Cheer of the Day!

[88v8]

We have a lot of brambles. So many that we no longer need to forage the nearby fields. In the freezers we have a lot of blackberries. And in the cellar we have some blackberry vodka on the go.
Their territorial aspirations do have to be curbed.
It's a matter of balance.
We also have grass. But one cannot eat grass.
Soon I shall be watering the brambles to aid the plumping of this year's crop.

Ivor

 

[JoceAndChris]

They are so delicious I agree. Last year I made blackberry sorbet and to go with it blackberries pickled in St Germain, the sweet vanilla liqueur. A great easy dessert to have in store for winter months!

 

[Hobden]

But, the best thing we've found for them is the Stihl petrol strimmer retailing at about £750.

I use a (Stihl) long-reach hedge-trimmer that has a cranked end - ideal for taking the little so-and-sos off at ground-level. Only problem is, last time I yanked the starter cord - it snapped. Now I have to fix that About half an acre still to go, though the stuff I cut first is now regrowing! Many iterations required I imagine ...

 

[Hobden]

Their territorial aspirations do have to be curbed. It's a matter of balance.

Indeed. I shall probably leave some near the boundaries as a sort of wild hedge, for the birds and flutterbys. And indeed Mrs H who likes to gather blackberries in the autumn to make things. Me, I just eat 'em "on the hoof"

 

[JoceAndChris]

Sounds good Hobden! You have a job for life there for sure!

My cheer is I just bought the 7x5 Hargrave with verandah which is a property I've wanted for my girls for many years!! Shares were sold to fund it! :lol:


http://www.hen-house.co.uk/html/hargrave.html

It's going to be adorable in my orchard. I just need to get them some gingham curtains and hanging baskets of geraniums next!

 

[a twig]

8 solid days work, and the garden is almost complete.

Old patio up and gone, ground levelled (took 2 ton of aggregate and sharp sand), new one in.

Old rockery (dumping ground for PO's unwanted rubble) cleared (including three tree stumps) and gone (2 ton of rock and top soil all dug and barrowed into a skip by yours truly), all levelled and turfed.

Edge of new patio turfed, plus the wife's now unwanted veg patch levelled and turfed.

Just the small matter of 5m2 of old raised patio which needs to go then the garden is completely finished.

Along the way - garden tap died, so fitted a new one, and found some natty brass hose fittings. I at last have a tap that works properly and has hose fittings that don't leak!

My arms are like jelly, I'm sunburnt despite liberal splashings of SPF30, I've found new aches and pains from muscles in my back I didn't even know existed, but I'm bloody happy

 

[Feltwell]

Well done twig! You must be more like a branch with your muscles by now, surely? :wink:

My garden needs a severe overhaul. No chance of getting time to do it though, too many jobs on the house to do!

 

[worms]

My cheer is I just bought the 7x5 Hargrave with verandah which is a property I've wanted for my girls for many years!! Shares were sold to fund it! :lol:

http://www.hen-house.co.uk/html/hargrave.html

I see they sell a 4x4 henhouse! :shock:

Might be cheaper just to keep them in the back of the Land Rover!

 

[Feltwell]

I thought the mower had finally breathed it's last - coughing and spluttering and running really badly - it was given to me about 10 years ago, it's been getting progressively worse for a while, so it didn't owe me anything! Then on Ebay, whilst looking for a new mower, I spot someone nearby selling a mower with a badly rusted body but the same engine as mine - so being the adopted Northerner that I am, I bought that for the princely sum of £10 just to swap the engine over. However after getting the engine off that mower despite it superficially looking the same and carrying the same model number I find that it has a different length crankshaft

So I thought I'd see if I can get mine going again - and lo & behold, £3.29 for a new gasket in the carburettor and it lives again! In fact it's running better than ever.

Anyone need a lawnmower engine??

 

[Flyfisher]

Glad to see you're a 'glass half full' sort of person. That post could have just as easily qualified for the grump of the day thread

 

[Feltwell]

Nah, just glad to get it working! Also glad not to have to bin it - I hate throwing things away when I think they can be repaired.

 

[Me!]

Anyone need a lawnmower engine??

Not personally, but I did once pay £10 on eBay for a non-running mower engine that I needed as spares for my mower. If your spare engine runs, then you should be able to sell it (plus maybe a few other bits from the rusty mower) as spares and make enough money to cover your cost of buying it, plus the £3.29 gasket, and probably even cover the cost of a gallon of petrol

 

[Feltwell]

It's on Ebay already - as otherwise I'll still be falling over it in the garage in 10 years time. I *did* contemplate keeping it for spares, it's only the crankshaft that's different, but no, I've got enough junk already.

This will of course ensure that something else breaks on my mower about a week after I've sold the engine. :wink:

 

[a twig]

Gosh, had to dig back in time to find the last time someone had something to cheer about!

So, my cheer - real signs of progress at last!

After slogging away stripping masonry paint and plaster, re-pointing, lowering ground levels, new central heating, installing new windows etc - finally starting to see real results. One of the final pieces in the puzzle was the new Yeoman Devon wood burner that went in this week, replacing the ancient and wood devouring Villager A...

We lit it for 2 of the last 3 evenings - and for the first time since moving in 3 years ago, we have relative humidity levels in the 45 - 55% range, rather than the 65% - 80% that it fluctuated between when we first moved in!

 

[malcolm]

Blooming 'eck a twig - is that really possible? Done all that stuff. I have been away a lot and have been turning the heating off. I always have high humidity and a dank smell when I get back. Goes away only a bit when the heating has been on for a few days so I am still I'm missing something. 70's pub carpets probably don't help, but the only thing really wrong to maybe do something about is the thin 1910s concrete floor.

I've been cheering constantly over the last few months but had nothing house related to report here. I've been partying! Next summer I will try to be much more sensible.

 

[Feltwell]

On my never-ending bay window restoration project, one of the problems is that some numpty roofer in years gone by managed to drip hot roofing tar down the brickwork next to the window - where they were using hot tar to seal the flat roof. I carefully chipped some of it off the other day - it's hard & glassy, where there is decent size lump it comes off cleanly by careful chipping with a hammer & sharp cold chisel, but where there is a smaller, thinner amount it leaves a residue. I was going to post a query up on here on how best to deal with it.

Today I put some Nitromors on the brickwork next to the window, where previous painters have been less than careful and have got paint on the bricks, prior to my painting. I tried a bit on the tar residue - to my surprise it works a treat, took it straight off, in fact it works better on the tar than it does on the paint!

 

[parkview094]

A satisfying end to the weekend for me.. an awful lot of sanding, autosol, danish oil and many hours fiddling with a multimeter and my new 'original' feature is installed and working!





..I'm sure the house would have had one originally -ahem-.

Looking for some inspiration now on how to renew the 'flags' though. Answers on a postcard? Have bought a new inkjet cartridge and some card, but am doubting my skills. Front door and 'tradesmans entrance' hooked up - just need to run 5 more bell pushes somewhere now.

 

[LadyArowana]

There are some free software progs for label design online, might work, depends if they have a font you like or one appropriate to the piece http://www.herma.co.uk/en/service/free-software.html This seems rather blocky to me, but then I still like comic sans :lol: http://www.antiques-atlas.com/antique/edwardian_servants_bell_board/as512a072

 

[parkview094]

Ah that's a most excellent and helpful picture - thank you! Rooms names printed onto Manila card looks like it may well be an option.. will give that a go!

 

[Flyfisher]

Nice work! I've yet to tidy up our annunciator panel but this photo might help you decide on how to label each 'flag'. I think our one has been hand painted, probably by a professional sign writer prior to installation I would guess, but I see no reason why printed lettering on card would not work equally well, though the trick will be to make it look 'correct' and not an after-thought.

Unfortunately, we're missing a Butler to go with it.