Lots of making

What a day. It has gone fast then slow then fast again and loads has been achieved, as well as there being lots of chilling and relaxing. Pretty much the perfect mix for a Sunday. Anyway. Onwards.

Loads of clouds to start the day

It was a relatively early night again last night, after I had roused A from her sleep on the sofa, and I woke a couple of times in the night including once at midnight where I thought I had had enough sleep already again but after checking the time I realised what a silly idea that was and slept again. When we finally woke up properly I made us a brew in bed (she wasn't awake yet) and we drank it before getting up. The dogs also started barking a bit so A went to feed them. It was a really overcast start to the day and quite chilly.

This turned into that

While A went out to feed the boys I set to making the new storage unit we had picked up in Lidl yesterday. It was really well made and had very good instructions and it did not take that long to put together. I nearly did it all before feeding time was over which I was pleased about because I didn't want Ralf to come jump over all the bits.

Burning burning burn

Breakfast for us was egg in  a cup which was just lovely and then it was followed for me by some more toast with marmalade on it and A a slice with some of my mother's jam. I stole a bite at great risk to my life and can declare it a success. We have once again been building up our load stuff to burn so A went out and after using all the fuel in her lighter managed to get it going with some matches. I put a carrier bag of stripped plaster on at the end and this caught light and then burned for most of the day. This is a much better way of getting rid of the plaster so we'll do it from now on rather than dumping it.

Putting together the final raised bed frame

Having already made one thing I decided that I wanted to do another - I had stained the wood for the next full frame for the raised beds the other day and now I took it outside and drilled and screwed it all together. This is the final full frame and tomorrow I hope to get the diagonal cut completed by Bekir with his chainsaw and then I can put it all in the ground, fix it together, and put the manure, soil and leaves in to rot down over winter.

Rambo being playful

With the frame done we pulled and hauled the really heavy wood on top of the other two, just to see how they sit, and they look pretty good. Rambo had been bothering me a lot and I had put him away to stop him getting in the way but we let him out quickly and then he came over to play with A while we sat and relaxed after our making.

Mother and child (and mother may be with child again)

After some brew time and a bit of a relax we decided to get on and do another job, one that had been earmarked for today if the weather was nice enough - we would carry on putting the anti-Ralf device on the front fence. When we went down there the horses were tied up to the fence and so I got some pictures, then Rambo and Ralf annoyed us so much by barking and getting over excited so they got put away.

Tarzan in a tree

While we were clearing the path along the fence we found a few walnuts on the floor and collected them. We headed in from the fencing, grabbed my man bag and went back out to find more windfall. We didn't find any but I did get to climb into the tree and pretend to be Tarzan. After this A pointed to a large collection of elders that I had left when scything and clearing the front "garden* and we pulled them all out, along with a load of spiky things, and shoved it all on the compost heap. We also found more large melons and I will have to get the Little Lady over to tell me if they are ready for her yet or not.

Cutting at a different angle

We got back inside and I was a bit hungry so I grabbed some sirene and nardenitsa butties washed down with a brew while A chilled out on the sofa and then dozed off. After eating I headed down to do the final task for today. Sassy is going on holiday while we're in the UK to stay with S and S however she does eat walls and I have been wanting to limit her range in the room they put her in. For a while I have been trying to work out how to make her run but I wanted some flexible solution and when I was looking at the metal grid used on the front fence I had an idea to use it for the rabbit run. I wanted to build the frame as lightweight as possible so rather than use my usual basic method of making a square I went for a 45 degree cut and a slightly more complicated join.

Staples useful again

I cut the sides and the drilled and fixed them into a relatively sturdy square with screws. It is even at 90 degrees at each corner which is really gratifying. I then went round with the staple gun, and fixed the metal to the frame using the smaller staples and this added a little more rigidity to the whole.

Sassy fence

I was now left with the challenge of how to make it stand up and be stable. I wasn't really wanting to put flat supports but then I looked at one of the waste lengths of wood, with a 45 degrees cut, and realised I could fashion something come out at an angle and after a few minutes I had four of the same length and then A arrived just at the right time to hold it upright while I put the legs on. It worked and now I know what I will do for Sassy. I think I need five more of these frames to make a nice large area for her to be in, where she won't eat the walls.

Super dirty feet

With this done the real business of relaxing on a Sunday began. I was reading a really good book and A was dozing and that took up most of the afternoon. We did go outside and played with the boys a couple of times but that was about the extent of our efforts. The curry from yesterday was our dinner and as we had run out of Fawlty Towers to watch we put Sopranos on; how I love that show. A took this picture of my toe which got stained while climbing on the roof to save the tarpaulin.

Now I am coming to the end of this blog, sipping my whisky, and watching New Orleans play the NFL opener. What an end to a great Sunday.