Daydream fund challenge part 4

choille

I've seen a Dog Otter out and about ages ago and was amazed at its size - it just louped past the kitchen window as I was washing up - I ran out and it had vanished. It was huge. It could come up the burn. I've found it's spraints at the shore and it's leavings - crab claws, lobster bits & pieces ect.

Good with you mowing and hedge cutting. I'm just standing and walking about amazed it isn't torrential rain when we get good days like today. I took pup pup on a long walk up a track that went on and on and on. It's on a neighbouring estate and I hadn't realised the scale of the place. I didn't get to the end - apparently 9 Km - what is a KM? I must Google.
It was along a river and it ends up at a Lochan where they fish for trout. goodness but how the landed gentry took advantage of cheap labour. It goes right up through the mountains.
I turned back as pup was getting a bit manic - like a child that has become overly tired - whizzing about like a tot on Smarties. There were all the deer rutting and no one at all about as a couple of eagles were riding the thermals - seen those two before. It was good apart from pup pup behaving like a brat on the way back!

greenbee

1km is approx 5/8 of a mile I think Choille.

alfie_1

well it is bl**dy cold 'ere at night !
reasonable during the day but fire lighting time on an evening !


hope all you peeps are well.


had a bit of a boring week really, the dark early eve's are curtailing me doing much by the time I get in from work... feed the dogs and the owl and hey ho....pitch black !!

organised a chap to come round sunday and re felt the owl house
after the recent high winds ripped one side off. it is a 10x10 chalet so wanted it done properly and I KNOW I will end up either dropping the tin of black tar gunk or just fall off the roof...... £130 for the day so didn't think that was bad.. he's also going to treat the wood with clear stuff [I bought all the materials for the job so's I know it is good quality. ]


when I read what everyone is up to , building,clearing etc it makes me want to start a project BUT ive picked the wrong time of year for outdoors so I think some decorating indoors is called for !


my dogs are all in a heap in front of the fire... even tho the central heating is on !!


well peeps, bit of a boring post ..
keep warm y'all

choille

It came cold here. The sun disappeared behind the ridge at 3 pm and the freezing air descended.

I walked Pup pup along the three beaches at low tide again and climbed up a little hillock promontary [sp?]thing and was amazed at how high up I'd climbed, very deceptive it was.

He met a lovely collie who he played with happily in and out of the waves for ages with. It was funny to watch them snaking about in the water.

Then met two older ladies who each have dogs and one lady is rather imperious and you sort of sit up straight when she bellows/talks/interrogates you. She informed me that there is no such thing as a Welsh collie and it's only people trying to be grand who claim their Border Collie is a Welsh collie and she demanded to know where i'd acquired him. I tried to assure her that I am not trying to be at all grand. I'm stood there in my old jeans, leaking wellies and charity shop bought jumper and waistcoat and a hat I've had for a decade, my hair knotted trying to think how on earth this lady could possibly assume that I am trying to be grand. Freddie just watched her with his head cocked on one side and then tried to hump her and then her male dog. So that should have dissauded her of any notion of airs and graces on his part at least.

Davesnave

The dry weather's continued here, so we were dry enough today for Pete to bring his digger up to sort-out the garden's humps and bumps. At last, we have a blank canvas behind the bungalow and no prospect of any more digger work there! :j



You can see the edge of our existing garden on the right of the picture. That will now be extended across the rest of the plot. There has to be a pond as well.

On Tuesday, we had to round up the sheep for vaccination, which wasn't easy, thanks to Pete having a new and totally useless young sheepdog. The old one that died wasn't a lot of good, but this one just watched as four of us took on the job it should have been doing!
I don't understand how anyone as smart as Pete could be lumbered with such an animal; one only has to look a dog in the eye to see whether there's anyone home or not.

alfie_1

bit like this ?

Davesnave

No, that one looks thoughtful. It might be an act, but if it is, it's a good one!

greenbee

Next phase of work starts on Monday ... however, builders have gone silent so I suspect they are running behind schedule on the previous job that should have finished last week.

Electrician will be here, so I'm still clearing out ready for him. He's aware (actually, he warned me) that the builders might not be here, so will be helping me move the last bits of furniture out of the way, and is doing the chasing himself (they'd usually do it). However, he doesn't do the filling afterwards.

As I'm currently handing over my job and about to go on gardening leave, I'm wondering whether I could do this myself. I'm reasonably OK at filling small holes (and sanding) but not sure about the bigger job of tidying up after the electrician. Can I get ready-mixed plaster? And how should I go about it? (I'm pretty good at icing cakes!).

I have a bit of filling to do on the ceilings where lumps fell out when we did the upstairs floors, where I assume I should use flexible filler, and round the window frames where I thought I'd use caulk.

If they haven't appeared by the time I've filled, I'll need to get someone in to latex the floors, which means I'll need to remove skirtings (and presumably architraves) before I decorate.

I'm hoping they'll turn up sooner rather than later, but as I have the time and want it finished before I start my new job I thought I'd get some advice from you lot and see what I can get done myself...

Davesnave

Hi Greenbee, you can use something like Gyproc Easi-fill to tidy-up after the electricians, or if you have some bonding plaster left over, fill most of the chases with that, leave to go off and then finish with the more expensive branded filler. Deep holes are usually best done in 2 stages. Wet the plaster, or better still, use PVA/SBR to get a good bond to the hole.

Flexi filler for ceilings is OK , but I don't know about caulking around windows as that's one of DWs specialities. I'd probably use a slicone but I know DW gets through loads of caulk.

greenbee

Thanks Dave. I'm pretty sure about the caulk round windows, as you can paint over that

I don't have any plaster at all at the moment, as I've left that kind of thing to the professionals until now. But like many, many people am fed up with the lack of commitment in terms of dates and turning up. So if they're not here by Tuesday, I'll make a start on tidying up behind the electrician, interspersed by making phone calls to get quotes for the other things that need doing (blocking up a doorway, taking out the jetmaster and seeing how much the fireplace can be opened up so I can choose a stove, changing the door handles for doorknobs, laying floors and whatever decorating I don't have time to do myself).

I'd hoped to spend my gardening leave gardening, but looks like I'll be DIYing instead... in which case I'll definitely be back for more advice!