Silicone, moths and diggers.

Sorry, no pictures this time - well you did get plenty on the last few editions and we don't want to run out of film!

The plumber came back this morning and tweeked the leaks.  He re-did the joint in the glycol pipe and re-pressurised it and that seems to be working OK now with no drips so far.  He increased the pressure a bit this time to 3 bar (haven't got my head around what difference that makes yet, but I'm sure it must) - before he came it had dropped to .3, so quite a difference.  He was a bit surprised that the temperature in the tank hadn't got higher, I think 47 degrees was the highest we got to when it was hot and sunny.  That was explained though when we told him that we were surprised that the upstairs radiator had got quite warm - so that's where the heat was going to.  So now he's puzzled why heat was going to the radiator without the woodburner being lit because the pipe goes downhill so there shouldn't be any convection downwards, so he's gone away to think about it.  He can fit a one-way valve to the pipe to the heat store so that warm water can't flow back down it which will solve the problem.  It was lovely and toasty upstairs with the radiator on . . . . but it was lovely and toasty outside too, so it really would be better if the heat stayed in the water.  Phil and Ann came round today and, as an engineer (and he's done a fair bit of plumbing), Phil wasn't surprised at all - something to do with the water in the tank mixing up and moving round as the hot water rises and cold falls and making the rest of the water in the system move around.

For the last couple of days we have been getting on with finishing the kitchen and lean-to floors.  We had done a bit of both to stand the woodburner and heatstore on and have got fed up with seeing them half done.  So, Bob has got most of the kitchen quarry tiles laid (they need a chemical clean, seal and grout) and I have done the lean-to (they just need grouting) and that will be two good jobs done.  The tiles around the edge of both needed cutting, so we had boy and girl angle grinders on the go (I had the little one because the big one is a bit scary!).

I finally got around to sorting out the mess I'd made of the silicon in the shower - oh, I still hate doing it and had been putting it off I think.  I managed to get a reasonable finish and then thought I'd just tidy up one tiny bit . . . . why!!!!?  It had started to get a skin on it and I just kept making it worse.  So, I just stopped and went back to it the next day and again got a reasonable finish on it when a flippin' moth flew onto it and got its legs stuck!  Can you believe that?!!  Course, I had to get the moth out, but I did manage to smooth it over again and now I'm not touching it ever again!  After all that, I was dreading doing around the kitchen sink - this needed very precise and inconspicuous siliconing.  Thankfully I managed it without a problem and I'm actually quite pleased with the result - phew!

Going back to moths for a minute, I forgot to tell you about the very first washing machine run.  As I said, I put the cleaning cloths in and when we switched it on I was watching it go round (as you do) and saw a big moth fly out of the water!  Luckily, until the water reaches a certain level you can still open the door - to pop in the dropped sock I expect.  So we could get the very wet moth out and put it on the window sill in the sun to dry out.  It had gone a bit later, so it either fell off, got eaten by a bird or flew away.  I spent quite a while wondering how it had got into the brand new washer until I realised it had probably been asleep in one of the cloths . . . der, sometimes I wonder at how slow I can be!

Yesterday we were all set for an early start on the flooring when we heard a tremendous noise from the quarry - it sounded as though one of the trucks had come up the side and into our garden!  It was so noisy that we walked along our top path to see if we could see what was going on.  One of their huge tipper trucks (you know the ones where the tyres are higher than a man) had got stuck.  It was half way through dumping its load and must have somehow sunk (or buried itself) and was down to its axle and no amount of revving was going to shift it.  Strangely, even though he had his foot right down, there was no wheel spinning or muck flying, just a lot of noise.  He then got out and had a look at the problem - he really looked as though he was about to kick the tyres!  He radioed for assistance and two diggers turned up - everyone got out and had a look at the problem.  We were too far away to see, but you could almost tell they were sucking their teeth and saying 'Yer stuck mate'.  They then tried clearing some of the muck from around, then one tried pushing from behind, then they got a chain attached to the front and the other tried pulling, but it wasn't for moving.  At that point one of the diggers had to nip off to fill a lorry with stone.  In the meantime a chap in a van arrived, got out and had a look at the problem - more teeth sucking and stuck comments.  Eventually the other digger came back and they had another go and finally managed to get it out.  The two digger drivers immediately set-to levelling off the area as though sweeping away the evidence.  So much for our early start, by the time they'd got sorted it was time for coffee!

It looks as though Elvis may have retired from her career in egg production.  Her eggs have been rather sporadic for a while, then she had a phase of forgetting the shell.  Bless her though, she tries to help, the other day Bob went into the caravan to find one of Elvis's eggs on the floor in front of the fridge.  I suppose she couldn't quite manage to open the door to put it away!  Naughty girl had snuck in when we weren't looking (and had forgotten the chicken gate) - still I guess it could have been worse than an egg on the floor!



OK, I give in - here's an old photo of the inglenook in the
kitchen and the dilapidated range that was in there.  What
a mess - you've seen the new look with our cooking woodburner.
I hope you think it's an improvement!



Phase One Skimming finished!

Yeah, skimming phase one is finished and that includes the ceiling in the leant-to which we did this morning.  So, we can now put the skimming equipment away for a while - we've given Phil the Plaster his modified short trowel back.  I think, on the whole, we've quite enjoyed doing it, but are probably ready for a change now.  This afternoon we've finished the lime plaster first coat (needs a slightly smoother finishing coat before it can be limewashed) and re-pointed the little chimney in the kitchen.

The plumber didn't turn up on Tuesday (surprise, surprise), but we didn't know he wasn't coming until the end of the day, so instead of getting on with big jobs we did itsy bitsy things that we could easily stop when he got here.  Although it was a bit frustrating, it did mean that we got all sorts of bits and pieces done that we've been meaning to do for ages.  He had written the wrong 'Tuesday after the Bank Holiday'  down in his diary, so has promised he will be here next week.

So, next jobs will be to do that smoother coat on the lime plaster and then get a couple of coats of white limewash on it all.  We have ordered some yellow and red ochre pigments so we can tint the later coats of wash to give a slightly warmer cream colour.  Should be interesting - you really can't tell what colour it'll be until the next day when it's dry.  When you first put it on all you see is the pigment (so it'll look bright yellow!), but as it dries the white of the lime comes through and lightens it.  A bit of a leap of faith I think.  We will then be ready to lay some more floors.  In the kitchen we are re-using the original quarry tiles that were in there (supplemented by some we got from the salvage yard).  They've been stored outside for a year though, so we'll have to pressure wash them or something and then they'll need sorting.  As I said, I think these are original and there was quite a path worn in them from the doorway.  When we took them up, we didn't intend to put them back.  Had we decided in time, we could have labelled them in some way to re-lay them in the same place and keep the worn look which would have been lovely.  As it is, they are all mixed up and some are thicker than others, so it'll be quite a job to try to lay them so they look right and you don't trip over raised bits.  I'm dreading it to be honest, but hoping it'll be one of those jobs that isn't as bad as I fear!  Let you know.  We also need to order the floorboards for upstairs and get them laid . . . and lay the tiles in the hall and utility.  Then there is all the decorating to do and tiles to put on walls, window sills, etc.  The electrician is booked to do 2nd fix from 25 May, so got to get on!  Actually, he seems happy to come and do a day and then leave it a bit and do some more, which probably suits us best.



Bonny helping to remove the flowers
from the chives



Did you watch any of the Royal Wedding?  I have been a bit fed up with all the hype surrounding it, but was quite pleased that the 'have a cuppa while the plaster dries a bit' stage of the lean-to ceiling skimming coincided with the bride arriving at the abbey, so I watched that and then we saw the balcony bit when we had lunch.  It's all quite nice really - makes you quite proud to be British, we do pomp and ceremony very well don't we?  So, I've just raised a bottle of Crabbies Original Ginger Beer (my latest favourite tipple) in their honour . . . . . any excuse, eh!



Peggy relaxing on the bench



So, onto chickens.  Elvis is now laying properly again.  Bonny has seemed a bit off colour all day and has been moping around on her own.  We were sat on the beer bench with Phil, Ann and their son Andrew this afternoon (tea and coffee only I'm afraid) and were speculating as to what might be wrong when she started acting in a very peculiar way.  She was almost squatting and waddling up the slope with her wings out - quite alarming in a very funny way!  After a couple of minutes of this, a shell-less egg shot out and rolled off down the hill - amazing, I've never actually seen them lay an egg. 

Don't quite know what that was all about - she laid a normal one this morning, so no wonder she was feeling a bit off, so we told her that one a day was fine from now on and she perked up immediately.  What entertainment, eh?

We had a lovely afternoon yesterday with Jan and Arthur and then in the evening we went to Wrexham University . . . . . I had no idea Wrexham had  a uni!  I guess it's an off-shoot of the University of Wales or something.  Anyway, last week Bob had seen in the paper that the lead singer of a band we have seen before (Tim Booth from James, for those interested) was playing there.  We didn't expect to get tickets as we saw James at the NIA in Birmingham last year and it was absolutely packed - 1000s of people.  We went along on the off-chance - there were just 3 cars in the carpark and about 3 people in the lobby.  At the box office they said we could have the tickets half-price as it wasn't exactly a sell-out and gave us seats next to the centre aisle, 3 rows back!  There was less than 200 people there for the support band and a few more for the main act, but it was really good.  The audience were really enthusiastic and, as there were so few people he could wander around among the audience, sit on the edge of the stage for a chat and answer shouts from the audience.  Brilliant - I'm listening to the CD we bought after as I type.  We'll definitely keep an eye on who else plays there - what a bargain and only 15 miles away!