What did you do in your garden today?

[Colin]

Hi,

I've been busy as usual. Yesterday afternoon I felt the urge to get the rotavator out again and went over the top of the garden this being the fourth time and at last the soil is really good; the grass sods are now almost broken up or removed; lots of stones and roots are now cleared so the rotavator was an absolute delight to use; the soil had dried nicely so apart from a few roots and the odd stone to jam the tines I enjoyed myself whilst receiving an excellent workout. I'm undecided what to use this cleared section for but I've planted Hostas just in front of the laurels and these are now growing strongly.

Digging the grass/moss over by spade then four passes with the rotavator; it's coming along a treat.

Assorted Hostas growing strongly.

I've also been preparing for a bit of woodturning; I've cut some Ash turning blanks out on the bandsaw and roughed turned a couple of the blanks on the lathe. I love lathework but there are always other more pressing jobs to do first.

Removing waste on bandsaw. Ash at 4" thick.

Rough turned ready to make into a lidded bowl; I hope.

I extended our decking to the bungalow front taking it over the top of the garage doors; I added new metal railings and metal handrail; pigeons now use the handrail as their toilet seat and as the Yeti is parked directly below I'm absolutely fed up of cleaning the rear of the Yeti; also yesterday afternoon I decided to do something about this problem; I've now made four metal brackets and drilled holes to accept a galvanized heavy gauge wire this will be positioned directly above the handrail in the hope it dissuades the pigeons from landing; plan "B" is a machine gun.

Kind regards, Colin.

I beat Blackie this time; I painted the brackets in the workshop.

 

[Logan]

@Colin you're doing well with your garden. The hostas look good.

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Many thanks Logan. I'm settling into gardening and enjoying being outside but I wish it would warm up more; I've just installed the new brackets and wire over the handrail and I felt perished with Gale putting her usual breeze up the valley; it's not too cold to the rear of the bungalow where it's sheltered from the prevailing wind. I hope the wire works because the pigeons are making a right mess which we are cleaning up every day.

I installed the deck extension and made and installed the metalwork a couple of years ago; the decking boards are thick scaffolding boards being secured to heavy 6" x 3" channel iron; having the welder is very handy for this kind of metal work saving a lot of money.

Bron and I spend a lot of money feeding all the wildlife this kind of mess being the downside and our reward for caring.

I wanted to do more rotavating today but it rained during the night so the soil will be clinging again.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Logan]

@Colin that might do the trick, but they're very intelligent. That's the trouble when feeding them.

You are very good with your metalwork and it looks great, very professional.

 

[BigC]

Absolutely love that decking @Colin ...the use of scaffolding planks is a great choice.

 

[Sean Regan]

Usual Sunday, purged the koi pool pump sump. spread the dregs around the acid loving plants. Mowed the lawn, did a bit of weeding and tied up several of our new clematis. I need to check them every other day as they'd otherwise bunch up. Trimmed the skirts of our two acer palmatums, I use an old pair of paperhanging scissors.
Presently trickle changing the water in the frog pond. The overflow directs the water along the gully between the boarder and the lawn. Will water the patio pots later.

Next week it's supposed to be dry, so it'll be a busier week.
Monday. Golf.
Tuesday, Jetwash the two patios and the paths.
Wednesday. Golf.
Thursday, Shopping, then point up any areas of the patios or paths that need attention.
Friday, Golf.

It's all go innit?

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Thanks Logan; I'll be interested to see if the pigeons can stand on the handrail at 45 degrees? If I have further trouble I could always connect the wire to The National Grid? Thanks for your compliment; I've enjoyed metal work and arc welding for the last 55 years.

Thanks BigC; I gave the bungalow exterior a comprehensive makeover in August 2016 doing a great deal of work; I gave a lot of thought to the decking boards; the previous Tanalized boards rotted out in less than 15 years; a company in Leeds were advertising old and new scaffolding boards and these caught my imagination; scaffolding boards are outside in all weather so I decided to try them this time. I was going to use second hand scaffolding boards and the guy had stacks of them but I was puzzled why second hand cost £2 more each than new boards? The guy explained he had been selling these second hand scaffolding boards to people who were making garden furniture from them then selling the furniture at a decent profit on eBay; the guy thought it unfair he supplying the boards very cheaply and others making a lot more profit so he increased the price a bit. I bought new boards and took along my extension reel and saw; I was allowed to cut the boards on site then they would fit into the car; these scaffolding boards are much more robust than standard decking boards; I then bought quite expensive paint with sand additive to make the paint non slip and painted the boards all around to seal them. Quite a bit of extra work and time but I don't want to be replacing these in 15 years.

Below are a few pictures of the work involved; I made a jig for the metal railings allowing them to be accurately welded; I used my arc welder and dressed the welds using an angle grinder. Heavy section steel was bought second hand from a local scrapyard; I cut this to length cleaned; applied rust inhibitor then painted it; brackets etc were welded as required so it was a bespoke job costing a fraction of getting someone in but it did take a lot of time and effort; a job I enjoyed doing though; the pictures don't show the decking completed but all it needs is the hand rail which is now installed. I've been arc welding for the last 55 years and wouldn't be without the welder although I have upgraded to an industrial oil filled 180A Pickhill Bantam (Oxford) welder that will weld all day long without tripping out. I've posted some of the pictures previously but hopefully worth posting again to show what can be achieved in a home workshop; I used a winch rigged to a ladder to erect the heavy steel.

I made the garage doors a few years ago and the cladding was replaced during the makeover it being routed 18mm thick exterior plywood but completely sealed all around with plenty of top quality paint; it took months to complete the work but Bron and I are happy with the result and it should last for many years; the window frames are the original softwood at over 50 years old still as good as new. I love doing this kind of work and all we pay for are top quality materials.

I like your style Sean apart from the golf.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[BigC]

Brilliant..I'm liking this alot..

 

[JamieB]

Yesterday I got all the plants watered after work. My radishes are doing great, may need thinned out a bit, carrots are popping up, potatoes will need more dirt soon. I moved my mint as it didn’t like full sun, fed my fish, I need to get in the pond and skim all the leaves and seeds blowing in out. I need to go pull weeds from around the pond, around the well house, and my flower beds. I think I’ll recruit my step son to trim back all the tree saplings, then I’ll trim the dead branches in the rose bush.

 

[JamieB]

Well, I skimmed crud from my pond, ended up helping Dad clean up some downed branches and move rolls of fencing, pulled some weeds, then got called to cover a shift at work. My knees hate me. One of our freezers went out, had to move all that stuff to our other freezer, it stormed, I got soaked running out to check on two vehicles parked by our gas pumps, froze my butt off moving stuff in our freezer,... I’m exhausted, and won’t be available to cover her shift again tomorrow if she calls.

 

[Sean Regan]

The main patio was looking very dirty. I've forgotten, "Wet n' Forget" as it's rubbish at cleaning York stone. All it did was lighten the grout.


So jet-washed the patios and paths yesterday, re-pointed them where required today.



I'll brush them off tomorrow after golf. Fortunately, we're going to miss the forecasted rain. The grout will have all gone off by tomorrow as I apply it "barely wet."

It doesn't look much different in this photo.

"I've been instructed to return all the pots to their proper positions, when it's done."

I'll need to wash down all the woodwork.tomorrow too.

 

[Colin]

Hi,

It's looking brilliant Sean and in bright sunshine too. I bet you enjoy using your power washer; I enjoy using mine it being my Lightsaber and it's amazing how clean it brings everything up; I even took it onto the bungalow roof a few years ago and the roof after power washing looked brand new; I don't recommend using a power washer on the roof but ours is low pitched and a bungalow; the mount of dirt it removed was truly amazing.

Whilst you enjoy golf Sean I enjoy a bit of woodturning; I was kindly given a few offcuts of timber by our local joinery company; here's a lump of Ash I converted on the bandsaw into a turning blank then I've made it into a bowl but I've a lot more work to do yet because the bowl is to be lidded with a finial and also have a pedestal foot assuming I don't destroy it during turning; whilst this milder weather is here I'm concentrating on the gardens and find it difficult to focus on woodturning but once I settle into the workshop it will all come together; retired and not enough hours in the day; I'm out of bed at 7 o'clock every morning perhaps I'd be better not sleeping at all or even eating which takes up so much time?

Keep up the good work.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Weeding season has begun around here.

 

[Logan]

Planted some beetroot seedlings in the garden.
It's not a very good pic.

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Once again I wanted to a bit of woodturning today?

This morning a friend visited us so the morning was taken care of. Dinner time "My Hermes" delivered 12 potted Rudbeckia; 50 Gladioli and 12 Begonia so these needed planting. The Rudbeckia were easy to plant then I dug a long grave up the mountain; 6" deep x 18" wide; with the topsoil removed I then dug the bottom to another 6" deep to loosen the soil and add multi purpose compost; planted all 50 Gladioli and made a good job of backfilling and raking neatly; I knocked off tired out and wet through; the Begonias can wait until tomorrow.

I had been browsing the web as to how to plant the Begonias and dished side up was the way to go? Yes I planted the Gladioli dished side up; if there are 99 ways to do a job wrongly I'll do the job wrongly at least 103 times because I tend to make the same mistake a number of times before getting it right. I'm totally unfazed by this and tomorrow morning I'll rework the Gladioli; next mistake will be to plant the Begonia upside down. Why don't plants grow with a little arrow stating this side up?

I started a woodturning project a few days ago but I wonder if I'll live long enough to finish it? I retired 17 years ago and still wonder what retirement will be like.

Kind regards, Colin.