the daydream fund challenge thread

Davesnave

Rummer wrote: »

The crates are quite old and originally from the city fruit market. They have a lovely aged look and printing on them is there a way I can treat them without ruining the effect?

There are plenty of clear wood preservers, like Cuprinol. They are spirit based & expensive, so look at Wickes for their alternative, but it still won't be cheap.

alfie_1

re crates. my friend got load of vintage crates and we put that cuprinol liquid wood hardener [clear]on them... worked a treat. then we put a liner of weed control fabric.[lets air in and water out] just a suggestion ...

Rummer

Thank you so much for that advice I have wanted crates like this for years and I really want to keep them in one piece!

rozeepozee

lostinrates wrote: »

no experience yet, but as FITs get cut for solar, there is a ne grant for wood boilers (business operating now, domestic next october IIRC). They are expensive (quotes for our house are ITRO £30-35k) but offer a £5k (I think) perannum back so paying for itself very quickly comparitive to other schemes. Wood ofcourse is less self operating. You can have a hopper for wood pellets but they still need to be loaded. Without a hopper I think you are looking at daily or every second day loading.

Who did you get your quotes from LIR? We're feeling very inexperienced: OH went up to the place again this morning (he loves the view and it's a very clear day) but came back ooking a mixture of excited abd forlorn at the amount of work. The neighbours have cleared the path to the rear of the property. It doesn't belong to us, although I don't know who it belongs to and I don't know if we've a right of way over it (probably not). It was very overgrown/untended and, it seems that the previous owner had tried to adversely possess it at one stage, so I think they're clarifying our borders - no need to worry about things like from us

choille

Hi Rummer - I have an old crate planted up with bulbs. It's a Robertson's Lemonade one that I found in the byre when we came. It is okay but it's dove tailed at the corners & I have to bash it back together every so often.
Congrats Rozeepozee - well done you - how exciting.

Clay is a pain & if it's blue clay it's impossible ( you'd have a herd of cows swallowed by it & think someone had rustled them! but most can be improved with organic matter & wood ash so if you burn it keep the ash for the ground, but not coal ash.

The hedge meets Mr D's garden boundary at right angles on a corner so hardly touches his place at all. The last 40-50m is still largely untrimmed. We will have to do the bit closest to him by degrees, probably on the 'insistence' of the farmer whose land he overlooks. I'm sure this can be arranged in due course. He won't fall out with the farmer because he depends upon him to provide his wonderful view. Anyway, I will send Pete in to do that bit. No one messes with him!:rotfl:

I know of an instance where a guy fell out with the local farmer whose fields he overlooked - wonderous view right across fields to the Firth of Forth beyond & the May island. The farmer decided to store his round bails in a twenty foot high wall opposite his picture windows -:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Can't begin to tell you how wonderous our weather is, but all my fillings have shook out & I have frost bite in my extremities.:eek:

choille

It doesn't belong to us, although I don't know who it belongs to and I don't know if we've a right of way over it (probably not). It was very overgrown/untended and, it seems that the previous owner had tried to adversely possess it at one stage, so I think they're clarifying our borders - no need to worry about things like from us

I think you should have a lawyer to have a look at your deeds to clarify your position - do you have access to the property?

Itismehonest

choille wrote: »

It doesn't belong to us, although I don't know who it belongs to and I don't know if we've a right of way over it (probably not). It was very overgrown/untended and, it seems that the previous owner had tried to adversely possess it at one stage, so I think they're clarifying our borders - no need to worry about things like from us

I think you should have a lawyer to have a look at your deeds to clarify your position - do you have access to the property?

I agree. Better safe than sorry. If your neighbour's place changes hands, the new owners may not take the same attitude as the current ones.

On the subject of crates, sort of.
We've also used those large pallets, which things like slates & stones get delivered in, for raised veg beds. They aren't in the least pretty but are particularly useful if you find you don't have time to prepare proper beds, don't have sufficient room in an existing bed or just to confuse the wildlife, like rabbits, that can nobble young plants.

alfie_1

hello everyone and welcome back LIR

i can almost feel the excitement in ROZEE's comments.... ahhh bless !:)

its been a wonderfull sunny day today. 12 degrees...:)
my "pensioner/ailed" chooks in the greenhouse have all seemed to have got a second wind as they literally bomb out the door in the mornings and launch themselves into the shrubbery !!:D the 2 polish dimwit bantams have NEVER set foot outside even tho the doors open ?? i will try and get a pic for you of "hinge and bracket".

ive been commisioned to "do up /restore" an old dollshouse for xmas... so ive been hunting through all my workshop for "bits".. i do them as authentic as i can ie OLD floor boards,flagstone floors [real stone!] etc. this one has to be lit so that will be fun...:(

i really loved my dollshouse shop when i had it ..used to have to sort of arm sweep the counter of debris to serve someone !!:rotfl: fridays were bacon sandwich and cofee mornings. usually getting customers to make the tea/cofee new customers couldnt quite believe it when they got it for free but it was a good time to catch up and THEY would tell me of new things they'de seen about.

always puzzled me ,being a very pituresque village with lots of visitors,that the first shops sold them an icecream/sandwich etc then every shop had a sign saying "NO DOGS,FOOD OR ICECREAMS".:(
then they got to me and they saw my sign saying "DOGS WITH WELL BEHAVED OWNERS WELCOME" and " FOOD AND ICE CREAMS WELCOME IF I CAN HAVE SOME !"
customers were always bringing me home made jams,cakes etc...:D

Alexelisey

Conrgatulations Rozee! So happy that you've got somewhere!:j

I remember when we bought this house at auction in 2004, it went to £500 increments and I was panicking that we were going to miss it for the sake of a few grand... but OH kept his cool and we got it for £15k over the guide. Now, nearly 8 years later it's been valued at £240k but it's been a HUGE amount of work - DG, CH, loft insulation, draughtproofing, and full redecoration including two rooms being taken back to brick before replastering. It's lovely now though. You really need vision of what you want it to look like when it's finished, and then keep plodding along. We now have the choice of let it out or sell it, and if we sell do we stay in the UK or settle abroad for health reasons. Choices choices! But first I need to pay off all the wedding costs, so it'll likely be mid next year before we move at all...

Davesnave

I have been hedging again in the lovely sunshine, but I'm whacked. DW has been away the last few days, so I've had no assistant. It's also not much fun standing in the stream, which is more like a bog at that point. It's especially not fun when trying to disentangle branches from the neighbour's electric fence.....shocking, in fact. :eek:

Still there's another good bonfire ready to go tomorrow, before the rains kick-in. Really, I shouldn't be grumbling like this when I look at what the kind weather has allowed us to do.