Well it's been a great day all round, and I'm not gonna hang around again; onwards with this new quicker (if not shorter) blog format. Quicker for me, that is.
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| A stunning late afternoon |
Anyway we go back to yesterday, after I posted my blog and then went outside for a doze with a beer in the sun. It was lovely, other than the dog next door barking and barking and barking. I don't know how deeply I slept but when I dragged myself off the rug I had a dead arm. It was really lovely and I woke up starving so I came in and ate all the pasta that I had left over for dinner today. Oh well, I hadn't really eaten much through the day so I wasn't really being that greedy.
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| Early morning welcome committee |
I was in bed by 9.30 after this and slept right through, waking up feeling refreshed and checking the time I found it was 12.30. In the morning. Ahh. I did go back to sleep rather quickly and then I woke about 7 and read in bed for an hour before getting up. It was really nice to be relaxed, particularly with having to get up at 6 for collecting the men. Just what I needed. The boys had been up and about since the early hours, barking at one stage and getting shouted out, and when I did emerge they were there again. Here is Ralf barking to high heaven, and Rambo about to start howling. What joy first thing in the morning.
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| Ralf pretending to be a farm dog |
I made the brew out of a water bottle (yep, the water is still off) and then took a deep breath and went out to feed them. They were actually OK this morning, both as I let them out and then walking back. Ralf was barking and bouncing around as usual but I think he is getting better. I put Rambo's bowl down first today and Ralf came with me for his bowl and then it was like a speed eating contest. Once Ralf had finished I picked him up and locked the gate with Rambo still inside eating; I was going to take Thomas round the back again for the wood and obviously Rambo can't be trusted. I popped Ralf into the bed and drove round which he seems to enjoy, though this time going up the bank he had to struggle to keep his feet.
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| The first Hibiscus flower |
I did not set to with the wood at this stage though but went and did the rounds with the watering can and the boys following. The pressure on the free water is also pretty dreadful at the moment so it took a while when I was stood watering the entrance flower bed and it didn't really reach all the way to the bottom either. The whole round went as standard but I was really pleased to see the Hibiscus has now flowered and there are SO many flower buds about to burst; this is going to be a stunning plant. I need to find out if it is hardy enough to be planted out and left over winter unattended.
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| Scaffolding put together |
After a breakfast of toast and marmalade (but not my parents' marmalade sadly; some rubbish shop bought alternative) I had a quick phone call then headed to put the scaffolding up. I pulled it all apart and then set to erecting the framework. This turned out to be quite easy and including a few breaks I completed it in 20 minutes or so. I did, however, find that with the outriggers it was too wide to wheel through the doors so I'll be taking it apart when moving from room to room. Oh well. It is a perfect height and will work perfectly for me.
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| A very tame seeming grasshopper |
This done I headed outside to get as much done of the wood sorting as I could today. As I went out the back door I saw that a grasshopper was on the fly screen and it stayed there throughout the day, never being bothered by the opening and shutting of the door and as far as I know it is still there now.
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| Ralf prefers the closeup to being photographed asleep |
My day went onwards in the following vein; I went outside and shifted a load of wood and then got hot so came inside for food and / or a drink and then after a bit I went back outside and shifted more wood. Ralf spent the day with me out there, sleeping under Thomas or just in the sun, but every time I went for a picture he got up. This picture was taken as he emerged from under Thomas where he had been sleeping. Rambo joined me on and off, but mainly just to bark at the wheelbarrow that I was using to ship broken tiles to the collection point. I stopped this after three runs and went back to the wood as it was annoying picking up all the broken bits. That is going to be a MAJOR task.
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| Super unsafe roof beam |
As I move this wood and sort it into reusable and burnable piles I am more and more amazed that the roof stayed up; look at how eaten away this beam is and, looking at the size and shape, this would have been right under the tiles as one of the girders. Scary. I can't wait for the whole roof to be replaced.
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| Finally snuck up on him |
I had some bacon and eggs mid morning as I was really hungry and the toast just wasn't cutting it for me, and I also stopped for some chocolate and a carroti drink but I was outside for a few hours doing the wood and I made great progress. Towards the end of the time I finally managed to catch Ralf (after many attempts) still dozing in one of his spots. He saw I had caught him, sighed, and went back to sleep. Bless.
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| Much progress on the wood piles |
Anyway I kept at it and finished off for the day as I was getting hungry and wanted my roasties and roast pork belly (which was INCREDIBLE) so I took these pics and left Thomas parked up and went in. There is some wood still to be sorted but he was full, and a lot of it is under dust, roof tiles and other rubbish so I decided to leave it for another day or so. I also wanted to get the scaffold through into the bedroom for pulling the ceiling down again.
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| Ready for me to use |
I ate my dinner (amazing as I said) then went out and pulled Thomas round the front and emptied him of all the wood using the wheelbarrow. The boys were in their enclosure during this and were pretty well behaved when I let them out. I had managed to get the scaffold into the bedroom without having to take it apart by passing it through the window however when I put the top section on I found that I was missing two of the bolts, though there was a spare. This means that one of the tension bars is not fully attached but it is really tight and I had to really strain to get it to fit so I'm sure it'll be OK.
It is another lovely evening so I'm going to end this here. Tomorrow I will have that bedroom door in, will have pulled all the plaster off the ceiling, and then will probably paint the floor in the bedroom with glue to keep the dust down, ready for my special guest.
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