In my working life as an IT Technical Solutions Architect, I quickly learnt that even a "five minute job" will take half a day, by the time detailed design, scheduling, reporting, time recording etc, etc was accounted for!

** The Postfix is for the new post that is needed to hold the gate open. Have a look at yesterday's Journal entry, if you are remotely interested.  The length of drainage pipe is needed to replace a length of damaged drain, just outside the gateway.

A day off

It is the first Saturday of June, and, consequently, the day of Cotswold Shooting Ground's monthly shoot.  Bubbles had pinged me earlier in the week, to remind me, so I ordered some cartridges and put it in my diary.  

I must admit that I have become less keen on going clay shooting in recent months. I still enjoy the challenge, but the group dynamic has changed.  Little Miss Sunshine* is now a regular attendee, along with a variety of randoms. The larger group has a different vibe, and seems to lack the intimacy and leg-pulling that I enjoyed, along with the challenge of actually hitting a few clays.**

I've previously mentioned that our relationship with Bubbles and Bobbyn is nowhere near as close as it was, and that seemed apparent this afternoon.  It is not the easiest thing to maintain a conversation when you're clay shooting.  It is noisy, you're wearing ear defenders, and your attention is wholly focussed on hitting clays at regular intervals.  However, it is usually possible to have a chat between stands and find out the latest news.

During our round, I attempted to chat with B, B & B,*** and they happily responded to my conversational gambits, but I got nothing in return.  None of them enquired about what I had been up to, since I last saw them.**** I may be being over sensitive, but I came away with a definite sense that we are drifting further apart. 

The fishing season resumes in a couple of weeks, so let's see if an evening angling on the Avon has a different vibe.

So, that was my afternoon shooting, but I did achieve a few other things too.

In the morning 30% and I hitched the trailer to the car and headed down in to the village to collect a pallet that was going spare.

I also need to be able to fasten the right hand gate in its open position, so it isn't able swing in to the car, or motorcycle, when driving through the entrance.  The simplest solution is to install a short post at the edge of the drive, and use a hook and eye to hold the gate open. I had a wander around the carport and came across a 4' long post that was about 3" square.  I picked it up and it was very heavy. It was far too dense to be softwood, so was likely to be a nice hardwood post ... perfect for my needs.  I took it in to the workshop and cut a chamfer on the top, to shed the rain.  As the freshly sawn wood was exposed, I realised that I had found a lovely post. It is deep red and fine grained, and most likely an exotic hardwood.  It'll look superb, once it is cleaned up, planed and installed.

The only other news for today was that it was bloody chilly, and we actually lit the log burner for a few hours this evening.

Here endeth Saturday's Journal entry.

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* Bobbyn, Bubbles wife. Please note that her alias is liberally coated with sticky sarcasm 

** I actually shot reasonably well, for me, and finished on a score of 48/80 (60%)

*** Bubbles, Bobbyn and Ben

**** Back at the beginning of April, as I was unable to attend the May shoot

Sawing, Splitting & Sweeping

Sawing, splitting and sweeping neatly, and alliteratively, sums up my Friday endeavours.

In the morning I broke out the chainsaw and cut up logs until the petrol tank ran dry.  My endeavours included the fragmentation of three of the large slices of trunk, and the pile of wood now looks significantly smaller.

I then hauled the log splitter from the carport and spent the next few hours splitting the sections of wood into log burner-sized logs. 30% was a huge help, ferrying them up to the log pile in the orchard.

Once the logs had been split, I grabbed a rake, shovel, broom and barrow and cleared up the sawdust.* This was barrowed up to the orchard and will be used as the brown constituent of 30%'s composting experiment.**

By the end of the day we were both exhausted and did very little. Fortunately 30% had the foresight to prepare a Chilli, earlier in the day. We barely needed to chew!

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* That was produced by todays chainsawing, AND that was exposed by the removal of more wood from in front of the garage.

** One third grass clippings and two thirds sawdust, with a liberal dousing of nettle tea.

Well stacked?

Most of my time today was spent stacking ash logs in Rose Cottage.

There is still an enormous heap of logs, piled high, outside, but I am a little nervous of stacking too many in the log shed.  The reasoning behind this apprehension, is that a pile of logs is nothing like a pile of bricks.  They are not a regular shape, and any log pile will always have an inherent tendency to collapse without warning.

Since, later in the year, I will need to skirt past the stacked ash to collect dry logs, I really don't want to be the victim of a log pile collapse. Being trapped under a ton of logs is not going to be a pleasant experience!

I am therefore erring on the side of caution, and plan to stack the majority of the logs in the carport. As I mentioned last week, "There is no such thing as an empty carport." It is a space waiting to be filled.

In the afternoon I thought I might mow the front lawn, but 30% reminded me that I would first need to deal with the old gates.  These had been abandoned on the lawn, and looked even more pathetic than they did when they were hung across our driveway.

The gates needed to be taken up to the orchard, where they will be cremated on the bonfire.  I decided to strip away as much metalwork as possible, so I picked up my impact wrench and unbolted the hinges, ironwork and other fixings.* I then employed my reciprocating saw, cut them in to manageable chunks, before we hauled them away.

While using the reciprocating saw, I probably gave it too much thought. It is a cheap  middle of Lidl item, and it rarely sees the light of day. When deployed it is a crude tool with no finesse, but its strength is that it will cut through timber and metal, using the same blade. Basically it is a tool for demolition, rather than construction and the user instructions really should state, " that it should be used like it belongs to someone else."

Basically, I abused the damned thing and it performed like a little demon. I may not use it often,** but I'm glad I have it in the workshop.

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* Including the original crudely carved house sign

** Its last outing was when I removed the timber partition from the space that became our potting shed.

New Gates

The big news for today is that Andrew and Mark would be installing the new gates. These, and their posts, have been cluttering up the carport since the New Year, and I seemed to have spent far too much time out there weatherproofing them, in preparation for today.  It will be fantastic to finally see them hanging at the entrance to the house ... and to have some free space in the carport too!

Obviously A&M would be working on the drive, so I would not be sawing or splitting logs today.  The weather wasn't particularly clement either, so I hid in the workshop and installed a new rip fence on the bandsaw.

The original rip fence would not sit square on the cast iron table, and an internet search located an inexpensive upgrade from Axminster tools.  It was priced at £16, which was ridiculously cheap, but received amazing reviews, including one from a chap who had the same model bandsaw as me.

The new fence arrived a couple of weeks ago, and has sat in the workshop collecting dust.  Today I finally had the time to get it fitted. It wasn't a particularly complicated job to install. I needed to cut out three slots in the aluminium extrusion, and then use the original fittings to secure it to the cast iron table.

It is a vast improvement on the original and was dead square, in relation to the table and blade.  I am truly amazed at the quality and value of this saw upgrade .... I can't wait to use it anger!

In the afternoon I headed up to the orchard and started stacking the ash logs in Rose Cottage.  I spent a good couple of hours up there and made a reasonable dent in the huge pile logs.  I now have a neat stack that is about one meter square and is, at least, as tall as I am.  I would guess that I now have more than half a ton of logs stored out of the weather.

I would have continued stacking the logs, but my blood sugar dropped, and I needed to stop, eat and have a recuperative nap.  I was rudely awakened, a good twenty minutes earlier than I would have liked, by 30%. She informed me that Andrew was just about finished and we wandered out to inspect his efforts.

Swanky!

The new gates are a complete transformation, and we are delighted with how good they look.  

The original softwood gates were well past their best before date.  Their posts were no longer upright* and the gates were slowly collapsing.  They looked bloody terrible, with a strip of scruffy chicken wire tacked to the bottom of them, presumably to deter rabbits or terriers from entering?  

The house now looks a little more cared for with its swanky new entrance. I just need to make sure I cut the hedges this Autumn.

My final activity was to head down the lane for this evening's Tai Chi class ... although I pretty sure I'm getting more than enough exercise at the moment.

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* One of them had been attached to the trunk of the ash tree with a steel cable, in an attempt to keep it standing straight ... that didn't work!