Cooler morning but still nice enough to sit out on the deck before breakfast. I topped up the lake yesterday by discharging the not insubstantial dregs from the bottom of the defunct water butt into it. Waste not want not. Does make me realise that lakes, if they have no natural flows of water (ie rivers) running into and out of them do need maintaining. This is fine but special care needs to be taken with this during what are becoming the traditional long hot summers we always think we remember from our childhood but now appear to be reality. If I ever get around to putting in an irrigation system for the borders then an additional feed into the lake would seem appropriate.
THG and George are off Park Running this morning and I have delayed a decision on breakfast until after my sojourn on the deck. We have all the gubbins in for a full English but I’m still quite full after a very good steak supper last night. A cut down full English is where my thinking is currently at. A solitary sausage, a brace of bacon and a slice of sourdough toast. No egg, shroom, beens or tomayto but I’ll say yes to a glass of milk which for me is part of a full English, cut down or otherwise.
Removed the masking tape from around all the electrical bits in the workshop this morning and will pop out to Wickes for a small tin of white satin paint in order to do the woodwork. THG needs some as well for a paint job she has in mind for elsewhere in the hoose so the fact that I won’t need much for the workshop won’t result in wastage. Our recent clearout saw the disposal of a load of old tins of paint, long since dried up. I’m not saying they haven’t come in handy for the occasional touching up job but they are now gone. Gone I tell you.
The main tasks for today however are the completion of the installation of the replacement water butt and the erection and cleaning of three gazebos that will be stored out of the way discretely in the corner of the workshop, on the left behind the door. We don’t use them v often but they are handy to have when we have friends around for a barbie or similar. This is the case for both wet and sunny weather. I will at some point have to invest in a new stainless steel fire pit as our kadai firebowl had rusted itself to a state of uselessness and was disposed of in the skip that has now thankfully been removed from our drive.
Looks like the apple harvest will be early this year. Lots of bright red fruit dropping already. They do seem to be a little on the small side though which is a result of the dry weather we’ve had and me not getting round to thinning them out which does make a difference. Next year…
Hannah has joined me on the deck which is v nice. A bit of dad and daughter time.
Actually I’ve just moved in to the shed from the deck as my phone told me there was rain around. There are two ways a phone can be used to tell you this sort of thing. One is to look at a suitable app eg the MetOffice, other apps are available. The other, which is how I found out on this occasion, is because it is easy to see raindrops when they land on the screen. I was prompted to look because I thought I felt the occasional drop but couldn’t be totes sure.
Inside the shed I’ve taken the opportunity to look at my various posters with a view to deciding which ones are staying and which ones are going to be moving into the workshop. It would appear that my posters are mostly either travel related or something to do with music. A decision has been made to move the travel ones and keep the music. The reason for the change is because I happen to have a variety of framed prints and maps that need to go up on the wall. I’ve been holding off doing this because I didn’t want to put holes in the plaster but the time, I can tell you, has now come. Otherwise I’ll be ending up with more pictures propped up on the floor than on the wall. I think I’m going to invest in some new picture hooks while I’m out buying the paint. Makes sense innit.
The other news from yesterday is that my new steel shelving unit arrived. It doesn’t look like a shelving unit right now as it is contained in two flattish cardboard boxes. Heavy flattish cardboard boxes. The downside of the flattishness is that I will have to assemble said steel shelving unit. I don’t normally buy things that need assembling but on this occasion it makes sense as it would be an impractically large object to “post”. Also I am assured that the assembly process involves no bolts or screws and as such should be relatively straightforward. I’ll find out on Thursday which is when it moves into the workshop.
Thursday is the day the vinyl gets laid which is the trigger for moving the bench into the workshop which will actually make it look like a workshop. I might put the shelving unit up first as the bench currently has a load of plastic tool boxes underneath it which would be better on the shelves.
Gotta go. I am now officially hungry and a small English with a glass of milk beckons.