Extended mitre block

I could not find a mitre block that would fit the 8" skirting that we have selected.

I eventually bought two low cost mitre blocks, cut them in half and spaced them out on a board. I also had to buy a longer tenon saw!

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Three trees

The high winds over Wednesday night brought down three of our trees.

None of them were ones we would have expected and all were in our garden.

The hawthorn cracked the roof of the workshop. The lilac was finally pulled out of the ground after surviving at a steep angle for many years. The cherry was fairly young and had never been very sound.

On Thursday, we cut away most of the branches then called in the professionals to chip the spoils and to cut down the thicker trunks with a chain saw.

I did a patch repair on the roof before it rained.

Shelley, with only a little help, managed to remove the large hawthorn stump on Friday. She also made good the grass where I had removed the broken paved area.

Now tidy again and ready for some new plants.

Bamboo removal

Lee had borrowed a digger and kindly brought it over to remove the bamboo that had got out of control.

We expected it to be a fairly quick job but the bamboo was resistant to being moved. The bucket could not get a grip on the root ball and it just glanced over the top.

Lee was persistent and after trying a few techniques he managed to scrape away slowly from the top and eventually small bits of root came away and eventually larger bits.

It's now all gone.

Winter off-roading

Another Christmas Pud Shakedown with the Essex Land Rover Club.

We were not feeling very well but were determined to get out and about in the mud. We chose to spend a short time there both going round a couple of time avoiding anywhere that looked too risky.

It was a good day and Fender did very well.

Snow

Some unexpected snow settled today.

An excuse to take Fender out for it's first experience of snow.

Of course we met several other Land Rovers out for a play.

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Odd shape table

Our new sofa arrived yesterday and after we re-arranged the living room we were left without enough places to put our cups of tea on. In our house, that's a problem that needs a quick solution.

As I had done before I made a small side table out of off-cuts of oak I had in the shed.

One bit of timber was a convenient angle to fit the triangle between the sofa and the arm chair.

The design was made up on the fly based on the few bits of oak I had.

The top, front leg and lower shelf are all cut from the same misshapen plank.

Being late autumn and a bit cold we have the range lit and so the kitchen is very warm. So warm that the varnish dried much quicker than normal. I was able to get both coats on in the same afternoon and it was dry enough to use that same evening!

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Kitchen tidy

Just some quick racks to keep a few bits and pieces tidy in the kitchen.

One is to keep all bottle openers and stoppers together.

The other two are to collect the salt and pepper that always falls out the bottom of the grinders and previously messed up the kitchen surfaces and dining table.

They are all made from two off-cuts of timber. Holes cut through the top piece with a tank cutter or drill, glued and screwed together. Sanded smooth on a belt sander and finished with bees wax and polished.