auctions and kettles

So, those are the photos I should have taken the other day.  You'll notice we are carefully co-ordinated - not many people have colour co-ordinated router table and cooker you know!



Our auction purchases.  We bought the window
frame ages ago at another auction.  £10 for
an oak window frame, what a bargain - Bob'll
be having posh windows in his workshop!

 Yesterday and today have mostly been taken up with a timber auction.  Yesterday the viewing where we spent ages trying to work out which lots we were interested in and, just as importantly, how much we'd be happy to pay.  It's all quite awkward - for instance there was a lot of flooring and some of it would have been good for in the lounge.  There were several lots of about the right size, but the one we liked best was after the others, so do you risk not getting anything by bidding for the earlier lots or risk buying the second choice and missing out on the favourite?  As well as flooring, we were looking for timber to make the internal doors and oak for some window frames.  This morning there were laods of lots before the ones we were interested in, but we watched all of them to get a feel for the prices things were going for.  The solid oak boards went for a very reasonable price, there was very little interest in the smaller strip flooring boards and they didn't even bother to go through them all because no-one was bothered.  This all boded well for us getting a bargain, or so we thought.  When it came to the lots we were interested in, the engineered oak boards (oak backed with ply which is far more stable on top of underfloor heating), suddenly people decided to pay much more and we didn't even bother bidding.  Not to worry, we got more than enough chunky oak for the window frames at a very good price . . . . . and also some planks of beech, not sure what we will do with them, but at £20 if we make cupboard doors and paint it it's cheaper than pine!



Bob having another beer to celebrate the
liberation of another piece of our furniture!



Yesterday we unearthed our table - piled on top were hundreds of leaves, cobwebs and dust as well as numerous pictures which we'd wrapped in bubblewrap and plastic and which the mice have just about unwrapped for us.  Luckily, it looks as though they were only interested in popping the bubblewrap and not in nibbling the pictures.  I'd forgotten how heavy the table was, even with the top separate from the legs.  Bob and I made this table together in my dining room very early on in our 'together stage'.  Even back then we could picture it in our cottage - just the details of the cottage we couldn't picture.  It is actually a bit big for the space we have for it - someone's put a whacking great post in the middle of the floor!  We tried it in several positions, but it definitely looks best this way on, we'll try and get it so you can get down the wall side without having to pull it out, but if not we'll have it like this for everyday use and pull it out when we need to, but we really need it to be a bit smaller, so . . . .

. . . . Bob took the saw to it today!  How drastic is that?!  When we made it someone told us it was a good idea to attach a piece of wood across each end to tidy it up.  Trouble is, wood shrinks and in a centrally heated house the boards running lengthwise shrunk crosswise and the end pieces ended up sticking out (make sense?).  Several times Bob had to sut some off and he said several times he was going to cut them off completely.  Now, when we got the table out yesterday, the end pieces were way too short because the lengthwise boards had expanded in the damp atmosphere.  So that's what he's doing in this picture.  Now that the edges are rounded off, it looks fine.  He has had to do a bit of jiggery-pokery where the biscuits were.  Biscuits are little oval pieces of compressed beech - you cut a groove in both pieces to be joined and glue the biscuit in to strengthen the joint.  Of course half of each biscuit showed and so he has routed them out and replaced them with slivers of bog oak - all shows part of the history of the table.

And here's another addition to the kitchen - a whistling kettle.  We've been looking for one we liked for ages.  There are loads we liked the look of, black cast ones, but you just wouldn't be able to lift them with water in they are so heavy!  We need another cold snap so we can light the woodburner and try it out.  No, actually we don't want a cold snap because we really must get these solar panels working properly.  We're back to having showers in the caravan again.  The plumber came on Thursday and made some adjustments and they have only managed to get the water in the tank to 38 degrees since - well that's no good is it?  He also fixed another leak, you know the novelty is wearing off a bit - we've used a whole kitchen roll in our leak checking activities!  I'm still not convinced that we are leak-free and so I expect he'll be back.  This means that the washer can't go in it's slot in the utility which in turn means we can't get on with the work top on the other wall.

We took the copper shower rail to the powder coaters on Friday and they have a batch of mid-sheen black being done on Monday so they'll put it in with that for a tenner - not bad!  We've installed our water softener.  It is an electronic one, so no salt or filters to replace.  It plugs in and you wind two wires in opposite directions around the copper pipe near the rising main.  It creates an electronic field in the water which does something to the water which means the minerals don't build up as scale and stick to things.  It also gets rid of scale in an existing system, but I guess we shouldn't have that problem yet.

Slate tiles

We have finished decorating!  Ha, ha - that sounds as though we're ready to move in doesn't it?  When I say finished decorating, I mean just the bathroom . . . . and only the paint, not the floor . . . . or the tiles . . . . . or the bath, toilet, sink or shower . . . . oh, and not the light or the switches . . . . or a door or anything like that.   So, a bit of an exaggeration I think!  We have done the three coats of paint though and we've laid the floor tiles - and that's another story.

Ages ago we bought some slate tiles from Homebase for the bathroom - 300mm square dark slate, as shown on their display and evident from the tile showing though the window in every box.  I had plans for a striking black floor, white everything else and brightened up by red towels, etc.  After I'd put the first coat of proper colour on the walls in the bathroom I opened a pack of tiles just to see what they'd look like.  Now, I know that slate is a natural product and you have to expect variations in colour, thickness, etc, but these were ridiculous.  There were clearly two different sorts of slate - pale greeny ones about 15mm thick and dark black/grey ones about 5mm thick!  What are you supposed to do with that?!  A chequerboard pattern and different thicknesses of adhesive to make them level?  We opened all the boxes and they all contained half and half.  We couldn't even hide all of one sort under the bath.  So, we took them back and they were actually very good about it (once we'd explained five times that ordering a new lot and making sure they were from the same batch number wouldn't help because they were mixed within the box) and they gave us our money back.  So, we went straight round to the place where we got the little tiles for the hall and bought some more (cheaper too).  I guess it'll look more coherent with the same flooring in the hall, utility and bathroom.

We have laid them in the bathroom and now need to seal them before grouting.  Of course, because they are mosaic tiles there's an awful lot of joints to grout so that'll be a job and a half!  They do look a bit like an optical illusion - if you stare at them they look like ridges and furrows and if you concentrate you can get the ridges and furrows to flip places.  When they are wet they are quite a nice dark green colour, so we will seal them with an oil based sealer to keep that colour.  Not sure how it fits in with the red towels idea - have to see when it's all done.  Also, the white tiles we liked for round the bath because they had the same texture as the floor tiles may not be right because these are smooth!  Oh, it's all so complicated.

We have, of course, been skimming all week too.  I forgot to tell you about doing the utility ceiling together.  As you can imagine doing a ceiling is a bit more messy than doing a wall.  I heard a curse and turned to see a huge blob of plaster slap bang in the middle of Bob's beard - he did look quite funny.  Oh, I wish I'd had the camera.  It took him ages to wash it all out and as soon as he got back on the job another blob plopped all over one lens of his glasses . . . he wasn't really amused, but I nearly wet myself!  Our work has been inspected and approved by Phil the Plaster when he and Ann came round for a cuppa - phew!  Ann said she'd put our certificate in the post!

The wrens are back in the lounge.  They go in and out by landing and walking under the door which is asking for trouble if a cat or similar realises what they are doing, so Bob dropped the bottom half of the door a bit so there was a gap half way up for them to fly through.  So now they squeeze through the smaller gap under the door!  Seems to defeat the point of moving it, so we've put it back as it was again - well, we tried!  I'm sure I saw one fly down the hall and out of the main door this afternoon.  Green woodpeckers have been investigating and modernising the old greater spotted woodpeckers nest in the beach tree behind the caravan (nuthatches used it last year), so we'll keep an eye on that to see if they move in.  The green haze on the trees is rapidly turning into real green and the hawthorn hedge is covered in real leaves.  We have quite a lot of blossom in the garden - the damsons are covered and there is actually blossom on the blackthorn which had been chopped right down before we moved here.  Maybe we'll be able to make some of our own sloe gin in the autumn!  Our sturdy little pear tree is absolutely covered in blossom buds - not sure it'll cope if they all turn into pears.  We went up to our little wood this evening and it is now covered in violets, primroses, sorrel and loads of wood anenomes.  When we went up there at the weekend, we struggled to find more that about four anenomes . . . where did they come from all of a sudden.  It is lovely though.  No doubt next time we go up there the nettles will have done the same and taken over!

We are both feeling a little weary so we're have a day off building work tomorrow.  Sainsburys/launderette and collecting light fittings, sockets and switches etc in the morning.  Then we might have lunch out and then not do much at all in the afternoon.  Bob wants to give his Harley a once over ready for summer riding and I might just get the deckchair out and read!  What a luxury!

Wrens nesting

So, what have we been up to since I last blagged, blug . . . . maybe it's just blogged?  Well, last Thursday we went for a cuppa at Bill and Maggie's.  We felt really bad because they had come to visit earlier in the day with tales of woe about their heating system, but we were at a critical stage of skimming and so couldn't really stop to lend an ear and so they went home with no cup of tea or anything.  Poor things!  So, as soon as we'd finished we went round to theirs bearing cookies to give solace in their hour of need.  They really have had a tough time with their cutting edge ground source heat pump.  That works by pumping glycol through underground pipes, this absorbs the heat and then, by some sort of magic, the heat is transferred and increased and is pumped around the underfloor heating system.  It works in the same way as a fridge exchanges heat for cold, but the opposite way round.  Anyway, Bill put the underground pipes in ages ago, the underfloor heating has been installed for ages and the two just need to be connected.  This stage involves their plumber and electrician and the chap from the ground source company, so not easy to get them all together at once.  The first date for this was arranged at the beginning of December and about five times since, but each time something has gone wrong.  Parts haven't been available, they had the wrong water tank, the engineer didn't bring enough glycol, pipes have been crossed at the manifold, the engineer broke down on the motorway, the engineer called in sick, you name it it's gone wrong . . . and still it goes on.  So, they have had a whole winter without their underfloor heating and using electric to heat all their water.  Quite understandably, they were well and truly down in the dumps about it.  Everyone's booked again for next week I think, so watch this space!

On Friday and Saturday, we helped Ben and Lucy move into their new flat.  Very nice it is too, clean, spacious and modern - the only trouble is that it's up two flights of stairs.  No problem at all normally, but I dread to think how many trips up and down them we made over the two days carrying boxes, bags, TVs, wardrobes, sofa, etc.  When we got home my calf muscles had just about given up the ghost!  Don't think I need to go to the gym this week!

On Sunday, we had a day off and went to the garden centre.  We bought seed potatoes, shallots and beetroot and leek seeds.  We are somewhat limited in what we can plant at the moment on account of the multitude of giant rabbits that visit our garden!  We have a heap of soil in the garden which we covered with horse muck and a tarpaulin last year - it will eventually get spread out over part of the garden, but not until we have time to do something with it, so we thought we could poke a few potatoes in there in the meantime.  So, we pulled back some of the tarpaulin and planted them and this morning . . . . a flippin' rabbit has burrowed into the heap, aaarrrrgh!  I'm going to look up some rabbit casserole recipes I think!

We have done some more skimming.  I had the first go at doing a ceiling yesterday - I didn't get as messy as I thought I would . . . well not quite!  So, now all the utility's done except the ceiling, all the bathroom's done and Bob has made a start on the upstairs.  We also did some good, old-fashioned lime plaster yesterday, finishing off all sorts of bits - it seemed really strange slapping it on with your hands after doing the ultra-thin, very smooth skimming.  Today we had an exciting morning choosing tiles and light fittings.  We have ordered our bedroom light and the one for the end barn bedroom (which I've had my eye on for ages, but only just persuaded Bob about) and finally got the last two lights for the kitchen.  We chose some lovely tiles for the bathroom walls (just around the bath/shower) - plain white, but with a texture that reminds me of slate, so as we have slate for the floors that should all tie-in nicely.  We'll then brighten it all up with red towels or something.  I think we've also decided on the floor in the hall.  We wanted a hard floor so that people can come in in their boots, etc and originally we were thinking quarry tile type thing, but it's all soooo expensive!  We found some ceramic tiles we quite liked for £25 a square metre, but then went in the paint shop and they had a pallet of slate mosaic tiles for just £8.50 a square metre . . . that's a difference of over £200 for the hall and utility!  So, we laid some slate in the hall and the samples of the ceramic tile and asked Pam the postlady what she thought.  She was adamant it should be the slate.  We then asked the chickens, but they couldn't make up their minds really, so I think we'll go with Pam's decision.  We'll probably have to go and get them tomorrow because I think they're a one-off and when they're gone they're gone.

This is the beautiful little nest a wren built in the middle barn (which will be the lounge) last spring.  Apparently, they build several and then select one to use and they didn't actually use this one.  Since then, we have built the timber extension which blocks off the little draught hole they used to use to get in.  The only way in for them now is to walk under the temporary chipboard door into the 'lounge', or to fly though the little gap in the door to the nextdoor barn and then through to the 'lounge'.  So, Bob was very surprised when he went in there yesterday to find two wrens checking out the nest.  One gave him a really hard time, sitting on the ladder chirping angrily at him!  We thought they wouldn't come back after being disturbed, but one was there again this morning when I went in.  It must be the same pair as last year who've remembered it was there and worked out how to get to it a different way - very impressive really.  It would be quite nice if they nested in there - we won't be doing any work in there before they've finished.  We have said, though, that we'll make sure we go in and out a few times each day.  That way, it's their choice if they decide to nest where humans are in and out.  Better that than let them think we don't go in there and then they get disturbed later with chicks in the nest.  The reason we left the nest is that I'd quite like to keep it in the wall - we could put perspex over it and a frame around it - I think it may be where a light is going though so we'll have to see.