Making a start ... again

 The day has finally arrived when I actually managed to continue installing the security bars on the outbuilding windows.

I first started this little job back in September 2024. Actually, scratch that. The windows bars were originally commissioned and delivered back in 2021. They then sat in the car port untouched until last year, when I installed the first set.

I was enthused by this initial installation and soon made a start on the next set of bars. It was at that point that I realised that I would need to install spacers and use much longer screws to enable the bars to be fitted. The reason being that the central decorative bar protrudes back a little, and interferes with the central glazing bar of the windows. The spacers set the security bars 25mm from the frame and give enough room for the decorative central bar.

I therefore needed suitable material for the spacers. I quickly settled on roofing laths. They are the perfect size and are pressure treated ... ideal for the timber clad outbuildings. Unfortunately they are four meters long and I estimated that I needed over seventy meters of laths.*

This meant that I would need to have them delivered and the onset of Winter meant that installing the bars got put on the back burner ... I really do not like working outside in the cold!

Anyway, the weather has improved. I got my shit together and ordered various items of timber, and today I finally had enough time to continue the job.

There was a fair bit of measuring and head scratching to ensure that the bars would be perfectly positioned around the window, and that the timber spacers fitted perfectly. It took about ninety minutes to get the first set of bars installed ... and I am bloody delighted.

They look brilliant AND provide a deterrent to any ne'er-do-well who thinks the outbuildings might yield easy pickings.

By the end of the day I had installed two sets of bars and was ready for a lazy night on the sofa. That wasn't to be, as we had tickets to see Henning Wehn at The Regal in Evesham. It was a very funny evening and Wehn made the ball-ache of parking in Evesham worthwhile.

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* This may be a slight miscalculation as I seem to have a lot of laths. The alternative scenario is that I may have included enough laths to make a section of trellis ... and forgotten about that mini project.

I'll get to it eventually

 I really do have plans for this week, but life just keeps getting in the way.

What I'd like to be doing is installing the security bars on the windows of the outbuildings, but this project keeps getting put off.*

This morning we were out of the house early as I needed to pop in to the local surgery for a blood test. We then headed in to Worcester as 30% has another consultation with an NHS Neurologist. After another review of 30%'s medical history they are still uncertain what the problem might be, but tests and scans have been scheduled and medication prescribed too.

I suppose we need to be relatively reassured that none of the medics are hitting panic buttons, and to let matters run their course.

The remainder of the morning was taken up with a trip to Bromsgrove to pick up some Layers Pellets and a couple of slabs of shotgun cartridges ... I'm shooting at the weekend.

The afternoon saw nothing other than a wander around the lanes with the dogs. 

Then it was a quick rest before this evening's Tai Chi class. The lesson was the usual mix of concentration and misplaced feet. There are moments when I feel that I am making headway and then it all goes to pot.

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* Actually I'm not sure that I would "like" to be installing the security bars. It is just that they have sat in the car port for about three years and they really need putting up. The more I think about this job the more I realise that it is quite complicated, especially if I am to get them installed to my satisfaction.

Another quiet day

 All Fools Day was far from busy.

I managed a brisk walk around the Three Mile with the idiots* in the morning and mowed the lawns at the front of the house in the afternoon.

That was about it. I did have a slight urge to start installing the security bars on the outbuildings, but there is a bloody cold wind, despite the clear skies and sunshine ...  that can wait until later in the week.

I also realised that I need some cartridges for clay shooting on Saturday.  It's been a good while since I last bought any and they are now very expensive. It looks like I'll be heading out to the gun shop tomorrow.

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* A collective and affectionate term for the dogs. If you saw them leaping around with excitement as I put on my walking boots you would understand how they have earned this appellation.