Gates and Boats

Wednesday

Meeting in Melton for the Committee of the Leicester Branch of the Railway Pensioners and while out got the new furniture for the gates.

Thursday

Bit more work on the gates and a few odd jobs around the house.

Friday

Finished assembling the driveway gates and gave the a first coat of preservative.

Saturday

Drove over to Crick with Ian from the GCS and the ladies to enjoy a very pleasant if damp day out. I’m certainly glad we are going on the first day as the ground is already starting to get churned up. Karen went looking for a windlass shoulder holster  but didn’t manage to find one but did decide to buy one of those fancy ratchet windlass things. The seller gave us the web address where to get a holster and that has since been ordered on line.

Otherwise it was a case of a few of those little show bits that you always seem to pick up like a blade on a long handle to clear rubbish of the prop (funnily enough Karen still doesn’t want her bread knife back) and the new Nicholsons’s guide for Nottingham that shows the Grantham Canal. Also found time to say hello to fellow blogger Bruce from Sanity Again and Dave and Sharon from Bluewater. A thoroughly enjoyable day, just a shame the weather hadn’t been kinder.

Today (Sunday) crewed with Ian on the GCS workboat ‘Centauri’ taking it down to Harlaxton Wharf ready for the display and trips on ‘Three Shires’ tomorrow (Monday)

Chasing Tails

Well it’s been a bitting and bobbing week again. The driveway gates are well on the way to completion though I am not looking forward to painting them as that is one job I do not enjoy. Volunteers please apply.

It has been very much a week of working to what the weather is doing. When it is raining it’s into the workshop to sharpen every tool in the setup and bring them all up to scratch. Have invested in a 4000 grit stone for the Tormek to give a final edge to those tools that need it. The result is a mirror finish that is scarily  scarp yet keeps its edge – amazing!

Fortunately we have had a lot of fine weather this week so took a day off gate building to pop down to Trudy-Ann on Monday with the TV which has now been remounted on its bracket. The new aerial has been connected up but I realised that there was no cable between wall socket and TV as we had never needed one before having had to rely on a DVD player which uses an HDMI cable. Ah well – fix it next time, and hopefully we will have a working set. Made a new mains hook-up with the remaining cable from the rewire but sod’s law prevailed and it was 6” too short, so the old one will have to stay. Took the opportunity to tank while I was down there ready for when we can get a week-end away.

Otherwise it has been a case of enjoy this remarkably fine weather – the Barbie has been on the go for the previous three eveningsJ

Time Just Flies

I really must get a grip of time management. As it stands the weather has been causing a few problems on the planned work front.

The original intention was to make some new driveway gates and allow the new paint on T-A to harden off before climbing all over her.

Over to Bassingfield for some timber twice because I can’t add up when I run out of fingers. Brought 45ft of T&G for the panels and then realised I needed 90ft and also needed some 6ft timbers to make clamps long enough to assemble the gates.

Well most of the parts have been made but I just need to assemble them to measure up for the diagonal braces.

The trouble being that the gates are each 5’ square and too big to assemble in the workshop.

So I have had to make do with a smaller project to make a work station for sharpening tools and the like. The guides on the Tormek system are brilliant and even allow for rotating turning gouges on the stone.

I’m quite pleased with this as it is all made from scrap and off cuts. The castors were given to me as the base of an engine delivery crate, with the only purchase being the drawer handles. I know – little things ……….

Otherwise there were a couple of afternoons over the bank holiday week-end down at Harlaxton Wharf with the Grantham Canal Society plus time spent on the usual hum drum items around the house.

Today being a decent day was down at Pillings fitting the new tabernacle and mast. It has been finished a while, just not the weather to fit it.

Poshest TV aerial in town.

So much time – so little done – must get more organised.

Keeping this diary/blog up to date more often wouldn’t hurt. J