March 28th
I’ve just realised that the letters DIY are in the wrong sequence, it should be DYI – do yourself injury! In the last two weeks I’ve gouged my hand on a hammer claw, almost sliced my wrist with a broken tile (just above the safety glove line), bruised my ankle with a SDS drill that decided to rotate while chipping concrete and strained my back/shoulders building a platform in the car. I’m looking forward to some relaxing painting.
Most of my woes have occurred working on June’s bathroom, which has taken three weeks to date and still no shower installed. However, I (and June) are pleased with how it looks so far. As I was unable to get some vinyl flooring off the roll, I’ve decided to get it laid when the work is complete. I fortunately tried the shower door in situ and found it would not open with the proposed radiator/towel rail in its intended position. So we ordered a lower profile rad and the other one will be put in the main bathroom. The new extractor fan is quieter than the original and hopefully will be more efficient with the cobwebs, sh*t and grime removed from the through wall pipe. The “builder” decided to use standard soil pipe instead of the correct 100mm vent pipe, so the fan and outside vent didn’t make any seal, in fact less air went through the pipe than around it. Very pleased to report there are no leaks on the water or soil pipe work and the cupboards, vanity and hidden cistern all look good.
Thomas the scrap man turned up the other morning with a cheery “hello boy”. After a bit of negotiation, he cleared the pile of rubbish for £180 and then chastised me for letting the pile grow too large! I’d planned on getting a skip, but chuckled at his comment. It saved me about £100 and he loaded it in the time it took me to go to the cash point and back (10 mins).
We’ve acquired a new resident in the garden – a brown rat. We noticed it the other night when the outside light came on illuminating it sitting 6 foot up in the bird feeder and yesterday at 11 in the morning, on the bird table. After checking with the neighbours, it seems it’s a common occurrence as we are close to the river with plenty of nooks and crannies and have a ready available supply of food. After putting up another two cctv camera’s, I was aware of the system recording events every few minutes after I went to bed. I switched on the monitor and watched its antics for a while as it went back and forth, up and down the two feeders. I did note that it went towards our neighbours house rather than the river and due to the time between visits, the nest must be quite close by. I feel an electric zapper in design.
We purchased a second hand mobility scooter for June to give her a bit of freedom. It’s a hell of a beast weighing over 60kg, with solid tyres and a captains seat. June took her chariot around the garden and saw areas she had never seen before. We’ve been for a few local runs to see the surrounding area and get a feel of battery life, but in order to visit local parks, seaside etc, we would need to go mobile. Even with the scooter broken down into 5 pieces, the back end with the motor is back breaking heavy. We picked up a second hand ramp for £50. It needed some fibreglass repairs, but I managed that with a £17 kit from the local car spares shop. As our car has a 160mm drop into the boot area, I spent Thursday morning making an artisan designed, hand crafted platform to take the chariot (sound better than cobbling something together with what was to hand). All went well until June decided to get the chariot lined up ready for me to put in the car. The only thing was, she caught the ramp with the front wheel, which flipped the scooter and her onto their collective backs just as I shouted stop. Time was 12:14 as can be seen on the cctv when the top of her head appears on the left of the screen. I extricated June from the scooter, but she had bruised her elbow and arm and slightly scratched the scooter. At least it was dry and she didn’t hit her head.
So after all that lifting, twisting, sawing and screwing; that’s how I managed to bugger my back!
March 14th
March 1st arrived and in true Welsh tradition, I went looking for leaks. I found Leekes at Cross Hands, but they only had tap washers to prevent leaks, so I went home to a garden full of daffodils and wild garlic instead.
With the arrival of the induction hob (70cm wide) and its under unit extractor with large 6” vent pipe, the proposed kitchen layout is being revamped (version 66). One option is for the hob to be in front of the window, with a corner sink. However, if I use rectangular ducting, I can use the wasted space under the kitchen units and keep the hob in roughly the same position it is now. All we need if for Ikea to have items in stock. Their system won’t allow stuff to be back ordered – not amused. Following a visit from the trusty electrician from the other end of the road, he suggested getting the kitchen designer from Howdens to give us some free advise and design time, what’s to loose?
I spent some time in the garden putting up a safety fence as once the brambles were cleared, a sheer drop of about 25 feet was revealed. I also decided to put some lights in the trees to illuminate the garden – ‘Son et lumière’ as the French say or in the local dialect “there’s posh like”. As they were 12V lamps, I buried the cable across the lawn in a spade cut slot, but due to the stony ground, it ended up about 3-4 inches deep. Wiring between trees was done with grey cable to see the results, before considering the benefits of more spade work. In a moment of reflection, the grey gable stands out as “look, I’m a grey cable”. Well after tickling the brain cell, I thought strings of led’s wrapped around the cables and even better, solar charged. With Home Bargains selling a 200 led string for £8 (essential item purchase), two strings will cover all the cables. I’ve decided to put two lamps per tree so I can illuminate in front and behind with two switched circuits. Tidy.
June’s bathroom is now taking shape after a pause for thought (finished pics next time). Having decided that the pipe work is to be in the main bathroom behind a false wall, I can clad the walls flat without lumps and bumps for existing pipes. After much effort attacking the shower, the true condition of the installation was revealed. Warning, the photos have a health warning like the real thing! I did not expect to find an old mouse/rats nest under the shower, but there again, I did find the husk of a rodent trapped under some pipes and looking at the size of the nest and material, it might well have been a rat. This sort of ties up with the electricians comment back in August about rats droppings in the loft. The wall cladding is going up well and I’m using “Sticks like sh*t” – the actual name – and it does. The plastic planks are 250mm wide and only need a few mm trimmed. I feel the shower tray is going to be a challenge to fit due to its weight and moving it in a tight space. It’s not as if you can get two people in there anyway.
On my way back from church (Screwfix), I dropped off a birthday card for my 70 YEAR OLD SISTER as I was passing her door, keeping social distance and wearing a mask. Total surprise to her and my mum, as their back garden golf course wasn’t opening till the following day and Steves barber service was waiting for the hedge cutters to be sharpened – Welsh unlock rules.
June went for a private MRI scan for her back, hip and knee to try and get to the bottom of her pain/walking problem, following a referral by our chiropractor. Quite an ordeal having to stay perfectly still for over 1.5 hours. That was on a Thursday; the following Monday, results were back confirming there is actual damage in all three area’s. She is now waiting for an appointment at the orthopaedic clinic, at least we’ve cut 18 months out of the waiting time by getting this done ourselves. While waiting for her, I noticed this plaque on the wall and had a chuckle to myself at the possible jokes/comments.
