Slowly

 The days are hot and dry and we are taking things steadily..enjoy each day we have.

I was fortunate to sell an expensive pair of handlebars by putting them on the "grapevine"...and by word of mouth, a friend who is a coach has bought them for one of his riders to use.  He was willing to pay a good price (still a decent bargain) plus no website fees for selling...win win?!

They went off today in the post.

I also heard from Daccordi, an Italian maker of beautiful frames...that yes, the frame I have to sell is one of theirs from about 1985 (they didn't start dating them until a couple of years later..although they have been building frames since 1937!) It is a pretty frame..and a small frame is the test of a good builder..no room for mistakes!

The weather is gradually getting hotter..so after sorting the plant pots ( and putting some out at the front with a sign saying Free!) I put some shading in the greenhouse after moving plants to the cooler polytunnel.

The shading is also keeping it warmer at night...so a smaller temperature variation.

And a rack for the pots is in construction...I design it...Pirate has to work out how to make it!!!!

Gardening at last

 After a chilly night, the sun is really hot today.

Our houseguest has cleared their wood from my greenhouse!! Unfortunately it has had to go in my workshop, but at least all their wood is in one place now, and work can proceed on fitting out the van conversion. Most of the wood has already been cut to length, the present job is building drawers and cupboards from scratch..

Hopefully guest can move on within a month or so!! 

The compost bin construction has begun...two stobs and one pallet for half the back. The aim today is just to do the rest of the back, a repeat of the first half, and pirate is having a siesta first.  No point in overdoing things.

The top staging has been swept, now to choose and sow seeds...

One more step

 

Paddy our "foreman" neighbour, supervising our Triathlete Joiner.

Fitting the secondhand window that we were given about four years ago!

My Space

Beginning to evict all the Other Stuff that has found its way in to here..now the big job is to sort the sheds and to have the relevant things together in their respective sheds, not all mixed up in all the sheds.....pipe dream?!

Pirate is happier today.  A good review from his oncology specialist nurse yesterday helped greatly. The new roof is on and the doors fitted . His bloodshot eye is only because he did a mega sneeze... optician checked and all ok.

Now he is worrying about politics....when the next Conservative leader , and hence prime minister will be elected by about 160,000 party members (about10,000 in Scotland) which is 0.3% of the UK population..thats if they all vote...not that we can do anything about that, but he has to worry about something that he can do nothing about!!

Ta Daa!!!!

 

It was hot...but Fife friend and Pirate started at 8, and our cycling joiner arrived before 10. So nearly all the preparation work was done before he arrived, thankfully.

It isn't the roofing I had planned...but is half the cost....

Plan B....sell lots of work so that we can change it in a couple of years' time!!

Between having plenty of breaks for drinks and cooling down, the window didn't get fitted...but the groundwork has been done, fitting hopefully on Thursday.

Fife friend and Pirate have moved the doors to the front..now it is my turn with the paintbrush!

Meanwhile, I was on catering duty and hold this duty...and have you seen that?????.....

And in between times I lifted the shallots and they are in the polytunnel to dry off, cleaned the earth from the garlic crop, and after a welcome shower of cooling rain (it reached a good 27⁰C today) sowed carrots, beetroot and dwarf french beans.

And the potted rose in the greenhouse looks as if it is doing its job of attracting pollenators to the tomatoes and cucumbers....and the courgette that is lurking at the back!!

Beauty

 

I picked a Reine des Violette's Bourbon rose before the wind battered it. They are so fragrant and a beautiful colour.

I am afraid that the roses are suffering this year. They should be in the ground, not in pots, but I can't decide where they should go. I want to be able to sit in the garden and see them...but the garden at the back is for food growing....and the front is too windy and cold!!  When the fences and gates go in, that will give more shelter. However the best place for them is where my car gets parked!! Unfortunately I can't change that.

Life goes on. The roofing sheets are not as strong as I had hoped. What I should have got would have been twice as costly...and I could only just afford what we got. 

Pirate has hopefully been persuaded that he is not a carpenter and should leave it to the one due to come on Tuesday....apart from anything he shouldn't be up on a stepladder.

Are any of you feeling the effects of pollen more than usual?... apparently that is happening this year..I had my eyes checked this afternoon just in case.... thankfully that is all it is...but grumbly sinuses and weepy eyes are no fun.

Summer?

 The sunshine has reached us!!

Steady progress on the cladding, but we need another long pallet...but there is no rush for that, thankfully. 

My next job is finish sanding the front doors ready to paint the outside.

To that end, Pirate hauled out a quarter of his shed, as the trestles were at the bottom...at the back!!

He is fed up of the after effects of covid. Not having his usual horsepower is one..but it is gradually improving. He isn't used to stopping for breaks before a job is finished!!

He always tells others " You are no longer in your 50s"....but that's how he thinks, himself.

While he sorts and reduces the contents, I have been busy too...

Now with 16 km to go on this day's stage of the Tour de France, we are doing 5 minutes work during the tv ads... and 10 minutes watching!

Foraging and life and stuff

 

Pirate had a CT scan yesterday, at a hospital twenty miles away.not the usual...so we took the bikes and had a ride on different lanes...and found some wild cherries.

The first forage this year!

As usual it was nice weather while we were out...but we did get some work done after we returned.

This is the one side of the front of the building..

We got the other side to within three strips of the top.

The strips are pieces of pallet wood.

Today is yet again cold windy and damp...we have been doing bits of this and that indoors...and now to wrap up warm and get a few more strips of wood on and make a template for the angles of the ends of the drips above door level, where they meet the roof.

It is hard to believe that it is July...even the tomatoes are growing slowly..

Weather

 We had a day away yesterday..only in Glasgow...but the weather was good! Of course we were indoors most of the time in the velodrome, talking to friends before and after Pirate's session on the boards.

Davy is a good coach..and was a brilliant rider.

Today we have outdoor jobs to do..but outdoor is cold and windy and the humidity is in the 90% range....so if it isn't actually raining, the air is damp!!

The roofing materials are ordered, but we can't do much I until they arrive. 

Which makes the weather conditions even more frustrating!!

Still getting there slowly

 On Monday, Pirate had a medical investigation..they found nothing out of place, which is good. However with that on top of a busy weekend he is still tired!!

We are progressing slowly but steadily with the workshop verandah.

One quote for the roofing materials is just under £400. The VAT is nearly £80..I think he overquoted and can reduce the cost by £100..but at the moment that is still too much. So we will look at cheaper alternatives and in the meantime use recycled sheets of heavy plastic that form part of milk bottle packaging!

Tomorrow we have a day off and out planned. No stress..apart from buying petrol!!

Meanwhile..

My twin grandsons had their birthdays today. They live six hours away and are isolating due to covid. Ten days so far and their father is still positive.

It isn't easy living so far from family.  The nearest are  nearly four hour's drive away. 

However it is our choice to live in Scotland. We know we are better off by far living here.

Wind

 We worked today inside our conservatent...and the noise was awful..and that and the wind pressure made us both rather grumpy!

By late teatime we had at least painted one doorpost and added four bits of bracing wood...and tidied Pirate's shed a little....

We only opened one corner of the tarp, in case it blew away with the 40 mph gusts!

We have asked a local chippie for a quote for finishing the roof..but he will need restraining with regard to the use of plastic!!....roof only please!! ( Glass is not only too expensive, but wouldn't survive next door's footballs....

At least the roses are beginning to bloom

This is Arthur Bell..and it smells beautifully!

Testing...

 They fit! And we got the doorposts straight!!

They are back in their old place now. The wind has risen again, which we could do without. Retying the tarp was.... interesting!! 

Next job for me is sand and paint the doorposts, but that needs better weather!!

I am glad of the rain, however.  The garden was parched, waterbutts empty and some plants lost. 

Rafters!

 

Screwed..will be screwed and glued...but rain is forecast for tomorrow so the tarpaulin is back over the job.

Friends

 This morning we bought more wood....

Then friends came for lunch, one we haven't seen her for months, and she came from her work at the local hospital, on her bike. The other was coming to give us a hand with construction.

After lunch she headed home and the rest of us went over to mend a neighbour's sheds where the roofing felt was letting in water.

It had only been stapled on!! A few roofing nails later and some black sticky sealant and the job was done.

She came over the road with her handy Zimmer frame...wheels, brakes, box with a seat...for a cuppa with us and it was grand to sit chatting with her, and Pirate and Fife friend got to work.

By suppertime they had the sides in...two old doors each side...

While they carried on, after our neighbour had returned home, I cleared a deep bed and planted out the peas...and in the greenhouse the sunflowers have germinated in under three days. Out in the garden the carrots are just up after three weeks!!

Hopefully bike ride tomorrow and more gardening and construction.

A long day

 A view of the Clyde...the one time of the day that you can properly pick out where it is!

A beautiful sunset after a long day..wood buying, head scratching, trying to make an extension that is square. And finding that the building that you are adding it to is not!!

I think that we have cracked the problems....and tomorrow after some calculations, we get even more wood!!

Constructive

 

The workshop construction progresses..slabs down and mortared, wood cut to size and painted..now drying.

The bean sticks are up and runner beans planted..now it really looks like a garden!!

The garlic and shallots are growing well, better than the onions.

I have sown seeds, carrots, radish and beetroot.

Our neighbour opposite is back home but on end of life care...stage four cancer but at least pain free with no meds. 

He asked for me to make a bread pudding. These days I won't use the oven for one or two items...so I baked a batch!! I used a couple of wartime recipes. Quite apt for the times we are in, with 9% and rising inflation and supply problems......

At last!

 In its proper place!

We finished at dusk!

A light gardening day!

Shed insulation on the way...wrapping it outside.

Filling a corner with runner beans. I hope last year's bean sticks will work ok.

i

I wonder if this one and his mates will eat my veges?!
The weather has done another quick change..a shower overnight and really hot during the day.
I wouldn't be surprised if it turned cold again tomorrow! I will have to shelter the bean plants, but at least they are in!