Author: peterb51

17th March 2024

More time to spend with the family, this time my eldest son Damian and his family,

I had to time my arrival because he was at football practice with his son Ethan.

As it happened I got there just before them.

Football is the latest obsession with my Grandson, he was dressed in the strip of Wolverhampton wanderers. What was also happening was Wolves with playing Coventry in the FA cup that afternoon, and it was on television. Damian had to take his Maybac to get a tyre replaced, the victim of a deep pothole.

I was coerced into playing football with Ethan in the garden until the actual match started.

I hadn’t watched a football match for ages, everything went well until Coventry scored. It was like the end of the world, there was tears and hysteria, Ethan could not accept that his team was losing, and dispite trying to explain that losing is part of football. We managed to stop him throwing the remote control at the screen, then he stormed off to play football in the garden.

I was able to coax him back when Wolves got a free kick just outside the penalty area.

This calmed him down a bit, until his team scored to equal the match. When his team scored again he was flying high again.

The room was a pressure pot, tensions were high, and then Wolves scored again. Ethan had a beaming smile which disappeared when Coventry scored again. Everything looked certain to end in a draw, and then extra time had to be played. In the dying minutes Coventry scored again causing even more tears and tantrums. It was a reminder that I didn’t want to be a father again.

15th March 2023

Woke up early in Nicola and Colin’s home, there were excursions planned, and I was looking forward to them.

I regular had calls with Kelli who was keeping the business going.

She had said that she had the opportunity of getting some Mexican hand painted tiles for a really good price.

As yet we don’t know where to put them, but with the eclectic taste that she has, I’m sure we will find somewhere they can go.

We piled into Colin’s car and sped off towards Sidmouth, stopping at the Hare and Hounds for a carvery lunch. This was a regular place for them, and having seen pictures of Colin’s gravity defying plate of food, I wanted to taste it for myself.

It didn’t disappoint, although I had a modest amount, it was great and left me satisfyingly full.

Then it was off to Sidmouth seafront.

The promenade was a bit windy, surfers were out there in the water trying to drown in the swirly waves.

We made our way to a cafe at the far end of the seafront. The place was packed, with four people, and us. The walk had made us thirsty, a likely excuse.

We sipped our coffee, becoming aware that the place was closing, subtly at first, the outside signage moved inside, then the open signs on the window turned to closed, not that we felt intimidated, we took our time, the comfy seats made it difficult to get out of, but we did it, even returning our cups to the counter.

We then drove back, with Colin taking the scenic route, the grass is so much greener here, and the trees are almost ready to burst into leaf.

This was a restful day with a full belly and windswept hair, just what I needed.

14th March 2024

It was going to be a busy day, and the weather was not playing ball.

My mission, should I choose to accept it was to fix more cladding to the side of the shed. I had a friend coming round for a chat, so I wanted to fit stuff before he arrived.

The rain put paid to that, I could only hope that it wasn’t set in for the day.

I checked the weather app on my phone, it showed that it stopped around an hour before my friend would be here.

I rushed outside to take advantage of the studded dry spell.

I had worked out, in my head, a more efficient way of cutting , drilling and fitting the strips.

I didn’t bother to set up the cutting station outside, I wasn’t that confident of the weather.

So with my bundle of boards in my hand I set about the assembly.

First I had to use my ladder to get on to the area where the shed stood, then I had to lift the ladder up and set it up so I could reach the place where the panels were to be fitted.

The time was slipping away, Dave was due and I just manage to complete one complete section of the shed side. As I climbed down the step he appeared at the bottom of the sloping path.

I have know Dave for many years and his knowledge of the Beatles is second to nothing.

We began talking, the start of an intensive word marathon. Once he gets started it is like trying to mount a speeding train, there are very few opportunities to jump into a conversation. Once he stops for breath that’s my chance.

It is always fun, and I look forward to every time we get together.

After a lunch in the town we parted, him to catch a train, me to get back to some more shed work.

Unfortunately the weather was not co-operating, the rain started again.

Not to be put off I managed to cut many strips ready for the rain to stop, it didn’t.

Next on the agenda was the Mint Room Experience.

It’s so wonderful to share a place, and a time with such inspiring people. Between us, we span a time line of the company history in Bath. I would gladly travel across the Atlantic just to share a table with these folks.

It’s was exciting to share Helen’s news, well deserved, look forward to getting updates of her progress.

After an enjoyable meal, I set off for Martock to stay with Nicola and Colin. The journey was long, and I was barely able to keep my eyes open, but I made it.

13th March 2024

Today was a meeting of my old school friends from the Bath Art School at the Holborn Museum. Miraculously we have kept in contact over the past few years, and although the whole class(the ones that are left) have tried to get together as often as we can. The others are on a Greek island, Australia, Canada and the USA.

It is special, and although we all have stories to tell, many repeatedly, but we enjoy each other’s company so it doesn’t matter.

I decided to take the bus, and to flash my new bus pass. As it pulled up at the stop, I got on, and was faced by loads of old folk. I don’t consider myself old yet, but I thought I was on an old people’s day out.

Mercifully I got to the city and wandered about until I was due to meet up with Rob for lunch and a long awaited Masala dosa. After enjoying that we had a coffee and headed down Pultney street for our reunion.

The group were huddled outside, it wasn’t the warmest of places, but the heat from our coffee cups gave us some relief.

Eventually we moved inside and took over a large table, that was a lovely warm place.

After several hours we hugged each other and said our farewells.

I walked back with Rob until we parted ways with me heading towards the bus station.

I had an hour wait, but soon I was on the way home. The bus stopped at ever single stop on the way back, it felt like a long long journey.

12th March 2024

It’s the end of the another day, and rain stopped play. I had made good progress so far, but this was a drag. It cleared up at lunchtime, and rather than setting up the saw outside I decided to do it in the shed. Of course all the timber was wet, but I was determined not to be put off by that. I cut the banding on the timber bundles and started the residing.

I would have to climb the ladder each time, first to mark the length, then get down, walk to the shed to cut and drill, then back up and fit. I did this for twenty times, judging by the number of pieces that I have to fit, I will be doing this for one hundred and twenty times.

I did it until me knees let me know they were fed up, so I stopped. As there is a total of four panels, I have planned to do one panel a day, knees permitting.

I looked across the valley where some major building works was being done. In October builders were demolishing a building that was pretty ugly. This was an opportunity to construct a really modern building, instead it looks like something equally grotesque is taking its place, what a waste of effort.

My old friend from school, Rob came to visit. He brought with him a couple of Brie baguettes which made him very welcome. He had spent a month in India, so I was keen to find out how that went. He visits a retreat close to the Himalayas and has alway been involved in Indian religion. He has alway told me that his lifespan has already been designed, and that he has another ten years to go. I look forward to calling him in eleven years to tell him he was wrong.

11th March 2024

I was expecting the boiler to be serviced today between eight and twelve, I decided to do some CAD work whilst I waited. After completing a tricky design problem, it had gone past ten, I decided to make the last two frames and finish that part of the project. When I finished it was coming up to twelve with no sign of the boiler man.

I then put all the stuff back into the shed and did a bit more computer work.

As the clock passed one, I called the office.

I was told that the service man had knocked on the door and got no answer. My response was that I could see my front door all morning and no one turned up. There were many apologies and a promise to reschedule. The girl on the other end then put me on hold whilst she tried to contact the technician, a few minutes later she told me he would be with me in five minutes.

The guy staggered up the path telling me they had given him the wrong address. I get that all the time, remember my new phone debacle?

Anyway he got on with the task, and I waited for him to finish.

As soon as he left I drove over to Wickes to get the feather board, and they had plenty of the stuff. I loaded up the truck and drove back, unloading five bundles and carrying them up the steep slope ready for the next part on the project.

10th March 2024

I was lazy, I slept late wand wasn’t feeling guilty about it. I had my breakfast and then took the green waste to the tip. The place was exactly the same as last time, people will always find things to throw away.

After that I went to Lidl’s for some supplies. It certainly wasn’t like the Aldi back in Holland, the place looked a mess with boxes blocking the isles. I collected the things I needed, including a sourdough loaf, paid and went home.

I wanted to make some frames that the new feather board cladding would attach to.

I set up a small manufacturing cell outside. I had my mitre saw and an assembly table, I felt so efficient. I even managed to fit two frames to the side of the shed, one day ahead of schedule.

I got frequent updates from Kelli, actually many updates, it was like Breaking News all the time.

It’s not easy for her, but she is getting things done.

9th March 2024

This was not a work day, instead I was travelling to Whitney on Wye to see my friend Martin.

From my previous blogs, I have mentioned this is the guy who has suffered most of his life with Tourettes. He has battled for years with many other illnesses, the latest, bone cancer.

It is a long drive, observing the speed limits in wales, makes the journey seem even longer.

Once there it is an intense period where we cover everything possible, his health, his doctors , dentist and don’t mention politics.

I try to stay as long as I can, and promise to visit again before I go back.

It feels a long day, I’m exhausted, not sure if it’s dealing with his situation, trying to remain positive, or that I’m old and gets tired easily.

I don’t think that’s the case, I have energy but sadness and driving home in the dark is taxing, but I owe him my time especially now.

8th March 2024

It was a tidy up day, I needed to bad up all the stuff I cut down yesterday. All the tree trunks were cut up and stacked in my little cart, this has been so useful for carrying all the building crap, it’s a little battered but still functional.

I cut everything small so I could maximise the space in the bags.

I couldn’t take them to the dump as they are closed today. Instead I made my first visit to Wickes to buy timber to make new supports for the new cladding.

Derek came over to return the hard drive with an adapter so that I could plug it in to my other machine and transfer the files I thought I had lost. Everything fired up perfectly and I was able to retrieve the CAD files I had spent a lot of time on, a great relief.

7th March 2024

With a good breakfast inside me, it was day 2 of vegetation clearing.

I felt like an explorer cutting through the jungle, it was a battle. I was well armed, with my saw, loppers and snippers.

First to go was the holly bush, that had sprouted wildly out of control. It was pretty dense in there, everything fought me all the way.

I was wearing thick gloves as the thorns were everywhere, and had to be handled with extreme care. That is when I discovered that one of my gloves had a hole in a finger, ouch!

I worked my way down the side of the shed creating a good space to do my re-cladding job next week.

By the end of the day there were huge piles of various vegetation stuffed into large garden bags ready for the tip.

If you recall, I had problems with the laptop that I have been using in the US, stopped working. I had idea what was wrong, but I knew someone who might.

So I brought it back with me. It was an old machine that weighed the equivalent of a paving slab.

I had arranged to meet Derek, my sister’s ex husband who I had promised to gift him a wooden guitar that I had made as part of my Guitar shaped project. He had repaired another laptop the last time I was here in October, so the timing was perfect. He kindly took my old machine back to his home to check if the hard drive still worked. I kept my fingers crossed that the data on it could be saved.

He later messaged me to say that the hard drive was okay, but the laptop was not.