November 22nd
I now realise that WWW actually stands for wet welsh weather! The leaves are falling at the same rate as the rain, but unfortunately they don’t get absorbed into the ground. Another arborist took a look at my trees and recommends felling all the ash trees and not having them left as monoliths. His reasoning is that they will eventually need felling, at additional cost. My thoughts are that I could fell a 15ft log with no branches but not a great big 45ft monstrosity. Besides, where am I going to fix all my led lights to illuminate the lawn and woods? I bought an electric log splitter from Screwfix ahead of the Great 2020 Lumberfest. It really needs a stand or table, as operating it on the ground will certainly dish my back.
Wet weather has scuppered most outdoor work, but the odd hour or so has allowed me to put up a floodlight to illuminate the back garden and clear the guttering – again. Even better is that I can control the light from my phone/tablet with my own control system – so take that Hive, Alexa and all you others. That’l stop you monitoring me!
Having brought the plants in pots and tubs closer to the house for winter protection, I also moved one of the bird feeders. The net result has been a constant flurry of the smaller birds and with slightly reflective patio doors, we get some wonderful entertainment from three feet away. I now understand where the ‘pecking order’ phrase really comes from, with the nut hatch at the top and the poor robin at the bottom. But with coal, blue, great and long-tailed tits all waiting in line, it beats the news at one for interest while having lunch.
Had mum with us for a few days so my sister could care for my niece and great niece (makes me sound ancient), unfortunately the weather was naff, so she was mostly confined indoors. We managed to get most of the stuff in the spare room sorted so you can now move in there, but under the bed is layered/stacked with pictures and frames. We will be glad when the charity shops return to normal. Mum did manage to see some of the work we’ve done since her last visit, but as her eyesight has almost gone, she could not see the birds on the feeder, only some movement.
On the technical side, I have added a WiFi booster so I can use my design PC in the garage, re-wired a set of my brother-in-law’s (Steve) broken Christmas lights for myself, designed and built a MQTT based lighting controller, initially for the outside lights, and started the wiring and placement of the CCTV cameras. The latter made easier since finding a spare monitor in the shed, which then releases the main TV from being used as the monitor.
I collected a shower door last week from two villages away. It happened to be in the heaviest downpour I have experienced of late with my spectacles both steamed up – due to face mask – and rain inside and out. The back end of the car needed strapping down which allowed more rain to soak through my “showerproof” jacket. Home – unload car – change into dry cloths – dry hair – have cuppa!
I did manage to get to the edge of our stream where it goes under the road and discovered the original bridge before the new one was built on top.
Plans for the coming week or two include replacing the door locks – long overdue, changing the window and door seals for waterproof and draft proof one’s and putting together a shopping list for June’s bathroom update.
November 8th
November has started with a total Welsh lockdown, so other than seeing the family, no real daily difference – Tesco still delivers on Friday and the postman has Sunday off. DIYjobs are continuing at a slightly slower pace after the initial onslaught, well it is a 10-year plan of work. The dining area has been painted, pictures are going up and piles of boxes is dwindling. The conservatory has also miraculously taken on the resemblance to a room following a concerted effort to unpack and move unwanted items. I also added some plastic strips along the top of the garage door facia to hold it in place and block the drafts. The local scrap man visited with a cheery “Hello Boy” and proceeded to strip the copper and brass of various items in the drive before loading the lot into his truck. His business is flourishing due to the lockdown as people are clearing out garages and sheds for the lack of something to do.
I had a call from the local NHS last week inviting me to a follow-up appointment for something started at the RUH in Bath. After weighing up the pro’s and con’s, I deferred on the grounds that over 200 patients had recently caught Covid in hospitals in Wales, so why risk picking something up now after all the care we have taken to stay safe. I am still waiting for my reply to the Welsh Health Minister asking why they aren’t putting the Covid patients in the field hospitals and keeping the rest of the NHS clear for their usual duties. I remember from the dim and distant past the term “Isolation Hospitals”. Obviously that has not appeared in the recently version of the NHS dictionary.
The apple trees have been a feeding frenzy for the birds, mainly blackbirds. After spending some time pottering yesterday picking up and trimming stuff, I looked up to see a re-run of Hitchcock’s The Birds. At least four pairs of blackbirds perched and casting the evil eye on me for daring to interrupt their applefest. They seem to go mad in the morning, disappear midday to sleep off the cider headache and re-appear for an afternoon session.
As some of our trees are Ash and have the dieback disease, I thought it would be a good idea to get a cost for taking them down to ‘monolith’ size, rather than the current45ft plus height. This will a) reduce the likelihood of a tree dropping onto the house, b) eliminate the risk of an overhanging branch falling onto a passing car and c) provide us with wood for our stove for many years. The first quote was for £4000 and involved traffic management, log processing and moving machinery, a 4-man team and 4 days on site. After a healthy slug of brandy, Icontacted a few more companies and the next quote came in at £1800. However, log lengths will be about 1m and the wood will be stacked adjacent to the tree being worked on. So it looks like a “powered” log splitter will be on my shopping list in the new year as I already have a chainsaw and protective gear ready for action.
