Log burner, a break and stuff
Having finished off the fireplace, the guys came and installed the new wood burner. They took a day and a half and did a top quality job. I’d changed the exposed low voltage led wires to 200 deg C tails and added an inline regulator board to dim the led strip. The heat baffles and inside of the opening were painted/retouched to finish off. And with a little polyfilla, completed the job. The new fire needs my brain to readjust to its different way of operation, but what’s a little bit of smoke between friends if you open the door too quickly! With the drop in Welsh temperatures, we’ve already run it a few times to take the chill off.
We had a few days away at Newport, Pembrokeshire at a restaurant with rooms. On the way we stopped at Fishguard Fort for a photo break as we’ve never been there before. The first night at the B&B, one of the occupants above us snored so loudly that June could hear them through her earphones playing music. I pity their partner. We took a ride out along the coast, north towards Cardigan but turned left to St Dogmaels, a very scenic area along the side of the Teifi river, where we parked up and relaxed in the sunshine for quite a while. The Canada geese honked and moved a bit when I ventured onto the river bank, then returned to their spots when I retreated to the roadside. What looked like a boatload of migrants went up the river and just disappeared – gone in the time it took me to turn to June and back. The breakfasts were top quality and set us up for the day. While walking up the Newport high street, we found an antique shop filled with mainly railway memorabilia. I negotiated an extra £5 off a knackered oil lamp – missing the oily bit – for £20. I made a new wooden block base, screwed, sealed and cleaned. A visit to Home Bargains for some LED lights and hey presto another bit of garden nonsense.
I have a DeWalt drill and thought about a site radio to accompany me on my DYI jobs. However at over £100, I looked into an alternative option. For the grand sum of £25, I made my own “DeWatt” version from bits lying around for the case, a eBay bluetooth receiver and amplifier, a DeWalt battery connector and some spray paint. Nice, rugged and loud enough, what more could you ask for.
My sister and brother-in-law celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, but sadly, I was the only one there from the original gathering to join in the celebrations. A great time was had by all, accompanied with an excellent hog roast and great company.
